Awesome!
Quick question: Where did you find the template?

 

awesome job. SUBBED i will be doing this soon!

 

I used a tool for this after marking the hole with the plastic template. I don't know the word in English but in French it is a 'poinson a frapper'. I will post a picture tomorow.

I bought here https://www.etsy.com/fr/listing/468...&ga_search_query=watch strap&ref=sr_gallery_3

But you can find others on eBay, just search for watch strap template.

I really hope to see some of your strap here soon!!
And thanks for the kind words all

 

PS : don't use the plastic template to place the sew holes, it doesn't work. You really need the fork tool if you want to have a nice Stiching

 

Where do you source your leather? And why do you insist on naturally tanned leather? Are there other kinds of leather that are less suited for the job?

 

There is an outstanding shop in Paris where you can buy leather ( pieces or full skin) and you can thin them the thickness you want. Thickness is the key especially for the liner (0.6 is perfect).
The naturally ( or vegetally) tanned leather are the only one to use because first, for the skin, it will avoid any reaction and secondly this is the only type of the leather you can 'trace' on. Minerally tanned leather or chromed leather are not good because you can't even trace the line on it or you need a very expensive tool ( like a steel Knive heaten called ' for a filer').

 

Thanks for the thorough response! What thickness of leather would you recommend for thin 18mm straps? It seems the straps you made are somewhat thin. Hard to tell from the photos. I wouldn't want to use leather that was awkwardly thin/would compromise the integrity.

 

For a 18mm I use a 1.5mm thick for the top, 0.6 mm for the insert and 0.6mm for the liner. This leads to 2.7 on the insert and 2.1 on the edge. This my 'baseline' but if you want thicker strap, you can combine thickness. For exemple when I buy a piece of leather, I cut in 3 pieces, 1 at 1.5, 1 at 1 and 1 at 0.6. So max is 4.5 with insert, min is 1.8 with Insert... But You can remove the insert and try other combination...

 

Some additional tricks :

- never stop before the end! Sometimes during the process you will find your strap ugly... But thé finishing is really important so wait until the end!! ( OK.. Sometimes even at the end it is ugly!)

- when you cut the leathet, use a thick Knive or cutter. If the lame is to thin, you will not cut parallely the edge of your strap

- after shaving the ends, you can use a light to burn the little defect.

- then use your creativity! ( Or listen to other people creativity when you don't have enough... Like me )

Copyright @Nathan1967

 

For somebody who has never bought leather before - could you elaborate on the different terms and types of leather that would be relevant for straps? I was giving a quick look at a few online leather shops (Tadyleather as an example) and was stunned at the variations (https://www.tandyleather.com/en/category/leather). There is a lot of terminology, as well as cuts of leather (shoulder, side, bend, etc.).

It also appears that certain types of leather might be better suited for liners than the top. Would you consider this to be true?

 

Personnaly I tested several leather for both, the core body and the liner.
I don't know exactly the term in English, but I prefer working with semi rigid leather, generally cow is easier for beginning.
For liner, best is shiny calf leather (around 1 mm) but you can use goat for example ( but very soft) or cow also.
My first straps were very very soft because I used only calf soft leather.
If you can find oiled leather, it is my favorite choice because the leather takes patina over time.
The best is really to go to a leather shop and ask for natural leather, then oiled ot vegetally tanned. Cow or calf and best of the best, cordovan shell.
There is some horse shell pieces for sale on eBay for 30 or 40 dollards. This is a very good leather.
Let me check if I find something on you link that could be good to start...

But The problem on the net is you can't touch the leather and sometimes it is a disappointment when you receive it. Now I buy only in the shop, quality and the most important, the thickness is just perfect.

 

I looked at your website and I think you should go first on scrap from eBay or other Site.
Try first with veg tan cowhide scrap, try to find 2mm think and another one 1 mm thick. With this you can do a lot of pratice strap.
Or in Oz, it should be 2 and 4 oz something like that.

 

I am now inspired but inspired without any requisite skills - not a good place to be.

Great work, well done!

 

What thickness of string do you use?

Thanks again for the valuable advice.

 

Great post!

So this is the link @Fost provided to Tandy leather
https://www.tandyleather.com/en/

This is a website link on one of his tools (16th photo)
http://www.ivan.tw/index.php?route=product/product&cid=7

And this is a leather wholesaler i found when i was looking to re-upholster my sofa.
https://www.leatherhidestore.com/

 

Excellent work.

For those who wish to try making something from leather and don't yet have the tools here's some tips I picked up long ago.

For edge dressing egg whites are an excellent substitute. dampen the edge with egg white and burnish with a wooden dowel or a piece of bone.

To space and mark holes for stitching use an old fork or several with tines bent to match curved edges.
Regular table fork tines are too widely spaced for fine stitching.
You can sharpen the tines if you wish but leaving them dull to just mark the hole then using a small screw driver to punch the holes as slots works best. Neatest stitching requires slot shaped holes.

I recently found an old scrap of belly trimmed from a side that has a remarkable natural wrinkle pattern. Its best suited to a wide band of 22mm or wider. very flexible.yet with good body.

 

Excellent write-up and you make it look so easy!

For those looking to do it on their own, I would recommend going to a shop to get a good feel for different types/grades of leather. They vary wildly in quality and it's hard to tell from pictures alone. And probably start with the cheaper hide to practice on before moving on to the expensive stuff like cordovan.

 

What is string? The thread thickness?
So if it the thread, it really depends of your strap. For exemple ammo strap generally required thicker thread for the old style look. In this I use 0.7mm thick. For more classy strap, the thinnest is generally the better, I use 0.57 mm thickness for the turquoise thread in the strap above for exemple.

You should start with a simple 1 point stitching at the beginning. That make very nice ' Vintage style' strap and it will give you some confidence on your first strap. Then you can move on just one small lime Stiching and when you will be comfortable enough will all the other step, you can move on full Stiching. Because the Stiching is the more complicated part. You will have to pratice a lot before obtaining a straight Stiching. Moreover it is a long step...

Another way to find lather is to buy some old stuff on flea market or look at ammo pouch on eBay. You can buy them for few bucks. It is a very thick leather (4mm) but you don't really need a liner at the beginning for those ammo strap. Those leather have a nice patina.

For other scrap leather, even if they look sometimes used, remember that leather is really outstanding because you make it as new with some leather cream or special products. On the other side, you can ' aged' it as well by polishing. Use a 1000 or 2000 grained paper and polish gently your oiled leather and it will become lighter with a used effect.
Here is an example :
Raw leather :


After polishing :


After smoothing with only fingers


And here are two straps with exactly the same leather,

Not really aged


Strongly aged


(White Stiching is 0.57 mm thickness, cream stitching is 0.69mm on the last picture for exemple)

 

Exactly!

Then remember that you will need some pratice before obtaining the ' perfect strap' but you can achieve some really descent strap quite quickly!

Unfortunately it may 'looks' easy ... But Never give up and at the end you will be very proud to wear your own strap. Go for it!

 

Can you make that ^^^^^

For this vvvvv

Yes, Please? (no rush...)