Copper Rivet Setter Getting Stuck ...

[BESON]

I'm relatively new to leather working and just started trying to use copper rivets. I picked up a #12 setter and rivets from Weaver and I've been practicing, but I have encountered a problem: after hammering the burr down into place, the setter gets stuck to or on the post of the rivet. When this happens, it is very, very hard to get the setter removed from the post. I've been able to do it with the claw end of a hammer, but it ends up mangling the leather. It's just been practice pieces at this point and it doesn't happen every time (maybe 1 in 5 or 6). Any ideas what I might be doing wrong? 

[JMWendt]

Rotate the tool 1/4 turn prior to each hammer strike until the rivet is set.  This will keep the tool from sticking, and it will make a nicer finish.

[Tugadude]

Great advice above, it is what I do.  Also keep the backside perfectly flat and on an anvil or similar.  For some work I've laid the project on my heavy, cast iron table saw surface.  If you bend the rivet, even slightly, it will be tough to remove.

[TinkerTailor]

If the rivets are too long and bottom out in the setter, the shaft will bend and it will get stuck. Two fixes, cut the rivets, or drill the hole deeper. Drilling could be really difficult depending on how hard the tool is. If you are trimming them before you set the burr, actually any time you trim them, don't just cut them off, cut part way through and then turn the cutters 90 degrees and cut the rest of the way through.  Doing it in one cut can deform the shaft enough to get stuck. Plus it is easier to peen nicely if the top of the rivet is a pyramid shape not a wedge.

Btw, you dont actually need a setter. I have some random of 1/4 inch drive deep sockets, several of the small ones work great to set burrs. I got the right size for any rivet. After I drive on the burr with a socket and mallet,  I cut the rivet off and hammer them with the ball of a ball peen hammer. That is why it is named that way. This is how they turn out:

 

[HENDREFORGAN]

On 9/24/2016 at 5:13 AM, TinkerTailor said:

. . . Btw, you dont actually need a setter. I have some random of 1/4 inch drive deep sockets, several of the small ones work great to set burrs. I got the right size for any rivet. After I drive on the burr with a socket and mallet,  I cut the rivet off and hammer them with the ball of a ball peen hammer. That is why it is named that way. This is how they turn out:

 

So true, "Necessity is the Mother of invention".  I began to take a dislike to the lop-sided design of my copper rivet setting tools where the hole to drive the washer down is one side of the dished recess to peen the cut rivet, it caused more lop-sided rivets applications that my judgement should have performed!

So I now use a small section of brass thick walled tube and peen over the cut rivet with only my small hammer to complete the job.  The diameter of my "tubes" are a more comfortable fit to the rivet stems than the proper tool and - thankfully - not had the previous sticking issues.

[Colt W Knight]

I have the weaver setter, and the only time I have that problem is when the rivet isn't sitting nice and square on the anvil or I'm not using a good sturdy surface.  If you bend that shank, it will get stuck. I only strike my rivet setter once to set the burr, and then give it a few whacks while rotating the tool to peen it over into a nice dome 

[BESON]

Thanks all for the input! I think it was a combination of the various things mentioned. Moving to a harder surface and rotating quarter turns helped a lot. I'd also been practicing on thinner scrap leather. While the posts weren't too long for the thin leather (i.e., there was still room in the tool once fully set), I was having to drive the burr further than I might normally, meaning more potential to bend the post. I'm now getting much more consistent and I've found that the quarter turns also gives me a chance to check things as they go, addressing a potential issue before it becomes one. 

 

Thanks!!!

Edited October 1, 2016 by BESON

[HENDREFORGAN]

The extent to which you drive the burr or washer down the post is also something that requires knowledge of where to stop.  There is a temptation with several pieces of thicker hide to truly hammer this home . . often you do yourself no favours. For the burr or washer to work efficiently it must retain it's cup shape to be able to "bite" into the copper post.  Hammer it fully down and likely you'll flatten out that washer . . then it will probably slide up as you're trying to cut the post.

The true beauty of this rivet system is it's ability for the metal to deform and thus make ANY removal extremely difficult . . unlike say tubular rivets it doesn't need to grasp the hide truly tight to 100% perform.