Pages

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Installing Gripper Snaps with Spool & Hammer- Tutorial

Okay, Here's the scoop:   I looked all over the internet, and DID NOT FIND one good tutorial on how to install these little snaps with a hammer and spool.  There's tons of tutorials that show how to use a tool to grip it together.  I've never used one.  I've been doing it MY way for a gazillion years and it works.
STEP 1: GATHER MATERIALS.
Hammer, Spool- wooden if you have one, plastic will do.
Hard surface.  I use a piece of leftover flooring.  Any board will do.
Thing your snapping to-- usually fabric!
Snaps-- Your parts will be:  1 top with prongs;  one bottom-- looks lit it sticks up in the middle;  one prong ring, and another ring- with hole in middle for snap to go into.  These are usually sold in packages, and usually have instructions how to do this, but I bought mine so long ago, I no longer have the package.
Snap parts.  See how the top piece has prongs, and the prong ring has prongs.
The prongs will be pushed into the cavities on the other pieces.
Another photo of snap parts.

STEP 2:  PREPARE FABRIC.
Highly recommend you use interfacing inside the fabric you're going to attach snap to.
You want to have some "meat" in there-- If you don't you'll just be attaching the very strong snap to a flimsy piece of fabric and when you snap and unsnap a few times, the fabric will tear.
Use a midweight fusible interfacing.
When the strap is sewn and turned inside out, there is a good FOUR layers  for the snap to be attached to.
Wristlet strap, ready for snaps!
STEP 3:  FIND AND MARK WHERE YOU WANT SNAP, AND PUSH PRONGED END THROUGH FABRIC.  We're going to attach the top one first- the one that has the button looking plastic on top.

Use your fingernail to push prongs through the fabric.
This is the underside piece that's getting attached to the "button" side.
Line up the prongs so that they will fit into the cavity/grooves.
Check to make sure they are in the right place before hammering.
STEP 4:  GET SPOOL.
Now, get your spool ready.  See the hole in the spool?
Carefully place this over the part of the snap that's sticking up,
without moving anything.  Sometimes this takes a light touch.
Here's how it looks from the side when everything's lined up:
How it looks before compression.
STEP 5:  GET YOUR HAMMER, AND WHACK IT!
Make sure everything's lined up, and that you're on a hard surface,
and whack (hit) the top of the spool reall good with your hammer.
Careful!  Don't hit your fingers!
Everything should compress together nicely.
How it looks after compression.
Check and see if you can press your fingernail into the area between the snap and the fabric.
If you can't, snap is installed correctly.
If it's not, line up your spool again, and give it another whack!

If all is well, proceed with remaining pieces, making sure you've got the sides lined up right- nothing twisted, so that it will fit right.
Other end.  In construction language-- it's the "female"snap piece.
Underside of "female" snap, held in place with the prong ring.
Snap pieces in place.
Check to make sure it snaps together.  This one does, so we're finished!
And, if you happen to make a mistake, you CAN
take it apart.  Use a flathead screwdriver, and carefully pry it apart.

Hope this helps anyone out there who doesn't want to buy a tool to
install these snaps!

No comments:

Post a Comment

you are welcome to leave a comment