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How To Turn Your Blevins Buckles Over
The stirrup leathers of a
Western saddle can be
adjusted in
order to raise or lower the
stirrups. Sometimes, if the stirrups are adjusted
short enough, the excess stirrup leathers can extend downward so far that they
hang in front of the stirrups. One way to solve this problem is to turn the
Blevins buckles
over on the stirrup leathers. By turning the Blevins buckles
over,
the excess stirrup leathers curl up on the inside of the stirrup fenders instead of hanging down in front of
the stirrups. This article will show you how to remove the Blevins
buckles on a saddle, turn them over, and put them back on.
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Above: The stirrup leather on this saddle hangs
down in front of the stirrup. |
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Above: The Blevins buckles on this saddle have
been turned over.
The stirrup leather now curls up on the inside of the stirrup fender,
out of the way. NOTE: In the photo above the stirrup's hobble strap was
removed to make a clearer photo, but should be put back on before the
saddle is ridden. |
NOTE ABOUT BLEVINS BUCKLES: On most Western saddles made in the last several decades the stirrups are adjusted up or down by the use of a "quick-change" type of
buckle on the stirrup leathers. While there are different types of quick-change buckles, a type
known as a "Blevins" buckle is extremely common. This article is
intended for saddles that are equipped with
Blevins buckles.
Turning your
Blevins buckles
over is not the only way to
address the problem of stirrup leathers that hang in front of stirrups. Another
common method of handling excess stirrup leather is to
fold it up out of the way, then buckle the stirrup's hobble strap
over it to hold it in place. The stirrup leather can be folded
beneath the hobble strap on the front side or the back side of the
stirrup. Most riders seem to prefer to fold the stirrup leather up on the
back side of the stirrup (the side closest to the horse) because it
tends to snag the rider's jeans if it's folded up on the front side.
Things You Will Need
Blevins buckles are typically attached to a stirrup leather by rivets. To
turn your Blevins buckles over you will need to grind off and remove the existing rivets,
turn the buckles over, and re-attach them with new rivets.
Things you will need:
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An angle grinder.
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Safety goggles.
- New
copper rivets to replace the ones you grind off.
- A
copper rivet and burr setter.
- A hammer.
- A screwdriver.
- Things you might also need and should have handy: A pair of pliers and a pair of nippers.
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An angle grinder and safety goggles. |
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Top row: A tool called a "copper rivet and burr
setter."
Bottom row: Three copper rivet burrs, and three copper rivets. |
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A close-up photo of one end of the copper rivet
and burr setter. |
Step #1 - Grind The Ends Off The Existing Rivets
| To turn your Blevins buckles over you will need to grind the ends off the
existing rivets, remove the
rivets, turn the Blevins buckles over, and re-attach the buckles with new rivets. In
this step, you will grind the ends off the existing rivets. Remove your stirrup. Lay
the end of the stirrup leather and the Blevins buckle on a surface safe for
grinding. In the photo at right we are using a short metal stand. You will want
the peened ends of the rivets face-up (see photo and explanation below). |
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| This is a closer look at the rivets shown in the photo above. The arrow
is pointing to the flattened end on the post of one of the rivets. Since the
word "peen" means to shape or flatten, this is called the the "peened" end. To
remove the rivets you will need to grind the peened ends off of all three copper
rivets (or however many rivets your stirrup leathers have). |
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| Using an angle grinder, grind the peened ends off of the rivets. DO wear
eye protection. Once the ends of the rivets are ground off, the burr (the
small, disc-shaped piece with the hole in the center) often flies off
unpredictably.
If you have never used an
angle grinder before this is a bad time to start. The powerful, rotating
disc on the grinder is capable of quickly and easily cutting through leather or
skin, and can also create enough heat to scorch the leather if you're not
careful. If necessary, get an experienced friend to help or use some other
method to remove the rivets. |
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