bitsandspurs

Am I the only spur maker that does not like those pre-made strap / hanger buttons that you get from Colorado? I have a can full of them, but most of the time, I still make my own from wagon box rivets. Why? Because those pre-made's are to short. If a spur strap has any thickness to it at all, you can't hardly get it on, between the bottom edge of the button and the hanger / swinger.

Hackamore

Who uses 1/4" straps? I have never had this problem. Maybe you are worrying too much.

BILL USED TO HAVE TWO SIZES. ONE IS THE ONE YOUR TALKING ABOUT AND THEN HE HAD A LONGER ONE. I USE BOTH DEPENDING ON THE SPUR AND CUSTOMER. THE LONG ONES ARE GOOD IF YOU PUT A BIG CONCHO ON THE SPUR.

I have made my own buttons in the past out of 3/16'' rod and cut some round shaft and weld them together. To it is no different than using these buttons, but he is right that they can be short if you are using understrap and a spur strap that is double layered it can be pretty difficult to get them on.

I think he only sells one size now.

I bought a 50 pound box of the first run late ('80s or early '90) of rivets that Bill Adamson had forged. The reason Bill had them mad was, that he felt the rivets available at the time were to short. I still hand make a few rivets for restoration work and my spurs if needed, but mostly I just use the ones I got from Bill. I make swing hinges a little longer than most but you never need a tie-down of any kind on the spurs and they set level and snug.

We use the rivets as well because our custom saddle makers use really thick leather backed by latigo on their straps.

I bought some buttons off of eBay from Bo Bonds and they were nice, but too small. definitely not 3/4" across like the wagon box rivets I use. I buy the wagon box rivets and grind the ends down on my belt sander, it's primitive but it works for me so I just keep doing it