The other side of the watch ...

My first watch strap. Made entirely of stuff found around the house. (Apart from the pricking irons.)

The leather is scraps from the Pipe organ projects. I have had this kicking around for some time. It even went to the OF meetup pretending to be a watch roll.

I also made the miniature stitching pony from scrap organ pipes and case wood.



And how do you know what wood is pipe wood. -- Because it is holey.


I used the fiberglass cloth, sometimes used in boatbuilding and surf boards, also plaster crack repairs and re-enforcing Bondo. Seems to work. I had this nice old Topps strap what was coming apart at the seams. So I glued in the re-enforcement. The pitch is much finer than the cheap Amazon Irons I got. The old straps were machine stitched.

I may also try some millinery buckram. That is a lot stiffer. Organ leather is supposed to be stretchy to flex with the bellows and pneumatic actuators. There is thicker gasket material, but I like thin straps.



The back shows the handmade nature of this.



The final results are not bad.



The soft leather is quite comfortable.

I used the laser cutter to make templates and the scaling was a bit off. Probably should cut the pieces direct on the laser. Although I got the best results trimming after I glued up the stack. The keeper was the tricky part, especially as the scrap buckle is one piece.

Now I should be able to make some straps for the ratwatches. Will need to find a decent source of buckles. I am just as happy with generics. At least for these practice straps. Factory buckles seem to have their own issues and can cost as much as other parts. The assortments always seem to be a mix of gold and silver or yellow and white.

I used this YT vid as a guide.

That’s awesome. Now you do have another pair of shoes to wear tomorrow, right?

She does not usually wear sandals. ( perhaps this is why.)

This time with the laser. I had used the laser to cut a template. Also practice to cut the layers. These are straight off the machine and carried home. Have not taken the time to remove the sticky tape what holds the leather flat.

Next up will be to skive them, glue them and stitch them.

I have been wanting to do this for many years. Especially the Dynamic strap. I wound up getting another case to get the strap holding ring.

Decided not to pierce it since this is leather and not corfam synthetic. I also narrowed the strap a bit.

The leather is from old pipe organ bellows. It is interesting how the leather is cut neatly out of the old bellows shape. Which is rolled up still in the top view.

I got a cheap assortment of non branded 16mm buckles. Will be nice to get some of the rat watches into wearable condition.

Edit: I also got another assortment of 56x movement parts which came in the mail today. These are sort of assembled in place. I guess whomever dismembered them, did not know how to remove the cannon pinion. Was pleased the balance was included as the listing only said cannon pinion, center wheel and date setting yoke. More on this later once I have a chance to dismember it farther.