The mystery of snap sizing

You need a strap with a snap installed on it. That should be easy until you call and we ask what size snap, ligne 24 or ligne 20?

First off, how do you even pronounce ligne? That’s easy, it sounds like “line”. Great, but how do you use this ligne thingy? That isn’t so easy unless you happen to be a watch or button maker from the late 18th century. You can read all about it on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligne
Now in the US it is defined as 1/40th of an inch.

Getting back to snaps, ligne 24 is the most common size. Boat covers, bag closures, leather working- you see them everywhere. Ligne 20 snaps are sometimes referred to as “baby snaps”. You might see these on clothing but probably not on a strap.

The two sizes are not interchangeable. Tooling to set them is different and with the ligne 24 size, there are many more options. Straps to Go has all the tooling for ligne 24 snaps. If you have a project that requires the smaller size please allow an extra week for us to get the tooling and snaps.

Webbing choice will dictate the ease of installing a snap:

549 standard weight polypropylene: easy
560 heavy weight polypropylene: expect some rejects, stainless steel posts would help.
630 lightweight nylon: expect some rejects and some puckering of the webbing may occur.
7400 heavyweight nylon: must punch a hole prior to setting the snap
Polyester: must punch a hole prior to setting the snap. On very light weight polyester you might get away with having stainless steel posts but testing would be required.

The labor to install a snap in heavyweight nylon will be twice that of standard weight polypropylene. Without punching a hole, the post of the snap will just bend over.