Fascinating procedure for joining metal plates together (8)
I believe the answer is:
riveting
'fascinating' is the definition.
(I know that fascinating can be written as riveting)
'procedure for joining metal plates together' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'metal' could be 'in' (In is an example) and 'in' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for riveting that I've seen before include "Gripping - securing with metal pins" , "metalwork" , "Completely engrossing" , "Fascinating, fixing the attention" , "Holding attention" .)