change rivets on gun belt ?

[Chris B]

My moms boyfriend just got promoted to sargent on the police force where he works. And his current gun belt or whatever is on it has silver rivets and now they have to have gold colored. He asked me if there is a way to change them before he has to buy a new rig. And yes I said buy, I am not good enough or i do not have enough tools to make him one. I would like to make him one, someday. Anyway, what would be involved in changing them out? I figure drilling them out and replacing them, but what setter would I need? And how would I tell what size they are?

thanks,

Chris

[wolvenstien]

Drill them out from the back side... be careful and use a drill press if one is available to you.

Hopefully you have a leather supply close to you. Take the "rig" with you to the supply before you drill out the rivets, and match up the head size with the "brass" rivets they have then match the length of the rivet stud to the thickness of the rig... you might need more than one size... you do not want the studs to stick more than 1/16 of an inch out of the leather or it will "fold" on you are you set them.... I dont know about your local supply, but I use Tandy here, and they did away with the single setter and you have to buy the setter with the anvil every time... so if you have to get several setters for different sized heads, you will have an anvil for each.... I do not have my 2008 Tandy catalog in front of me... so I cant give you part numbers, but the folks who work there should be able to show you exactly what you need and how to set it if you are like me and need to be shown more than told....

[Randy Cornelius]

These are most likely the line 24 snaps. You can get the snaps and the 2 piece setter from Tandy, item # 3630-00.

When drilling them out use an over sized drill bit and use a pair of pliers to hold on to them as they will start tuning on you after you start drilling.

I ran out of the snaps one day and needed some real bad and could not wait and found them at my local hardware store with a anvel and setter. Very different from the Tandy one but it works so good that I kept it and still use it to set all my snaps. It has a collor that slides up and down where you can hold the snap tight against the leather while you set it.

Congrads on his promotion, tell him for me that I feel sorry for him, I have been a patrol Sergeant for over 15 years now and there are days I would give the stripes back in a heartbeat. A Sergeant is just like the white stuff in an Oreo cookie, you get squeezed from both sides.

If I can help you with the LE gear I will be glad to. I have been making all of the Departments leather gear for several years now.

Randy

[Chris B]

Thanks guys for the info. I will tell him that you said that. And no I do not have a local Tandy, the closest one is about 2 hours away...ROAD TRIP!! lol. Anyway, thanks for the info it sounds like I should be able to take it on. And Randy I will tell him you said congrats. I will be talking to you later, because I would like to get into making police gear for him and the force. Lol I like that about an oreo cookie..lol]

Thanks,

Chris

[Calleather]

I change out snaps all the time on LE Duty gear. Just pinch them off with a pair of wire cutters. easier than a drill. MAke sure to pinch from the back or socket side.