I’ve been wanting to learn to properly install nameplates on my bridles for years now and although I’ve been told over and over that it’s super easy and have watched videos on how to do it, my nameplates have never come out quite right. For the longest time, they weren’t setting quite right and although there was no risk of them coming undone, the rivets were very slightly “wiggly” under my thumb, which drove me nuts. Well, I was finally told that I needed to do it on an anvil on concrete and not on my wooden work bench, which I had never thought of (maybe it should’ve been common sense, but I had zero prior experience with anything like this). So, I finally got an anvil and tried it again, and although the rivets did set correctly and seem tight and flat, they are horribly ugly despite me using a designated rivet tool that was supposed to give it a nice finish, yet only made the rivets look horrible and “crumpled” and left light scratches on the nameplate (which aren’t bad enough to where I can’t live with them, but I would really rather they stay nice; I’ve tried covering the plate and rivet with a cloth and it does minimally better, but not much. I tried the anvil again and only used a hammer without the rivet tool, and although the results were much better, they still are not nearly as nice as the few I’ve had professionally done (and taking them to a tack shop is no longer an option anymore since I moved unless I want to take a trip way out of my way, which simply isn’t worth it to me if I could learn to do it well myself, plus it’s a skill I would really like to learn).
So, for anyone who has installed their own bridle nameplates, exactly what do you do to make them come out nicely? I have looked into buying a rivet press since I have a lot of stuff I want plates on, but have no idea what dies to buy for it.
