I'm not really sure if that's the tool I need, or rather if plastic snaps will work on the following materials: nanoseeum, cubenfiber, general sil nylon. I know the bug skirting on my duomid has the plastic snaps. Has anyone seen a cheap tool finally surface on the market? I don't think I'll have much in the way of setting these snaps, so the 'nicer' versions of these tools strike me as cost prohibitive. I have seen some of the do it yourself tools, but I was wondering if anyone had new suggestions. Does anyone ever 'rent' to do a tool swap here?

these work for me

http://www.kamsnaps.com/Pliers-for-Plastic-Snaps-c5/

-Tim

Harbor Freight Tools. They've got 'em.

Thanks guys these look like the ticket.....will the proposed materials be ok with this tool?

+1 on Kamsnaps. I purchased a kit from them recently that includes the tool and a bunch of snaps here http://www.kamsnaps.com/Pliers-for-Plastic-Snaps/Pliers-for-Plastic-Snaps-Bundle-COSMETIC-DEFECT-p150.html

I've used them with great success so far on nanoseeum, sil, ripstop, and bias tape. You'll probably want to use some sort of backer (or multiple layers of material) on the lighter-weight stuff.

Do you use the size 14 snaps or larger on your quilts? The snaps on my quilts seem very robust and perhaps a tad large/heavy. I'd be interested in going down a size if you're not already using their smallest size.

i use a size 20. these things weigh so little that i don't know if there is value in going with the smallest as you loose holding power the smaller you go (i believe). 4 sets (8 snaps) weight 1 gram(just measured).

-Tim

I think I tried the 16 and 20 snaps...

If I remember right -- the 20's are ~30% heavier but seem to hold about twice as well.

Tim's correct in that the weight is negligible (gasp...yes, I just went there). I plan to use the 20's on my quilt closure.

james

I use 4 sets of snaps on my new quilts. If size 14 weighed 1/2 what size 20 weigh i would save 1/2 gram by using size 14 and lose substantial holding power. And the reality is that the size 14 isn't half the weight of the size 20 so we're talking about s savings of perhaps 1/3-1/4 gram on the entire quilt. I am for sure a gram counter but i do count in whole grams:)

-Tim

+1 on kamsnaps. I just got the tool with a bunch of snaps in subdued colors, more than I can use in a lifetime. I've used them on a fleece neck buff thing and some lightweight snow gaiters. They seem to work well so far...

Tim,

My Kmsnaps kit arrived a couple of days ago and it works just fine.

Thanks for the info.

I tried to find snaps and applicator a couple of years ago and hit a dead end.

Daryl

when i looked a few years ago i hit a wall too. then Steve Evans turned me on to KAM Snaps and i have been using them since. Glad to share what has been shared with me.

-Tim

I finally have a project the requires these handy little snaps so I being the gram nazi that I am (as per Joe), I ordered both the size 14 and 16 snaps since this project will not require very much holding power. On my decigram scale I get the following weights using a single snap set (4 pieces):

Size 14 = 0.4 grams/set
Size 16 = 0.5 grams/set

KAM! Buying gear to make gear. Create a meta-gear container.

"Honey, no that was not more hiking gear that UPS dropped off".

Great minds think alike. I just weighed a size 20 set about an hour ago. It came in at 0.8 grams/set.

Ryan

Cool! I was wondering what the size 20's would weigh in at. Clearly Tim's scale isn't too precise if it registered 4 sets at 1 gram. I knew that couldn't be right based on my measurements but its nice to have confirmation.

Additional measurements:

10sets of sz14 = 5.1gr
10sets of sz20 = 7.5gr

My scale is just one of those cheap chinese numbers that Dan Durstan clued us into awhile back...don't know about accuracy but it is very precise.

I was backwards on my relation between the two above...

14s seem to be 30% lighter than the 20s (&thus the 20s 50% heavier than the 14s).

Maybe .25grams (.01oz) saved using the 14s vice the 20s. My pick is easily the 20s.

I also reweighed 10 sets each in order to get more precise numbers and got the following:

#14: 10 sets = 4.7 grams or 0.47 grams/set
#16: 10 sets = 5.1 grams or 0.51 grams/set