Can YKK zippers zip "to themselves?"

[JHLeatherwood]

Making the Makers Leather Supply pistol cast from their excellent template. All done but final stitching... 

And I can't get the zipper to work. In the video, he has to fuss with the zipper a bit to get it to start, and I'm OK with that. 

But I can get it started, and the teeth just don't mesh. I can put a pull on a piece of normal, two part zipper and it works fine. 

I've tried putting the pull on upside down, same result. 

Tried to put a pull on a smaller loop of zipper (zipping it to itself) like the pattern, and get the same result... No mesh. 

Put a sample piece on one side of the zipper loop, and it worked fine. 

Really excited about how it's turned out, but if I can't zip it shut its not much good. 

[kgg]

1 hour ago, JHLeatherwood said:

And I can't get the zipper to work.

There isn't really enough detail in your photo's to determine if the left and right sides of the zipper are correctly installed. The following video may help you to determine this. The video outlines in good detail a metal zipper, the teeth, the direction of the teeth and how the two sides should mesh together with the slider.

Hope this helps,

kgg

[Rahere]

Try rubbing a pencil over it to create graphite lubrication. It's often a question of angles, getting the teeth to come together flat around those tight curves.

Also, try putting some thick corrugated card between to hold the faces enough apart for the zippers to settle into a perpendicular. You might even need to stiffen slightly with white PVA glue well thinned in water.

Edited May 9, 2021 by Rahere

[RockyAussie]

When the 2 sides come together they must be facing the same direction to do up. Look closely and note that each tooth has a hollowed out side and is domed on the other side of the tooth and that for it to mesh the dome side needs to fit into the hollow on the other side of the zip. I think you will find that you have one side in around the wrong way in this case.

[Dwight]

Yep, RockyAussie figured that one out.

May God bless,

Dwight

[GatoGordo]

Your second picture shows two problems. The zipper on the right shows the problem that Rocky Aussie pointed out. On the left side the bumps go up while on the right side, the bumps go down.

The left zipper shows a different problem. While the bumps on both sides go the same direction, they are backwards with respect to the slider. When holding the slider with the closed side down and the open side up (as shown), the bumps on the chain should be facing up.

[TomMeyers]

There is an up and down of the tape. The dome should be pointing up when zipping (up). Yours are not.

[TomMeyers]

I recommend you put a tab of leather across the bottom of the closed zipper and in front of that sew an X on the teeth.

The tab will hang off the end a little but give you the space to open fhe case.

I use that in purse making.

The other end can be finished the same or just sewn to the leather. One side of zipper to one side of leather. ...

 

 

[JHLeatherwood]

On 5/9/2021 at 4:51 AM, RockyAussie said:

When the 2 sides come together they must be facing the same direction to do up. Look closely and note that each tooth has a hollowed out side and is domed on the other side of the tooth and that for it to mesh the dome side needs to fit into the hollow on the other side of the zip. I think you will find that you have one side in around the wrong way in this case.

 

16 hours ago, TomMeyers said:

There is an up and down of the tape. The dome should be pointing up when zipping (up). Yours are not.

I'm learning a lot about a wide variety of stuff! Like, all about zippers.

@kgg that's an excellent video! Thank you.

It appears that despite the Maker's video, I can't run a single strip (half the zipper) all the way around the case and zip it to itself. I'm adapting.

Would a different kind of zipper work? Aaron clearly gets his to work, and while I'm a huge fan of the brass YKK, I could probably be talked into using a nylon zipper if it yields the desired effect.

Thanks AGAIN, y'all, for excellent help.

[GatoGordo]

I watched the video to understand your problem. Aaron uses a plastic coil zipper that does not have the directional teeth of the metal zipper. That is why his works.

You can use the metal zipper by using two halves with the teeth in the same direction.  Where the two halves meet could be hidden under the D-ring holder that Aaron shows on a second case at the end of his video.

However, as the design of this case allows the pistol to come in contact with the zipper (repeatedly as it bounces around), you would be better off using the plastic coil that won't scratch.

[JHLeatherwood]

5 hours ago, GatoGordo said:

I watched the video to understand your problem. Aaron uses a plastic coil zipper that does not have the directional teeth of the metal zipper. That is why his works.

You can use the metal zipper by using two halves with the teeth in the same direction.  Where the two halves meet could be hidden under the D-ring holder that Aaron shows on a second case at the end of his video.

However, as the design of this case allows the pistol to come in contact with the zipper (repeatedly as it bounces around), you would be better off using the plastic coil that won't scratch.

I wondered about that, too, and considered adding tie-downs or straps internally to hold the pistol (and possibly a magazine) in place. Maybe the next one.