How do I peen "loose" rivets?

[Deemer]

I'm working on a pattern for a camera bag, and I need an articulated method to affix a shoulder strap to the sides of it. I think that a rivet that is just a bit too loose to act like a swivel would do the trick. How does one go about reliably doing this? 

[garypl]

I never tried this, but I suppose you could take a copper rivet and carefully drive the burr down until it is not quite touching the material and the rivet is still free to turn. Then peen the rivet to keep the burr in place.  Try on some scrap and see if it is loose enough for you.  Long term I don’t think this will wear well and I suggest using a small D ring instead.

Gary

[Deemer]

I feel like that would just push the burr down further? I've over-peened rivets on metal before and ended up with wrinkles because it just kept tightening the rivet. Maybe I'm peening incorrectly. 

I'd really love to use D-rings but I don't have any, and getting things shipped here is a ridiculously long wait - sometimes as long as 3 months. Many times things never arrive at all or I just get an empty envelope/box at the end of said quarter year long wait. Any other ideas are welcome. I can get regular brass rings locally, though only in 3/4" and 2" sizes. I've played around with the 2" size, but  I just can't make it look right. I don't see how to make 3/4" work at all. 

To alleviate some wear, I plan on having a sandwiched design, where the shoulder strap has the bag itself on one side and then a "strap" on the other side of that is sewn onto the bag so that linear force keeps the rivet perpendicular to the force instead of angling. Imagine how you would usually sew a D-ring to a bag, only instead of length of leather going around the D-ring, you have a rivet going through that length of leather, through the strap, and then through the bag itself. It's not perfect, I know, but I'm trying to make lemonade here. 

 

Edited January 26, 2018 by Deemer

[Mattsbagger]

Where are you located and where do you order from?

[garypl]

Sorry to hear about your shipping issues - that's a bummer!  What about just stitching the strap to the side of the bag?  Alternatively, to relieve stress on the leather could you sandwich one or two small metal washers in the leather, run the  rivet through them, and then cover washers with leather to hide them?  Would that distribute the stress around a larger area?

Gary

[Tugadude]

Only one way to do it in my mind.  Add thickness between the burr and the leather and after peening, remove the spacer.  Probably not a great method.  How about using a screw-type rivet and loctite?  Would be prettier and not come unthreaded inadvertently.

Edited January 26, 2018 by Tugadude
Added pic

[Northmount]

You could try placing a piece of card stock (or what ever cardboard you think may be the right thickness) over the stud first, then place the bur and peen it.  Then cut the card stock right up to the bur, pull as much off as possible, and pick out the rest with an awl or other thin pointed tool, like a craft knife blade.  Be careful in peening as too much/too tight, will make it harder to get the card stock out.  A scrap piece of hard thin leather might be better, at least it has some fibres to hold it together.  You maybe able to make a relief cut on one side of the hole in the scrap to make it easier to pull and work it out.  Experiment on some scrap first!

Tom

[Northmount]

1 hour ago, Mattsbagger said:

Where are you located and where do you order from?

IP address indicates "Palau" as his location. 

I would recommend that all members of Leatherworker.net update their profiles to show their location so they can get more relevant information from those that are responding to their posts.  You might even find someone near your location that you can work with or visit.

Tom

[bikermutt07]

Maybe slip a short length of stainless tubing down over the stud. This could act like a bearing of sorts.

I haven't tried it, just thinking out side of the box. 

They rarely let me in the box.

[Mattsbagger]

12 minutes ago, bikermutt07 said:

Maybe slip a short length of stainless tubing down over the stud. This could act like a bearing of sorts.

I haven't tried it, just thinking out side of the box. 

They rarely let me in the box.

A bushing. Great idea!

[bikermutt07]

1 hour ago, Mattsbagger said:

A bushing. Great idea!

Or a bushing, yeah that's the word I was looking for.

[Sledzep01]

Get some of the heaviest copper wire cast offs you can find, strip them and make your own rings then attach normally with Tight Copper rivets to match.

 

Sled

[Deemer]

I'm in Palau, and I generally order from China (AliExpress, Rakuten, etc.). When compared to ordering from  the States, quality is hit or miss with huge swings in each direction, but it usually gets here, the shipping charge is reasonable and and it arrives slightly quicker, despite typically going to the US first .

A screw type rivet would solve my problems, but I haven't found any of those in brass here. I'm a sucker for matching metal hardware, and I already have brass button studs and brass rivets (I fully expect these to be a bear to work with)

Bikermutt, that's brilliant. Off to find some sort of tubing! This solution isn't the longest lasting, but it should last as long as a belt buckle hole, right? I bet I can stitch another piece of leather to the strap end to increase the longevity.

Sledzep - I thought of making my own, but there's no suitable diameter brass to be had. I found 3/8" brass stock or 1/8" brazing rod, and copper has been nixed based on aesthetics - see paragraph 2 :). Also, I spent quite a bit of time looking for copper wire when I made a spot welder from a microwave oven a couple of years back and I don't recall seeing solid copper wiring large enough to be structural here. 10ga, at the most.