Line 24 Snap Problems

[thaynp]

I have been setting a few line 24 snaps from tandy on a few things I have made (ukulele strap), and am using 3 oz leather. When I hammer the snap on the post forms the little curl and is secure but the male part and the female part are not in line. Usually the male part, which is visible from the outward facing surface is not longer centered. Not a big deal, unless its on a thin piece of strap and it is more noticable.

Is there something wrong with my technique? Should I shorten the post if I am using thin leather?

Thanks for your help.

Paul

[Chief31794]

Paul,

First I think that a Line 24 for 3 oz leather is not very well matched. For 3oz leather you might consider using glove snaps or segma snaps. Line 24's are the brutes in leather working. However if properly installed they should not be offset as you indicated. That is normally caused by "Beating them violently". Snaps should be tapped lightly until they are completely seated and they will still be difficult to keep from going awry simply because they are too large. Hitting them too hard will make the shaft bend instead of rolling correctly. Another solution would be to use a mechanical setter. There was another post similar to this one a short time back (1-2 weeks) and the discussion of various types of setters insued. You might try searching for snap on the forum and see what else you can find.

Ken

[Northmount]

1340572369[/url]' post='253946']

Is there something wrong with my technique? Should I shorten the post if I am using thin leather?

A recent post on another thread said to cut the post shorter and use a simple awl to reshape the post so it can be beaded properly with out bending.

CTG

[Tree Reaper]

Keep the hole as small as you can to fit the post and cut the post so it only sticks up about 3/32.

[George B]

Setting snaps straight was always a problem for me. Wasted snaps and time redoing them and sometimes no better than the ones I removed.

Read a post here about using an arbor press. Bought the 1/2 ton at Harbor Freight and had a friend tap the end of the post for my tool, tapped a hole in the front for a thumb screw to hold the tool in place and bingo! I have not had one snap that did not set perfectly.

If you search the forum you will find plenty of ways to set up an arbor press to do snaps and much more.

[cjg]

Some setting tools work better than others also, I have 3 different ones and only one of them works well. If the post is to long for the material, you're going to have more trouble setting them, depending on the material of the post, brass ones seem to set much easier than stainless steel ones.

[Sylvia]

I wonder if a person could use a pipe cutter like what a plumber uses for cutting copper tubing to cut down the snap tubes.

[Northmount]

1343958608[/url]' post='259047']

I wonder if a person could use a pipe cutter like what a plumber uses for cutting copper tubing to cut down the snap tubes.

The tubular portion is too small in diameter to fit the rolls, and too close to the flanged potion.

Side cutters (wire cutter, diagonal cutter) to cut the excess off. This pinches the end flat, so need to open it back up with a metal scribe (or awl, or fat sharp needle or such) and shape it round again.

Tubular steel rivets are set with a die that splits the tube into 4 parts, and rolls the segments down. So today when setting a snap, I tried using a Phillips screw driver to split the tubular section. Split it too far and had to break off the excess strips before I could rivet it. So next time I think I'll try just barely starting the split and see if it will roll over easier and keep a nicer shape inside. The one I did set flat and looks okay, just not perfection.

CTG

[TwinOaks]

One of the things I have noticed is (especially on the Tandy ones) that often the end of the tube is belled IN, much like you'd find on a piece of tubing cut with a tubing cutter. I solve this with a pair of needle nose pliers. Insert the tip into the tube and flare the mouth of the tube a little bit....at least to the point that the mouth is straight. That makes belling the tube SO much easier.

When I need to cut down a rivet, I just use a cordless drill and a bit that's several sizes larger than the rivet. Run at fairly high speed to avoid the bit biting into the metal and spinning the tube.

Looking at the idea of using a philips head screwdriver, I wonder if a countersink bit might work well? It has space between the 'teeth' to encourage the metal to split there, and they usually have a fairly wide angle....which should cause the split higher on the tube.

[cjg]

I wonder if a person could use a pipe cutter like what a plumber uses for cutting copper tubing to cut down the snap tubes.

I have a small 1"x30" belt sander with a 4" disk on my bench that I use for smoothing edges etc that I use to shorten rivets etc, works great. I have a pretty good selection of snap post, I think I have 4 different lengths, and seldom have to shorten one, but don't use really thin stuff very often.

[cdthayer]

I have been setting a few line 24 snaps from tandy...using 3 oz leather.....Should I shorten the post if I am using thin leather?

Paul

I’ve used a Dremel Cut-off Disk to shorten the posts on regular Tandy/Leather Factory Line 24 Snaps before. Worked fairly good, but I had a tendency to cut them off shorter than I should have and then they tended to split when I set them.

A better choice for me is to use Dritz Line 24 Snaps in thin materials. They have a shorter post to begin with and are available at most sewing centers. I’ve only seen them in Nickel finish though....

CD in Oklahoma

[Lobo]

Every reply posted so far offers good points (hole sizing for the snap shaft, shaft length, alternative tools to start flaring the shaft tube) for achieving your goal. The only things I feel is worth adding is to buy good snaps and good tools!

The snaps and setting tools that Tandy sells are imported, and quality can vary considerably. Much better and more consistent results can be had with the products offered by Fasnap, Durable Dot, and Ohio Travel Bag (commercial accounts required by some of these suppliers). C.S. Osborne setting tools are pretty much the standard of the industry and will provide far more consistent results.

Tandy's Line 24 snaps retail for about $5.00 per dozen (about $0.43 per unit), which is much more than the better quality snaps cost (although you will have to order in bulk lots of 100 or 1000 sets). Tandy's setting tools are relatively inexpensive, but a few dollars spent on the better tools will make the process much less frustrating.

Best regards.