Copper Rivets...

[Northmount]

Looking good! In all things i do I often go in to hard on the subject and once again it shows that a bit delicacy is better

A question on the topic of Copper Rivets - Will they not stain and turn green as copper normally does ?

Takes moisture. Other chemicals and contaminants will hasten the process. If it is kept dry, no green!

Tom

[footrat]

I've had this same issue, ESPECIALLY when working with double or triple layers of 13/15 oz. skirting. The trick, as others have said, is to start the peening with the round ball of a ball peen hammer.

The issues I have with this, when I have issues, are that the heavy leather is usually folded around a ring or buckle, and it wants to spring back up while hammering. This pushes the burr off the rivet, and/or drives the rivet through the burr. The way to avoid this is to make SURE the flat part of your rivet is solidly on your impact surface (marble/granite slab, anvil, steel, whatever), try to hold or clamp the leather layers together, and use the peening process to push the burr back down. As you roll the top edges of the rivet over, they will push the burr back down tightly against the leather.

If you do this, and don't try to peen it down in three hits, you'll have no problems making pretty rivets. I use the ball peen hammer to pretty much dome the rivet all the way down, then I use the peening tool to clean it up and make it pretty. I come back with a smooth-faced claw hammer and give the rivet one or two good smacks on top to flatten the top of the dome a bit. I don't smash the whole thing flat like the picture above. If you smash it flat, sometimes the leather gives too much, and the rivet ends up with a dome in the middle of a concave, sunken burr.

And about green rivets- I have some that have already tarnished underneath, where the rivet contacts the leather. There's a green fringe around the edge. This has only happened on a couple rivets that are on some very hard-use items that have been used for firefighting.