Brass Rivets / Buckles

[Awokz]

Hello LW community, I am new here and learning this beautiful craft. I just bought a few tools from Tandy after watching many YouTube videos and reading the forum. This is my first post here and hopefully not the last (both asking and helping).

Saying that, I will start by asking a question in regards to belt buckles, rivets, etc... from Tandy:

Are those rivets, belt buckles and all those materials that says "brass color" are actually brass? Also, when they put "nickle plated" what materials are they really made of? 

I am asking this because first, someday I want to make belts with premium or "real" materials and second, I'm afraid of my belts and holster getting rust later on.

I also would like to buy belt buckles from different shape and sizes, where is a good place to buy them?

Thank you all in advance.

 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2016 by Awokz

[Awokz]

I figured it out, thank you!!!

[HENDREFORGAN]

Hopefully you did this before you found your money wasted?  The amount of "electro-plated" brass that gets mislabelled and/or misquoted as "brass" is one of the "learning curves" in starting out.

Perennial problem you have identified . . how in a world of mass produced junk do we find even simple things like quality rivets to ensure our produce is spot on.  You can find genuine brass eyelets but genuine brass rivets - sometimes copper is quoted too - are often expensive and an entirely different form of rivet if you are seeking the popular tubular rivet with cap.  Be suspicious of eyelets and rivets that are quoted as stainless steel too . . s/s is a fragile material for this application and most on sale is actually nickel plated steel.

This is a subject that has prompted me to use solid copper rivets - sometimes called hose rivets - in my work.  Some don't like them, others might say they're a bit over-kill but I know they'll never come apart and they are genuine base metal.  One of my "signatures" I suppose.  The attached photo shows them being used on VERY thick hide.

[JerseyFirefighter]

I only buy double cap rivets from Weaver and Springfield Leather. There are a few more suppliers I would trust when buying solid brass or nickel over brass rivets. When I started I used plated rivets on my own projects and saw how quickly the finish wore off during the course of the year. I also prefer rivet and burrs for my major attachment points. I use both copper and brass dependent on matching the rest of the hardware of  my straps. I guess you can say I formed a mistrust of double cap rivets early on. Most likely to my own misunderstanding on how to properly set them in the beginning, however I would rather have overkill and know ill never have any issues over hardware failure. 

[HENDREFORGAN]

@JerseyFirefighter . . . an excellent response and you have identified the Achilles Heel of the "double cap" or "tubular" rivet . . it is possible for this rivet to appear sound but actually not be entirely correctly fitted. Hiding it's workings inside the tube means you can't offer a 100% guarantee . . oh, it's not as if you can't assemble the solid copper rivet and copper burr badly either . . but you do get to see you've failed in technique so have to chance to replace it.  Even when badly applied these rivets are horrendous to remove!  Even when supposedly failed they won't fail!

There is one other mass produced rivet that I do use but that is down to a lucky purchase of the machine to use it correctly.  The bifurcated rivet.  Now, typically you see these being used by crafts-persons with no cap or with a washer around the "tails" before these are spread with a "vee headed hand punch" . . but they are really meant to be used with a cap.

The "cap" appears no different to any "double cap" rivet when fitted but it's entirely different.  Internally coned it spreads the tails of the rivet and then curls them under a brim.  You can't do this by hand though . . you need the machine for it that does this work so elegantly.  Mine is a foot operated press simply marked "British Made" and with "Size 2" but I believe it was made by Newey & Eyre who, in that companies origins, were one of the giants in the rivet world . . today the company has been sold on so many times it's name only is for an electrical wholesaler.  Sad.   I bought it from a private seller not sure of how to use it for GB£ 50 about 20 years ago . . today you'll not find it anywhere . . priceless.  I'll try to get some pix of it up here so that readers can see why this machine is so valuable because, at least in the North American continent, it may be found under other trade names.  For the moment here is a link to these rivets and caps for sale on Abbey England : http://abbeyengland.com/Store/List/0/CategoryID/419/Level/a

Negatives? Well like the "double cap" you can't see inside BUT set up the foot press properly and the whole operation is more fool-proof than using tubular rivets with a hand-setter . . the other is most of the rivets that can be sourced will be electro-plated ferrous metals . . though if you can bear the cost you could use a solid copper or alloy rivet with a standard cap?

[Awokz]

Thank you guys, Unfortunately i bought everything from Tandy (even the cheap leather) at least I have the military discount which is good. I'm still practicing I've done a few things, getting there.    

P.S. I bought an economy  special double shoulder that is 7/9 oz it's very uneven and doesn't smell good. But hey, needed something to practice. 

[Aven]

Weaver Leather also offers a military and first responder discount.  http://www.weaverleathersupply.com/learn/military-discount