How Can I Loosen Snaps ?

[RockyAussie]

This Paskal mob over this way do some snaps but they dont have much of a colour range. What they do have is different spring pressure settings in the socket section. The stiff ones are very bloody stiff. https://www.paskal.com.au/media/productattach/p/a/paskal_press_studs_specs.pdf

[Handstitched]

@RockyAussie as silly as it sounds, bunnings  do sell  'zenith' brand   line 24's ( here in west oz anyway)  .  They're not too tight or too loose , great for  knife cases etc. who would have thought?  

HS

[RockyAussie]

15 hours ago, Handstitched said:

@RockyAussie as silly as it sounds, bunnings  do sell  'zenith' brand   line 24's ( here in west oz anyway)  .  They're not too tight or too loose , great for  knife cases etc. who would have thought?  

HS

Thanks for the thought mate, I will have a look in the local one when I get in town next.

[Doc Reaper]

On 6/21/2023 at 11:43 AM, fredk said:

Thanks y'awl for your input

fredk- I see a set of snaps at the beginning of this feed. That male piece all the way over to the right is what I try to avoid. That whole stem (male) piece caves in pulling down on the female  part thus making the outside portion (where the spring is) slightly smaller. I was guessing that the ones I had were made in China as cheaply as possible. (I hate cheaply made crap from anywhere)

I will post a second picture of what a better quality snap looks like and  everyone here may benefit from it. I too purchased cheap China crap and don’t want to throw away money. I might try using an epoxy mixture and placing it inside the mushroom cap just so it doesn’t collapse when hit with a hammer. 

I have 500 snaps (2000 pieces) of the cheaply made version from China, lord knows I despise companies that cut cost to save a penny, I’ll pay the extra 25 cents for a quality product 

Edited June 23, 2023 by Doc Reaper
More hot air to release

[chuck123wapati]

On 6/20/2023 at 9:06 PM, fredk said:

or poppers to us uns

The type with a spring in the female part -

I have lots of snaps/poppers but I very rarely use them because they are just too tight. They are so tight I have to use a small screwdriver as a lever between the male & female parts to get them to open up. Sometimes I have to use a pin-nail hammer to force the screwdriver between the male and female parts.

I have snaps/poppers from a number of different sources. Some are worse than others but they are all too tight

I recently used a few on an old fabric jacket. I re-enforced where they were fitted, but upon trying to open a couple they ripped out of the jacket rather than opening! yes, I checked before hand that they'd open but they didn't, I foolishly thought the snaps would loosen up with some use.  One snap/popper even ripped out thru the leather on a project rather than opening

As we say here 'its dooin ma heed in' (translated; it is very extremely vexing and its annoying me )

I've tried filing the raised ring towards the top of the male part. That helped a wee bit. Maybe I didn't do enough. But filing that ring cuts through the plating on nickle plated ones, but not too bad on the solid brass ones.

Is this the only way I can make them looser? I only have about 100 snaps/poppers to work on

PS. grease, vaseline, any lube, does not work

i think Doc is on to it. My snap setter is similar to this except it has a sleeve that will slide down into the snap ring so that the thing isn't deformed when set.

[Ddat]

I had the opposite problem, couldn't get snaps to feel secure enough.

Are you using thin leather with a long post? If there's too much peened (rolled) material inside the female portion you won't be able to close them properly.

 

Could they be pull-the-dot security snaps? 

[Gezzer]

I think Doc is right in that whatever the reason ( made to small or as a result of setting ) the spring has no where to go . It must have room to expand outward  , it should be fairly loose  in the female cup .

[Frodo]

I have a few different types of snap setters

i have the one shown on your photo

All of them are a pain to use , I bought a box of snaps in the sewing section of a big box they came with a short stubby set tool

I have found that this little tool works better than any other I have

It folds the metal over correctly and the snap does not have to be beaten with a hammer to close 

 

added bonus

use this tool to set large snaps where the leather is not thick enough

[fredk]

Interesting thoughts and suggestions from everyone. Thanks

Actually, come to think of it, the best snaps I had came in a small packet of ten with a silly small setter & anvil. You put the very small setter in a hole in a piece of plastic and the anvil into a hole on the other end of the plastic. But I've not seen those for years

[Gezzer]

I used the type on the left (SLC I think ) for a while and wasn't real happy with it . Bought the OSBORNE on the right and it made quite a difference  for me .  Being shorter it took a second to find a new hold but once I did it is as easy to use as the longer type. I think the added mass and a few thousands larger bell makes the difference  but it might all be in my head