ButtonLady

Wow... thanks so much for setting that up for me! I *really* like the industrial look that cups lend to the setting, plus you don't need to sacrifice sparkle for function . And yes... this confirms that I don't care for the "proud" profile of the plain crystal rivets. Okay, I laughed... I'm actually testing a prototype die adapter, so full confession: I'm not testing rhinestones for rhinestones' sake (so many customers want rhinestone setting dies that we finally developed a workaround). But I do love sparkly...

That's brilliant! Will definitely keep them in mind for the future. I've seen them at the hardware store and never would have come up with that. As a compromise between sparkly conical rivets and not-so-sparkly (but flat) acrylic rivets, I ordered some "drusy" (little bits of crystal glued together) rivets —flat, but hopefully sparkly: Also grabbed a bag o' assorted scraps from our local Tandy Leather for practicing. PS: For what it's worth, my grandfather was born in Belfast!

That's a really good place to start —thanks! I actually had prong settings in mind, but... rivets might be better for thicker leather? And speaking of rivets: Crystal rivets are conical, while acrylic rivets are flat (this is an assumption based on limited observation): Assuming this is always the case... wouldn't the cone cause the setting to be "proud" (not flat against the leather)?

Title is a little vague, I know... I need to practice setting rhinestones and spots (various kinds) into leather. Before I pick up some scraps at our local Tandy Leather, I'd love to know what kinds of leather(s) are typically used for embellished apparel, dog collars... ? I've made a lot of leather buttons, but this is new and very different.

Brilliant adaptation! For members without access to a machine shop, you can use Osborne pins in Handy Jr. machines -- easy swap and can be switched back with no harm done to the machine. The new pin threads will accommodate any "1920" *** die (snap, grommet, rivet, etc.), but die shanks will need to be turned to a slightly smaller diameter to fit Handy Jr. machine bases. *** Osborne is a "1920" machine (as are standard C&C Metal, Dynaline, Wade, and Defiance machines... which unfortunately are all out of production, but still around).