How Do I Set These Conchos If They Arent Screwback?

[AlexLeather]

I ordered these conchos online from an italian supplier. They arrived without any other hardware. How do I attach these to a belt ?

[TexasLady]

Hi Alex. I just stumbled upon your post. I contemplated it for a couple of minutes and then almost started to laugh. I think you got 'took'. I hope the front sides of the conchos are pretty enough to be worth all the work you'll probably have to put into salvaging them and making them usable.

I found this website online where they talk about soldering pins or wires to the back of conchos.

http://www.riorondo.com/hardware/conchos.html

Edited April 24, 2015 by TexasLady

[cgleathercraft]

I've heard of thumb tacks being soldered onto the back of conchos then bending the pin over on the back side of the leather. Slip a tiny flat washer under the pin and solder the bent pin to the washer. If your comfortable with a soldering iron it should hold just fine.

The one i saw was a lapel pin re-purposed to go on a keychain and looked pretty good!

[TLP]

If It was me I would trim the post on the back to slightly longer then the width of the leather and the thickness of a suitable copper washer, (washer inside diameter should be a very snug fit) then rivet the whole works together, you will be peening the post down so that it mushrooms and will no longer fit through the rivet.

The conchos you bought appear to have been cast and the person doing the casting extended the post on the back of the concho during the casting process to provide a channel for the metal to be poured into the mold.

[AlexLeather]

UPDATE: I've heard back from the supplier and they've instructed me how to do it. Here is the copy/paste reply for anyone who runs into this problem themselves:

"1) firstly to fix better the studs on the leather you need backrondels bought in a normal hardware shop, the rondel holes should have the same size of the stud spike.

2) put the studs in the leather hole and block on the back with the rondels, cut the stud spike just leaving the rondels going 1/2 millimeters out of the rondel hole

3) hammer on the spike edge like the hours of the clock, enlarging the head of the spike so it will be larger than the hole and it will not come out anymore

4) if you have difficulties you can make the brass softer almost like tin putting the studs on the fire for few mins an leave them cold down naturally at ambient temperature"

[TexasLady]

Thanks for updating us, Alex. What I still wonder though is if you won't need to grind off some of the irregularities before attempting to follow those instructions.

Edited April 27, 2015 by TexasLady

[wildthings]

What is a backrondel?

[AlexLeather]

I would guess a washer, wildthings

[Sluggo001]

I've peened over post conchos and you'll need a copper washer and a lot of patience.

If they aren't mostly silver, the posts will be brittle and the edges will chip off. Take your time

[Grey Drakkon]

Annealing the shaft (putting it in fire until it just barely glows, then letting it cool down slowly like they instructed) will soften up the metal and help avoid chipping.