![]() ![]() When you bend, hammer, or "work" brass or copper, it is called work hardening. There was some question as to the rivets being harder when set. Doming the head is not necessary if the head won't be seen, however it is just classy. This is a nice set of three that #1 set the burr, #2 peen the post, and finally #3 that will dome the rivet head on the other side. I bought a set of setters from Vandy at Sheridan Leather Outfitters that are made by Bob Douglas. Sometimes they will leave a mark on the leather, chalk it up to operator error (however, it is always more convenient to blame the tool). I used the Heritage setters I got from Weaver for years, they work fine. It is not uncommon around here to see the 30 lb HF anvil sitting on top of the irreplaceable Hay. If you get one of those mini anvils, you have to put it on something solid, not a wobbly kitchen table. A big piece of steel or the 30 lb HF anvil is good because you won't be a great loss when you drill holes or indents in them to hold things like rivet heads, Sam Brown studs, and other things you don't want to deform or dimple. A 30 lb Harbor Freight is better and a 288 lb Hay-Budden works well too. That little anvil that leather stores sell is ok, just barely. A block of steel, a railroad rail, a piece of I or H beam or other smooth hard surface, or an actual anvil will work well. Irresistible force (hammer) must meet immovable object (anvil) with the rivet in the middle. Please do not use your stone you use for tooling. Every leatherworker or metalworker should have one (or more in my case). If you cut-off a rivet and it doesn't leave enough post to peen, glue a 2 oz or more piece of veg tan on the top of the jaws to make them clip to the length you like. Once you get them to cut cleanly, stop, you have went far enough. If the edges are totally trashed and you can't fix it, don't buy that one. Don't get all aggressive on a bad ding or two, as long as you have a clean edge somewhere to cut the rivet. They don't have to be knife sharp (and shouldn't be), but they should come to an edge instead of a rounded corner. Dressing the edges with a grinder or file can work wonders especially if the edges are dull or pitted. ![]() A little work can make an old set of nippers really useable for clipping off those posts. There should be very little "wobble" in the pin that holds the handles together. Jaw condition and fit-up (how the edges come together) is important. None of these tools is commercially available anymore as they would have to sell for over $100, so eBay or a local tool auction is probably the best bet to get a decent pair for South of $30. Pexto and Carew also made removable cutter pliers, in my opinion, not quite a good as the Todds. ![]() They made 0 through 6 I believe, with 0 being pretty big and 6 too small. Bruce has recommended Todd nippers, and I agree. That leaves us with blacksmith nippers, made for cutting soft to medium hard steel. These things are really made for electrical wire and thinner piano wire, and are excellent tools, BUT not so much for hacking off rivets. I have both American Klein and German Irwin side cutters and end nippers. Sooooooo, nippers are the items used most. One teenage girl in a house with glitter makeup would convince you of the folly of having what amounts to copper (or brass in my case) glitter in the shop metal shop, not a problem, leather shop, not so much. The Dremel or Foredom works like a dream with a cutoff blade, but throws miniscule pieces of the rivet all over the work you have to determine if you can deal with that. Using a hacksaw or even a jewelers saw on a rivet with the burr set in a piece of leather can reasonable be compared to a monkey whumping a football, so I have to dismiss that one. The choices available to accomplish cutoff, are saw or nip. The problem is crushing the end, and it is almost always due to either misaligned jaws, dull jaws, or usually, both. It seems like an easy thing to do, but the wrong tool will bugger the end which may not be pretty when you peen it over. Copper is a dream after the brass, and again, the cutoff length becomes obvious after doing a few.Ĭutting off the stud after setting the burr can be a problem. I use a lot of burr rivets in some of my gear, unfortunately, a whole lot of them are brass and are bitchin' hard you will soon find the proper length after you go through 10 or 20 of them. This is going to vary with your setter and or style, some folks just use a hammer and make some pretty peens. Cutoff above the burr should be around 1/8 inch (about 3mm for the metric crowd). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |