Help! Tandy Leather Hand Press Setter And Line 20 Snaps Question

[madebyrachel]

Hello! I'm new here.

I've been making leather accessories for a few years and finally bought myself a hand press setter after years of hammering in snaps and ruining pieces. I went with the Tandy hand press because it looked decent. I bought the dies for line 20 snaps, which I use the most.

My issue: I really want to use antique bronze and copper snaps, which Tandy doesn't make. I've found them different places, including Ohio Travel Bag (I think...it's hard to read their catalog onscreen) but I have no idea if i can use those snaps with my Tandy press. Does anyone know? Do I have to use Tandy snaps or can I use other brands?

Kinda kicking myself for investing in a $200 Tandy Press without doing this research.

Thoughts?

Am I doomed to Tandy snaps forever?

Thanks!

*Rachel

[Chief31794]

I buy snaps all over, they will work provided you have the proper dies. If you have the dies for line 20 snaps then the line 20 snaps you buy from Ohio Travel will work, same with line 24, etc. The only snaps that won't work to my knowledge are "Pull the dot snaps" because of the indent. I could be wrong but I haven't tried them with the press and can't see how they would work. Every thing else should be OK. I set snaps, rivets, all the time and I don't buy them all from Tandy.

Chief

[madebyrachel]

Awesome! Thanks for the insight

[electrathon]

I have a press, any line 20 snap will work with the dies.

[Dwight]

If you have a Hobby Lobby near by, . . . go there, . . . and ask where the "sewing" things are. When you get there, . . . you are looking for the wall with the scissors, needles, thimbles, etc. and you will find two tools there, . . . both with blue handles, . . . and they are snap setting tools.

One is basically for line 24 size and the other one will do it all, . . . they look like funny shaped pliers.

Either tool is about 25 bucks, . . . I have ruined maybe 6 snaps with that tool, . . . in about 8 years of using it.

One tool is their sku: 304733 and they call it their gripper plier kit, . . . it is the "do em all" tool, . . . and looks almost identical to the other one. I usually find them hanging together or very close proximity of each other.

Nothing I have ever seen at Tandy, . . . or anywhere else for that matter, . . . will do a more efficent job of snaps than this tool.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Bach2011]

If you have a Hobby Lobby near by, . . . go there, . . . and ask where the "sewing" things are. When you get there, . . . you are looking for the wall with the scissors, needles, thimbles, etc. and you will find two tools there, . . . both with blue handles, . . . and they are snap setting tools.

One is basically for line 24 size and the other one will do it all, . . . they look like funny shaped pliers.

Either tool is about 25 bucks, . . . I have ruined maybe 6 snaps with that tool, . . . in about 8 years of using it.

One tool is their sku: 304733 and they call it their gripper plier kit, . . . it is the "do em all" tool, . . . and looks almost identical to the other one. I usually find them hanging together or very close proximity of each other.

Nothing I have ever seen at Tandy, . . . or anywhere else for that matter, . . . will do a more efficent job of snaps than this tool.

May God bless,

Dwight

Hi Dwight,

After I read your reply, I got one from Hobby Lobby but the instruction is so poor. Tried to figure but still no success. Is it possible for you to post how to use the tool?

Thank you

[Dwight]

Bach, . . .

There are four pieces to the line 24 snaps, . . . a male piece with its associated post, and the female piece with its associated post.

If you have never done snaps, . . . the post with the pretty top is for the female piece.

Start with the male piece and its post. Punch a hole in a piece of 6/7 leather, just big enough for the male post to go through it. You DO NOT WANT any free play around the post, . . . you should not have to force it into the hole, . . . but again, no free play around it.

Put the male piece in the hole with the flange on the flesh side of the leather.

Place the male piece onto the protruding post.

The end of the pliers that gets the post is the white nylon end, where you have two choices of settings.

For this post, use the setting that also has a little post in the middle.

The other end of the pliers has a black rubber ring and a nail looking pin in the middle. You also need the red plastic doughnut ring that just barely fits around the male snap half.

Put the doughnut ring in the pliers and center the pliers around the male piece, slide the bottom into place and squeeze the pliers. You will take the pliers off, then remove the red plastic ring, look down into the middle of the snap, and find if you did it right, that the post is neatly split and set against the center of the male piece.

Next, punch the necessary hole for the female piece.

Put the female post with the pretty top in the hole, with the top on the hair side of the leather.

Put the female part of the snap onto the post, flip the white piece on the bottom of the pliers so it has the dished nylon piece there, place the post head in the pliers, make sure the red doughnut piece IS NOT in the pliers, center the spreader in the post and squeeze the plier handle. Remove the pliers and the female part should also be attached by a split and bent post.

I find that about 2/3 of the line 24 snaps are pretty hard to snap the first time, . . . so I set em with a whack of a rubber hammer. Doesn't hurt the finish, and gets them understanding what I want them to do.

Try this, . . . let me know how it worked out for you.

May God bless,

Dwight

[bluesman1951]

Just a hint here :It helps if the punched hole is small enough to make a real tight fit when you slide the post through the leather . keeps from rolling that post off center . Bill

[Bach2011]

This is the one I bought (in fact, I bought both but since you mentioned that the other is for line 24 so I went to get this one). I am still not sure how to use this one for line 20 though.

Sorry for late reply. It took me a while to take photo and upload. Thanks for the reply though.

Thanks Bill...that is the tip I learned in hard way too Now I could use the Osborne set but still not really confident to get it right every time.

[electrathon]

To me that looks like a gromet setter.