Hi,

Unlike Stainless Steel, Monel is mostly Nickel (67% Ni, 30% Cu, 1.4% Fe). Some Mocel alloys (Monel K-500 for example) can be much stronger than 18-8 or 316 stainless steel. However, the monel rivets I've seen availalbe are actually weaker than the 316 Stainless rivets. (See McMaster.com pages 3069 and 3070 which lists the shear and tensile strength of both). And yes, the monel rivets have a carbon steel shank I don't see the advantage of monel over stainless.