I decided I’d get myself a proper hardware setting press for my birthday. I ended up with this one from Campbell-Randall:
I also thought about the “piston pliers”, branded TEKNO, that also come from Italy. I believe @customboots offers those as “setting pliers” here:
The general idea is that all these presses take interchangeable tooling sets for the various kinds and sizes of hardware: eyelets, lace hooks, rivets, snaps, and so on. I got myself a lace hook set from Campbell-Randall, and had already bought an eyelet tool set from Ohio Travel Bag.
As of today, I’m no closer to cleanly set hardware. I have instead fallen into a sad pit of rampant incompatibility.
Strange Threading
My twist press, one of several models numbered from 2 up through 6, has:
- a round role roughly 1/2 inch, or a little over 12mm, in diameter, with a set screw, for anvils
- an arbor—the part that goes up and down—with female threads that I suspect are 1/4"-24, for setters
This is dismaying because 1/4"-24 is a rare, anachronistic threading, not a common standard with fasteners and taps and dies widely available. It’s in fact between standards 1/4"-20 (Unified Coarse) and 1/4"-28 (Unified Fine). What’s more, dimensionally, it’s also between metric M6-1.0 and M7-1.0. It’s sometimes written “1/4-24 UNS”, with “S” for “special”. Might as well be “shucks”.
Search as I may, I have found this written about precisely nowhere except an old leatherworker.net thread:
At the same time, even Italian distributors’ listings for the presses and accompanying tool sets, all Made in Italy, uniformly say nothing about dimensions, threading, or compatibility. The only kind of confirmation I could find came from Campbell-Randall again, in their listings for certain tooling sets they import:
Threaded threaded upper die 1/4-24 with M12 base
Fits twist presses with 1/4-24 threaded top / 12mm bottom die
Fits twist presses with 1/4-24 threaded top / 12mm bottom die
At first I thought this must be some kind of inaccurate conversion, perhaps a mis-measurement of standard M6×1.0mm. But I checked the threads of the boot hook set with a micrometer, and also checked the press arbor with a metric thread reference. It’s not M6.
At this point I should make sure to mention that the twist press seems to be a great little tool. It’s very sturdy and its action is very smooth. The only bad thing I can think of to say about it is that it uses bizarre threading.
Some Italian Tooling Sets Don’t Fit
I was hoping that the upshot is just that the Italian industry got stuck on 1/4-24 way back when, likely before WWII, but that if you buy more Italian tooling sets, they’ll all be 1/4-24 and fit.
That illusion broke when I tried the eyelet tooling set I got from Ohio Travel Bag, also marked Made in Italy, also stamped with matching model numbers—130—and found it wouldn’t thread into the Number 2 press. The major diameter of the threads looks like 1/4 inch again to me. But the threads are very slightly different, likely in pitch.
To add still another twist, one of the tools Ohio Travel Bag offers as compatible with their dies looks an awful lot like another Italy-made twist press:
It’s painted grey, not green. But it’s clearly from the same product series.
Following Up with Distributors
I’ve e-mailed Campbell-Randall to confirm the press is 1/4-24.
I’ve e-mailed Ohio Travel Bag to try and find out exactly what the eyelet die set is.
It Gets Worse
When I remembered to check what Buckleguy, another hardware distributor, does for setting dies, I found they offer both tooling sets and machines. However, nearly all their tooling sets include this as one of the product images, along with a stern warning to review it:
Sheesh. Three more standards, including one apparently all their own.
What particularly got me was that the “M6” standard “common with other machines in Europe” doesn’t include my Italy-made hand press. I’d strongly prefer if the arbor of my press were M6-1.0, but it’s not.
However, I’d be really surprised if the newer, cheaper hand presses, especially from China, aren’t using M6-1.0 or another standard threading, rather than procuring rare 1/4-24 taps.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082D8Y6M6
Alas, none of these companies seems to offer tooling sets for lace hooks. A bunch for different-size grommets, snaps, and rivets, but not for lace hooks.
Upshots, For Now
There are cheap taps and dies for 1/4-24 still available:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09ZTTWWKV/
I also strongly suspect a die could cut other 1/4" and M6 diameter threads to fit the press I have.
I would really like to find out who is actually manufacturing these presses and tooling sets in Italy, and whether there is a catalog of all the tooling sets somewhere. I see listings of the presses in various Italian machine suppliers’ catalogs, but they’re apparently just reselling.
I’d also like to find an Italian finder who will just straight up ship me several sets to the USA. There are only so many lace hook sets I’ve seen listed: 921, 926, 927, 940, and 984. I really only use two different sizes of big eyelets. Italian online stores list these for around €30.
