Here is the finished strap...

 

Congrats! It looks great

 

A couple more on the go. To be continued.

 

Can you point me where to buy the comb? Everything I see has the stitch gaps too far apart.

 

Yes! Tandy leather factory. Craftool chisel. This one is 2.5 mm.

 

Really nice straps in the making. Impressive work!

 

@Canuck, are you thinking of something along these lines, but with a mystery braid in the middle?



Do you have one of these around that you could provide me measurements for? I came across one in an antique shop, but it was mummified so who knows what it looked like in its functional days. The length and width and size of the loops would be valuable.

Just testing an assumption, this is worn with jeans and that one loop goes through a belt?

 

Finished this strap for my jeweller. He is giving this watch to his son, who turns 20. We usually put only one hole!

 

Nice! Can you provide a pic of the back?

 

Got a few black marks...

 

Reward from my jeweller for the strap.

 

Photos are not loading up in order. You can figure it out. 20mm lug, tapered to 16. For a Speedy.

 

Very nice! Do you prefer that style of a skiving knife over an exposed blade? The seem to be a perfect design for watch straps.

 

I like it. More precise. How are you progressing?

 

I get the clean 1 hole approach, but my weight can fluctuate 10-15lbs every couple years (I keep a fat and a skinny wardrobe and swap them out accordingly) and my wrists can swell during the course of a day- so sometimes I will adjust a strap during the course of a day once or twice.
It’s also why I keep my bracelets loose (I know- heresy to the Rolex stretch police) as it may be loose in the morning and just right by afternoon.

 

Thanks, good to know.

So far I am, wow, who knows how many hours deep in YouTube videos on leather work. I really like the videos from Little King Goods, Chartermade and Weaver Leather. Some interesting work online, and now I want to make my own tools first! Oh what a rabbit hole to go down. Wanting to move from learning online to learning from my mistakes, I’m actually ordering my tools today, so that is exciting!

To-date I have broken down the thrift shop brown leather bomber jacket into usable pieces, and also a black pair of Italian leather boots that I scored at a thrift shop. I am now looking for some veg tanned leather for lining the watchstraps. Anyway, production should start soon

 

Awesome work here - I've been leatherworking for over a year now but haven't done watch straps until over the last month - so far, here are 3 versions of 22/18 using an 'hourglass taper'. Please ignore the holes and lack of edge paint - I wanted to get the pattern down first.

As you may notice from left to right, it goes from a flat strap to becoming more rounded and padded (yet still subtle). Middle one has no crease line. Added a pic of the back too.

 

Exciting indeed, what'd you get for tools?

 

Curious about your cutting tools. Do share.

 

If you're asking me, I usually print a cardstock pattern, trace, and use a box cutter / Olfa Utility Knife - I've used a variety of different ones (see below) and find myself always coming back to the Olfa Knife since I can just break off a blade and start anew.

Left to right:
Olfa Utility Knife (most used)
Olfa Art Knife (seldomly used; lots of others love this for corners / curves)
Japanese Skiving Knife "Nobuyoshi" 36mm (planning on replacing this soon)
Fiskar Rotary Cutter (mainly used for straight line cuts)