cjmt

Thank you. The brown strap is Sedgwick bridle leather and the lighter strap is Gold Barenia Charlie

Couple of recent photos as nothing new has been posted for a while! Charlie

Glad it's been some help! Charlie

One of the best and most sensible posts I've seen here for a long time :-)

About £1600 on the UK if I remember correctly

Looks good!

I use a filiteuse with a creasing attachment but you could narrow bladed traditional creasing iron as well, the effect would be similar. Charlie

Thanks for the kind words! Sorry I haven't replied earlier, I missed the post. Most of our straps are made using leather thats already the right thickness from the tannery or merchant - much easier that way, though given a big enough splitter it could be done on site. Charlie

Thanks! I do for watch straps. You could go finer but it's a nice stitch size I think Charlie

I seem to remember you saying not very long ago that you'd be better than both Peter Nitz and Hunio (masters of the craft who's work I suggested you follow) given a couple of years. As I suggested at the time its not as easy as you think and a little humility would go a long way ;-) Charlie

Simon have you got a Blanchard church window punch? Would be very interested to see a photo of the shape it cuts if so. If it isn't very good may as well buy Dixons! Charlie

The shape of modern Dixons church window punches isn't great. Haven't tried The Blanchard equivalent but will do Charlie

That's not to say they don't ultimately end up with one though. You have to start with the craft but if you want to make a living from it you do have to have business nouse to succeed. If nothing else being able to make a worthwhile profit means being able to buy shinier tools and having the time to develop your skills Charlie

Very interesting post - excellent insight into your business Charlie

Its definitey possible to earn 100k in the luxury goods industry, but it will most likely be in management. H, LV etc will have the pick of the craftspeople but people actively want to work for them, conditions are excellent, pensions, working environment, job security etc etc are all way above average for a creative job. As a result they simply dont need to pay huge amounts of money to get the people they need, in fact they are queing out of the door I imagine. Id be surprised if they start on more than 25K to be honest, 30k at the most. They may well pay people with skills they need more but they exist to make money for their shareholders not their staff. Peter Nitz, your friend etc earn good money because they are talented at business and their own craft and they have taken huge risks and invested a lot of money. If you want the money you have to take the (big) risks that go with it. One of those risks might be gambling on getting a good education and/or not earning much for some years learning your trade with a good employer before setting up by yourself. Its a much more likely route to success that going it alone, but you pay a price in that it takes time.

There's no way at all an average Hermes craftsman is on 100k a year. These are not charities, you don't need to pay that kind of money so they won't do.

No worries, thanks for the apology. Text isnt always a great medium for nuance, easy to get the wrong end of the stick Charlie

Guys, am not sure bickering over terminology is terrifically helpful. Sticks - if you have a question to ask I would suggest asking it rather than bandying about terms like dishonest - I suspect you will find its not conducive to helpful discussion I use glue to hold things together pre stitching, as I stated. The component parts of the strap cant move when its stitching or the precision necessary wont be there. Its also critical to a professional edge finish that the two layers stay together when being finished, and the glueing process is part of that, though really the stitching and creasing are the key bits and it could all be done with no glue at all, allbeit it would be a pain in the neck to keep everything aligned. The glue is still there afterward of course, but its irrelevant to the strap, if it looses it stick there would be no change. The glue therefore isnt structural, or at least not for more than an hour or so. I think that was reasonably clear from what I wrote, feel free to rephrase it though if you prefer though. By permanent gluing I largely meant turned edge straps that arent stitched at all, though I have also seen it used structuraly in other ways as well, either way they inevitably fail quickly

In good condition it would be quite rare. No idea of value, not that many people stitch at that kind of spi now though so may not be as desirable as a lower spi iron I suspect Charlie

Thank you, glad you like them Watch buckles generally do come apart, they have spring or screw bars. You could stitch a buckle in if needs be though, you'd jut need to install it when the straps being stitched Charlie

Have you bought dies from them Macca? Decent price and decent quality if so? Charlie

I do, quality is good Charlie

Thank you and no problem re the reply, rather more detailed than mine anyway! Charlie

Thank you. Its just saddle stitch really, I do cast the thread on the reverse side and when I stitch I make sure my hands are moving the thread in the direction I want it, so as I pull the tread through my right hand is going down and my left hand is going up to position the thread correctly in the stitch mark. Its all about consistency though, if you do exactly the same thing every time, you'll get the same result every time, good or bad. For both the photos the stitch marks are in the top piece of leather only, the stitch marks are made before the strap/belt is assembled. If Im making somthing like a wallet thats more double sided I do punch the stich marks as far through the assembled piece as possible. Thank you again! I dont cut a channel, unless it was quite wide you couldnt fit a slanted stitch in it. I do use a crease mark as a guide and a little recess for the stitching though. The line ouside the stitching is again a crease mark, this time applied after the stitching with a filiteuse. Its partially decorative but also helps to shape, compress and round the edge. The blanchard irons leave a really nice mark. They arent tiny, but very slim blades and very consistent. Remember they count tpi not spi though, a Blanchard 10 is approx 9 spi I also just back stitch a couple of stitches to finish. I was the thread to stitch with as normal when I use it so its still a little grippy. I imagine people do use it with no extra wax, its much harder to handle if you do though Charlie

Correct thread weight is very much a matter of preference, as long as its strong enough. The European aestetic is more towards finer thread on the whole. You will achieve a neater looking more refined stitch with a lighter thread, assuming your techinque is good enough. My stitching is far from perfect, but for eg the watch strap below is a Blanchard no 10 pricking iron and 632 Ecru Lin Cable. The belt is 532 Natural Lin Cable with a no 8 Blanchard iron. You can also get a nice stitch with a no 8 and 432. Charlie