missing rivets on hunting sporran

[Jon Lilley]

Greetings to the Kilted masses!

I bought a hunting sporran from a reputable establishment a few years ago and have gotten some mileage out of it, but the problem is, one of the tops of the rivets has broken off and it's really bothering me. It just looks bad. I went back to the vendor asking advice, but they no longer deal with the sporran maker and could give me little help. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could go about repairing it myself? It's probably a very easy fix, but I don't want to make things worse with a bad repair job. I vaguely remember seeing something on this topic years ago, but couldn't find it in the archives. (Tha mi duilich!)

IMG_1271.jpg

Thanks so much for the help!

Jon

[Steve Ashton]

Setting rivets is really easy. The problem is finding a single rivet with the same head design. You may end up changing all of them to make them alike.

Most fabric stores sell rivets in the leather section.

The rivet itself is usually two parts with different shank lengths available.

You can also find different designs on the head.

Many times they are sold in kits with the installation tools. One is a hole cutter and the other has a concave end to avoid damage to the head when setting.



You put the shank through the hole in the leather - put the head on the outside - a firm base underneath, and then hit the head with a hammer to set.
The shank deforms under the head making the rivet secure.

[Jon Lilley]

Hi, Steve!

Thank you very much for the help, Steve, but you were dead on when you said, 'finding the same heads is going to be rough'. We've got a really great selection of upholstery tacks, etc. that match the original, but nothing in the way of rivets I can use. I tried making shanks (like a shanked button), but the metal just wouldn't stand the bending -- I don't have a torch here at the house I can use to heat things up to make them pliable. Sad . . . I also thought about threading them like an earring post, but I can't find anything that small without spending buckets of money on specialized equipment. We're not setting diamonds here so enough of that nonsense! Rubber Cement isn't strong enough. Model-Glue and Superglue are too brittle. Gorilla glue, in this case, makes too much of a mess so I didn't even attempt it. Looks like all I've got left to try is epoxy. Any opinions?

[plaid preacher]

Shoemaker! .. would be my first stop. Now I know I am particularly blessed to have a great shoe repair guy in town, but these folks do repairs on all sorts of leather goods, including straps for purses, etc. So he may have just the thing. Alternatively, Tandy leather has a good selection of rivets, and perhaps the one you require. They do mail order, if you are handy enough to affect the repair yourself.

If you can find one that is close, but not exactly the same as all the rivets, you might consider replacing the ones on the leaves, as they are all close together. I suspect, if they were somewhat similar, it would not be necessary to replace the ones in the targe as well.

Oh, and for what it's worth - relax. I know it bugs you. It would drive me nuts. But the reality is no one will ever notice that the head of that rivet is missing from 20 yards and a galloping horse. (I learned that expression at Kilt Kamp - and I love it!) If someone is so close that they notice that, then you probably have a different problem.


Hope this is helpful.

Robert

[Steve Ashton]

I fixed one just like this a few years ago. I swapped them all out for the star rivets like in my photos. The customer really liked the increased bling.

Took less than an hour and cost less than $20.00 in parts.

[Jon Lilley]

Thank you for your suggestions, Robert! It's always great to make the acquaintance of a fellow Kilt Kamper! Made anything new recently? I'm just about ready to jump back in and swim with the kiddies after a 2-year hiatus. It should be fun trying to remember all the details . . .

A dear friend taught me to 'Google it!' when in doubt or to just know more, but I had NO idea you could do the same with YouTube and Amazon. I've got tools at my fingertips that I wasn't aware of until today! Tandy is a great idea. I'll check them out once I'm done here.

We had a great shoemaker here a long time ago and there's been no one to replace him since. Very sad!

Thanks again,

Jon

[Bruce Scott]

If you google domed rivets you may find what you're looking for:

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=d...ih=952#imgrc=_

[Stan]

Greetings to the Kilted masses!

I bought a hunting sporran from a reputable establishment a few years ago and have gotten some mileage out of it, but the problem is, one of the tops of the rivets has broken off and it's really bothering me. It just looks bad. I went back to the vendor asking advice, but they no longer deal with the sporran maker and could give me little help. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could go about repairing it myself? It's probably a very easy fix, but I don't want to make things worse with a bad repair job. I vaguely remember seeing something on this topic years ago, but couldn't find it in the archives. (Tha mi duilich!)



Thanks so much for the help!

Jon

Try Tandy leather co.You can order from their catalog,and (maybe) on line.

[Jon Lilley]

Thank you very much, everyone, for all your help! I found exactly what I needed at Tandy so I'm golden till they arrive. The only snag is; I had to order 100 to get just 1. Figures, eh? Oh well, better to have a nice piece of gear than to worry about surplus stock! I'm sure I haven't seen the end of this problem, but I'll be prepared for it next time.

Mòran, mòran taing a-huile duine!!!

Jon

[Stan]

Try Tandy leather co.You can order from their catalog,and (maybe) on line.

Now that you know what to look for you can probably buy a quantity of 10 on eBay for about 2.00.