Pronged nickel spots - How?

[RRio]

I have an old rig that needs refurbishing, and have it in my head to dye it black and add silver ornamentation on it. However, I've never used the pronged spots before. How do ya set them?

Thanks!

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

 Howdy Rawhide RIO

         It's not hard , if you have a holster thats made out of 8 to 9 or 9 to 10 ounce leather you can do this but if what you want to put the spots on is over the thickness of 10 ounce leather , you won't be able to do this without skiving the leather down to make it thiner, you could do this on a start from scratch project , but you wouldn't want to do this on one that is finished, when putting on spots on a lined belt or holster , you want to put them on the outside layer of leather , then when lined it wont show through the back, but it doesn't have to be lined, to put the spots on I just think it looks better , if you do this on unlined leather you want to make sure you get the tines pounded down enough so that they won't scratch the finish of your gun.
         So if your dealing with single thickness leather of 8 to 9 ounce rateing, you can use a divider to lightly scratch a line where you want to put the spots, then figure the distance you want between them , you can then set your divider to measure the distance from one tine to the other of the spot, and set your divider to this setting, then use this setting to mark on the line you scratched in the leather, lightly push down on the divider to make a slight hole where the spot is going to go,and how far apart they're going to be, after you have done your marking , your ready to install the spots , you can use a punch the size of the tine or you can use a very narrow pointed ex-acto knife , which is what I do , and I have good results this way , I know they make an adjustable punch that is made just for this, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere, so make your small cutts then push the spots through all the way , then turn the leather over and with a screw driver or mini needle nose pliers, turn the tines inward towards each other, then turn the leather over, and use a flat faced punch, to flatten the tines into the leather , use a cushioned poundo mat under the head of the spot when you do this , so that you don't mess up the finish , and thats it . I hope this is some help to you, once you get the idea it's a piece of cake...



                                                     tEN wOLVES 

[RRio]

The spots will be on the belt. It is single thickness of 9 - 10 oz. With what I have in mind for the holsters, I won't be using spots on them.

[Dalton Masterson]

Ten Wolves pretty much nailed it. I do have one of the spot setters from Tandy, but really dont use it. I use a bow compass set for just under the width of the spot, that way the holes are under the spot. Then I poke the spot thru, set it measure for the next one and repeat. I do set the head of the spot into a hole I punched into scrap leather. That protects it and keeps it from trying to roll around while you bend the tine. I have a small narrow punch that works perfect for the holes. Good luck. DM

[RRio]

Thanks guys, muchly appreciated!