Another Riveting Question

[PrS]

Hello

I am struggling with some jiffy rivets on handbags. I've been hitting the rivets with the concave metal die but they all end up dented and they pull apart very easily. The post ends also end up poking through the cap part. Am I doing something wrong? Shouldn't it be flattening? Am I not hitting it hard enough? I'm at my wits end with these!

On a related note, is a rivet press really the only option for a professional looking rivet? I'm tossing around the idea of getting one but they sure are expensive. I would need a separate die for each rivet/snap, correct? If I were to purchase an old press (like early 1900s) from Ebay, would modern dies work on those machines?

Thanks in advance!

P.

[Luke Hatley]

from what you are saying.... i think your Rivets are too long.

they should have about 1/16" of the post showing.

Buying an oldre rivet machine from e-bay and getting modern dies to fit could cause problems for you.. Check the rivet press and dies out at your local Tandy.

[whinewine]

from what you are saying.... i think your Rivets are too long.

they should have about 1/16" of the post showing.

Buying an oldre rivet machine from e-bay and getting modern dies to fit could cause problems for you.. Check the rivet press and dies out at your local Tandy.

I second what Luke says.

russ

[PrS]

I second what Luke says.

russ

Thanks guys.

As far as I can tell, the posts do only come up above the fabric about 1/16th of an inch.

Is the post supposed to sort of mushroom out inside the cap? Because that definitely doesn't seem like it's happening.

[Luke Hatley]

yes that is correct. you said Fabric ?

do you think the Fabric is compressing a lot? if so

use a shorter Rivet

[UKRay]

What are you using as a base to set this rivets on? You need to have a solid (I would choose a block of marble or a chunky steel anvil) base to hammer against.

Ray

[alb]

Hi,

Jiffy rivets can be a pain. I don't use them very often but I remember how trying it was when I first used them. Something that helped me understand what they were supposed to look like when they were properly seated was to take a rivet and cap and use a pair of pliars to slowly squeeze them together until I felt them give. At that point the post has spread out into the cap and locked it in place. They will be quite hard to pull apart. When using them to rivet together pieces of leather, be sure that the hole that you punch is as small as possible while still being able to get the rivet into the hole. If the hole is too big, the rivet will bend.

When I set a jiffy rivet I use a concave anvil on the bottom (really a flat metal plate with a small concave depression for the rivet to set in, and a concave rivet setter on top and give it a very sharp whack with my maul. It took a bit of practice at first, but now it's easy.

Good luck!

Ann

[DomsLeather]

I bought a small anvil off ebay one that had a printle hole in it...the anvil I have is 7 pounds...i was using a snap and rivet anvil on my anvil for the bottom and a rivet tool for the top...well i didn't like how some of the rivets came out...also I didn't like the impression I was getting from the lower button anvil. I had a spare setting tool for the top...so i welded a washer to it and slip it in the printle hole in my anvil and use that for the bottom anvil...so in essence i am using two top tools to set the rivets...now I dont have any bent rivets or impressions on my work.

[Daggrim]

One other thing you might check, as Dom mentiond, is for rivet posts that are bent sideways. This happens if your post is too long. You can spot it by looking edgewise at your riveted material, and see if the cap and the head line up. If they're misaligned, the shaft is bent, and they'll never make a secure hold.

Doug