DanaStanley Report post Posted April 5, 2022 (edited) I want to stock a couple size zippers for bags/chaps/and wallets. I looked at different sites online and found one common thread. None of them have a simple way of selecting or finding what you need! It is all jumbled, and you need to poke around. You should be able to select size/color/finish/length/lock /no lock/alum/brass/plastic. Pulls/and various parts. I want to make custom lengths, and stock some various parts as buying at specified lengths seems much more expensive. It also limits your choices. What do you do as far as stocking zippers, and where do you buy them? What other advice can you give me about zippers. I don't want to use something that may fall apart. I have chaps I bought 20 years ago, and the zipper is still working fine! Edited April 5, 2022 by DanaStanley Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
suzelle Report post Posted April 5, 2022 YKK is major zipper manufacturer. Look that up, might help. YKK Heavy Duty. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tugadude Report post Posted April 5, 2022 I've heard good things from people who do business with The Buckle Guy and they do feature zippers and components. Might be worth investigating. https://www.buckleguy.com/riri-zipper-chain/ Springfield Leather Co. is one that I go to for many leather items. They also feature zippers and zipper-related components. https://www.springfieldleather.com/search?keywords=zipper&page=1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mike02130 Report post Posted April 5, 2022 (edited) YKK are popular and come in many colors. They have an Excella line that is higher end that work well. The downside is the lack of variety for the pulls. Not really an issue if you're OK with basic designs. Riri are excellent and I think they are slightly better, but not by much. They have more choices for pulls. The Excella cloth is nicer having a pattern to the cloth and is shinier (maybe polyester or a blend?). The Riri cloth is more cotton looking and the color has more of a matt finish. They are sized my millimeters. Riri--M4, M6, M8 and so on. YKK--3, 5, 6 etc. I choose them by the size that looks best for the item. Small items I use a Riri M4, the YKK 3 is too small for me. Larger sizes I choose on a case by case basis according to the size of my work. You will need "top" and "bottom stops" and pulls for the specific size and brand. Some of the information and pictured examples can be confusing. They have "open end", "closed end" and a crap load of other variations as you can see here, https://www.riri.com/products/riri/executions/. Don't get confused and let that get you in a tither. What you want to do is simple. Buy a length of "single chain" zipper tape, plenty of top and bottom stops and some pulls. Rocky Mountain Leather carries YKK Excella and Buckleguy.com carries Riri. Buy the stuff then come back here for help figuring them out. Edited April 5, 2022 by mike02130 add stuff Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
suzelle Report post Posted April 5, 2022 8 minutes ago, mike02130 said: Buy the stuff then come back here for help figuring them out. Yes! Yes! Please come back & share. I'm going to be searching out some good venders for those parts soon too! I want to do some bags, wallets, backpacks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tejas Report post Posted April 5, 2022 (edited) Mike01230 provides a link for open- and closed-end types of zippers. The choice it seems to me often depends upon the application. Sailright describes these kinds of zippers as finished zippers and continuous zippers. Most of your our applications are different than typical Sailright applications, but the principles are similar, and Sailright has some videos you might want to view. https://www.sailrite.com/Zipper-All-Questions-Answered-about-Zippers-Streaming-Video Edited April 5, 2022 by Tejas Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DanaStanley Report post Posted April 5, 2022 Thank you all for chiming in. I have been doing my homework, and watching videos, looking at manufacturer sites etc. as well as a bunch of retailers, some mentioned here. I think the closed end smaller stuff, Closed end for wallets and bags is simple. It's the open end #10 for chaps that I am having issues with. If you buy just what you need and shorten the top, no issue, but it's $10.00 per leg! If I get 5 yards, I can make them up, but installing the bottom stop and pin isn't recommended, as they use a press at the factory. I believe I can do it as I fabricate metal and can make a small press punch for my button press that would replicate what they do. For me this is the fun stuff. My main issue is the nice metal YKK zipper in a #10 doesn't seem to come in the 3- or 5-yard lengths. I can get it in plastic, but I'm not sure if that would be great for chaps! I'd be happy if I can get it down to $5.00 a leg #10 YKK metal zipper. My own self-imposed parameter! The one in my chaps has lasted 20 years. I think it's aluminum YKK 10! The best catalogue I found is from Ideal. At least it is set up in a comprehendible order, unlike any of the websites that offer zippers. Thanks again for the input! I have learned so much in the last week or so about zippers, snaps, and dies. There is a lot to this leather craft! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DanaStanley Report post Posted April 6, 2022 (edited) Well, I just took a look at Buckle Guy $44.00 for a 3' zipper RiRi! I'm gonna have to adjust my expectations! Zipper Stop on Amazon 3' $10.50 YKK. Ok so the zipper stop site has 144" $27.50 Aluminum YKK! The aluminum is good for chaps as it wont rust. Ta Daaaa That Zipper Stop has 36" #10 Aluminum (Chaps) open zippers $6.99 on their site . I spent 4 hours today looking for this!! Edited April 6, 2022 by DanaStanley Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
suzelle Report post Posted April 6, 2022 Great info! Thanks Dana for sharing. Will have to check out the ones that you researched. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DanaStanley Report post Posted April 6, 2022 10 hours ago, suzelle said: Great info! Thanks Dana for sharing. Will have to check out the ones that you researched. I Ordered some from Zipper Stop but another one that looks promising is Ohio Travel Bag. Well organized site, tons of leather hardware and tools, as well as Zippers and zipper stuff. Whdlesale Hardware for Handbag, Leathercraft & Repair Industries (ohiotravelbag.com) The prices are very reasonable! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
suzelle Report post Posted April 6, 2022 12 minutes ago, DanaStanley said: I Ordered some from Zipper Stop but another one that looks promising is Ohio Travel Bag. Well organized site, tons of leather hardware and tools, as well as Zippers and zipper stuff. Whdlesale Hardware for Handbag, Leathercraft & Repair Industries (ohiotravelbag.com) The prices are very reasonable! Oh good Dana! thanks so much for that - always good to have resources, especially lately. I'll say I'd thought of telling you about Zipper Stop too, but declined because it had been so long ago since I ordered from them. What I remember ordering was a very wide tooth (teeth?) plastic zipper in a roll, I ordered as many yards as I wanted, and also the zipper pull, which I believe was metal. It was a great zipper and I think what I was doing at the time was some sort of a cloth dog house made of sunbrella fabric that was collapsible. Also, I think I used the same zipper for a machine quilting frame. Anyhow, Zipperstop at that time was very affordable and their goods were high quality. Another one I'd though of was WAWAK.com. This one I don't remember how I came acroos, but probably a friend who does Commercial sewing. They have lots of options for zippers too, lots of other stuff as well! Great Company and I have no complaints at all. They have a nice catalog they mail out every year or semi-annually. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
$$hobby Report post Posted April 16, 2022 welcome, sometimes you need to work at it to get what you want. heres where i will shop locally.... i will let you take it from there... note im downsizing and have not been there for any supplies other than glue. https://oregonleatherco.com/ i also get some stuff from here too. Note, if you are not sure about some fabrics/zippers, i was able to get a "sample" swatch of various colors/sizes...ect. They are not free, but at least you can do the touchy/feely and get an idea on size/shape. https://www.seattlefabrics.com/ I also used to buy from weaver. Dont know if you have their catalog or not, but you may want to look them up and see if anything interests you. also, when it comes to things, you may want to BUILD UP your REFERENCE LIBRARY. You may not want "books" but i find them handy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leather671 Report post Posted April 29, 2022 On 4/5/2022 at 10:45 AM, suzelle said: YKK is major zipper manufacturer. Look that up, might help. YKK Heavy Duty. YKK #10,heavy duty, but as he said above, the websites are screwy.. difficult to maneuver.. Zippershipper.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spyros Report post Posted April 29, 2022 (edited) Oh yeah, my favourite rant. Fkn zippers. On 4/5/2022 at 10:32 PM, DanaStanley said: What do you do as far as stocking zippers, and where do you buy them? Buckleguy, and I make sure to get drunk first to get through the buying experience. Just click and click until the cows come home, and 99% of the time something is not in stock whether its the colour or the size or the zipper pull or the stops. And you can't find out if you can actually assemble a complete set or not until you've clicked on half the website it seems. And yes, I do have a small pile of RiRi zippers in the shed without matching pulls or stops because I got frustrated and ordered the wrong thing. The stupid website should be guiding you with those things, it's 2022 not 1990. Choose a colour and size, and the website should recommend all the pullers and stops that match the size and the colour and are actually in stock. They have an engine in the background that gets online quotes from couriers based on size and weight of your shopping cart ffs, this is really not that hard. Edited April 29, 2022 by Spyros Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alpha2 Report post Posted April 30, 2022 I think a lot of the hardware is available in brass, which won't rust either. I must agree on getting info on zippers from, well, those that sell zippers online! My pet peeve when I was searching for a long zipper for a rifle scabbard, was that no one or two places had the zipper and the hardware I needed! Shipping costs for anything now is absolutely insane, and I would have to get bottom stops from one place, top stops from another, a pull from another and a zipper from yet another, because they didn't even have top/bottom stops in the same color or size at the same place that had a pull in that color/size! I finally found a place online called "The Zipper Lady". Looked up her shop location, it was just across town from me! I won't expect that to happen again in my life. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spyros Report post Posted May 3, 2022 I'm much more likely these days to change the design than convince myself to deal with ordering zippers. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wizcrafts Report post Posted August 3, 2022 I know that this topic has reached its intended outcome. But, I want to share my primary source of YKK zippers and zipper parts and tools, as well as the double sided tape I use to secure them for sewing. Wawak.com stocks a huge amount of zippers in tooth widths up to #10 (chaps size), in various lengths and colors. They have top and bottom stops, pullers and tools. Here is the Zippers landing page. The double sided tape get from Wawak is called HyperStik and is listed on this page. This is really aggressive tape. If your needle sews through the tape it will tend to gum up. To counter this I only use titanium or Gebeder needles when sewing through the tape. Plus, I keep a jar of Goof Off nearby and dip a dauber into it, then wipe the needle down every so often as I sew through the tape. If the machine has a lube pot, I pour in silicon lube and run the thread through it. Both of my patchers have stock lube pots and it's trivial to pour in a bit of silicon lube. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Northmount Report post Posted August 3, 2022 Adding to Wizcrafts' comments: Wawak ships to both Canada and the USA. They have s shipping service in Canada, so no unexpected brokerage or GST charges. Much appreciated. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
