Removing conchos and copper rivets?

[ValkyrieEquine]

What are the safest techniques for 1) removing copper rivets without damaging the surrounding leather and 2) unscrewing super tight conchos from a saddle without damaging surrounding leather or the conchos itself?

Edited January 23, 2019 by ValkyrieEquine

[Norton Custom Leather]

copper rivets - take a Dremel with the drum sander, remove the top of the rivet

conchos - if you have a drill driver with the ratchet function they will come rite off 

[bruce johnson]

If the rivet is tight I center punch and drill the peened end off with a cobalt drill bit. The cobalt bits are harder, sharper, and eat copper easily. Much cooler than other bits or grinding. Once the peen is gone, pop the burr off. If the rivet spins then it is generally loose enough to get the tips of an end cutter under the burr and bend it up enough to get a bite and cut it/pull it off. Another option that works is to use a small chisel and hit the burr. It will fold up the burr slightly and you can get a bite.

For conchos a few tricks. Sometimes you can push a chunk of crepe rubber on the them and twist it get them loose. The ProLeptic concho turners once in a while can get them loose if you have one. I still generally fell to plan B. Channel Lock pliers with the jaws wrapped with electrical tape. A light grip on the concho is usually enough abd the torque from the handle length does the job. 

 

[ValkyrieEquine]

Great, thank you!

[SuzanneF]

Help!! I purchased a second hand saddle and it was missing a concho so I decided to replace them all. What a nightmare! The two smaller conchos on either side of the cantle won't budge. One was already bent so I didn't worry about wrecking it but no matter how hard I twist and pull it won't budge at all. What am I doing wrong? It's a flex tree from Circle Y if that helps. Thank you! 

[BigSiouxSaddlery]

On 3/23/2021 at 6:05 PM, SuzanneF said:

Help!! I purchased a second hand saddle and it was missing a concho so I decided to replace them all. What a nightmare! The two smaller conchos on either side of the cantle won't budge. One was already bent so I didn't worry about wrecking it but no matter how hard I twist and pull it won't budge at all. What am I doing wrong? It's a flex tree from Circle Y if that helps. Thank you! 

Flex trees are a different cat altogether.  They are held together with T-nuts on the back side of the bars, and the conchos have machine screws to thread into the t-nuts instead of wood screws.  I despise everything about a flex tree saddle.  What normally has happened by the time they come in for repair, is the conchos either have come loose and the t-nut slips out of position, or the threads are stripped and you have to replace both the t-nut and the concho screw, or the prongs on the t-nut are no longer holding the nut stationary like they are intended.  That can be because they have chewed a groove in the plastic material of the tree bar, or I have seen the prongs broken off or bent enough that they don't hold.  Any one of these scenarios is likely to put me in an extremely bad mood.  Now, when a flex tree comes in, I establish from the get-go that any repair is likely to cost significantly more than on a saddle of traditional construction.  

[Rahere]

I find a woodworker's nail pincers, sufficiently lubricated, is pretty close to the original pressure of the rivet setter and does a fairish job on reversing the deformation, without the danger of a dremel slipping. The 1" wide head has, thus far, been wide enough tp shed the load and the chamfer on the edge of each lip stops cutting in.

 

 

[Northmount]

Moved to saddle restoration and repair.