NewYorkerInSydney

Hi friends, thanks very much. This is all very helpful. And yes, the guy at Green Parrot is beyond rude even though I had only been nice to him. I asked how long is his turnaround and he ACTUALLY said "I am up to my ass in orders. I'll get to you when I can". Unbelievable. He wont get a penny from me and if he keeps that up he wont get a penny from anyone else either. I emailed the folks at lasergiftcreations and hope they can help. Thanks so much everyone.

Hello folks, I appreciate your responses. I am trying to visualize what you have both said in my mind. I can kinda see it. How would I be able to cut the strap after I glue it together and it has dried? I just imagine that the edge would be hard to press the ruler on so that I can make my cut because the edge would be raised. I always make my cuts to the exact size I want after the glue has dried, but I have never done this with raised padding and imagine that it would be really hard to cut evenly. Any other ideas? THank you so much!

Friggin great! Thanks for that link you two. I just visited their site. Looks good to me. I am going to place an order. THANK YOU!

Hi good people, I have lots of questions today. I know many of you use custom leather stamps. Can any of you recommend a leather stamp maker? I have tried repeatedly to get in contact with the man at Green Parrot, and even though I have been nothing but polite to him, he has been beyond rude to me and I refuse to give him my business even though he is the only other custom stamp maker I know of. I would like to keep the cost under $75 if I can. Can anyone suggest any others? Id like my stamp to be no less than an inch and a half wide. THank you all so much as usual for your generous spirited replies. Jade

HI there, unfortunately I am nowhere near a Tandy as I am in Sydney and I dont know of anyone anywhere near me that sells this stuff which is why I resort to asking people online. I wish I had one here. Sounds like a fun place. Oooh these are all really good replies. Thanks so much for the help. PS. How would a airbrush make the dying look different than applying with say, a dauber? Thanks all so much.

Hi friends, can anyone tell me what color dye would get me this nice shade in the attached photo? Its such a nice warm color. Can I buy a dye that already looks like that? Thanks for your help.

Hi folks, I tried the search option, but was not able to find anything. Will someone please kindly tell me how to pad a leather straps like a watch strap? I have attached some images of padding so you see what I mean. I can make a decent strap, but I have no idea how to add padding, what to use as padding and then how to hold the strap together over the padding so that the glue sticks without the extra padding making it come open. I really would appreciate some advice with how to add padding to a strap. Thanks so much. NYIS

Thanks so much to all of you. This is a great start. I will try the sheen and some of the other suggestions. Thank you!!!

HI friends, Can any of you fine folks please tell me how I can go about making my watch straps look shiny like the ones I have pictured here? Non of the leather I have is shiny like that just dull. I really appreciate your suggestions very much. Thanks very much. New Yorker in Sydney.

Hello friends, Will any of you kind people please tell me of some places where I may be able to buy really nice 5-6 oz leather scraps in various tans and browns to make men's watch straps with? I would like to buy in ten to twenty pound quantities. I know Zack White sells some leather. Who else? I really appreciate your help. Thank you very much! NYIS

Anyone else? Pretty please?

HI Charlie, thanks for the link, I alrady know where to buy the stuff, I just need to know which of the three would be a better choice for my needs. Cheers.

Anybody?

Hi friends, I want to purchase an awl today and am looking at the following: CS Osborne haft # 142, 143 and 145. I am learning to make 20-24mm wide watch straps and am using fairly thick leather (5-6oz) and waxed linen thread (4-6 ply). I am doing about 6 stitches per inch. Which do you fine people suggest would be a good one for me of the ones I mention. And PLEASE do not suggest I buy a Bob Douglas or some other expensive brand. I want to purchase one of those or another type within the same price range. Also, what size diamond blade would I need for my holes? Thanks so very much. I appreciate your help and look forward to your replies. Warm regards, New Yorker in Sydney

Hi everyone, thanks so much for your help. So I am going to purchase a Osborne haft. It is between the 142, 143 and 145. I can't really see the difference between them. Any of those a better choice for me or are they all pretty similar? Thanks again. And as far as blade size, should I get the smallest one? You are all very helpful. Regards, New yorker in Sydney.

Hi again everyone. I have a question that may possibly be dumb, but I thought I would take the risk and ask anyway. I have the Tandy Sewing Awl. It is an awl with a needle attached to the end of it. The needle sizes can be changed. Do you think that I can attach an awl blade to this thing? has anyone tried? If I could buy a blade to this, it would be cheaper than buying a new awl with a blade on the end. If it can't be done, then I am fine with just buying an awl with a different end to it. Thank you for your help. NYIS

Hello Bex, thanks for your reply. Yes, I have the "sewing machine" you mention. It is a sewing awl. I can change the needle sizes on it. Thus, I dont think you can sharpen the needle. I used that awl with the needle attached to it to make a hole in the straps only I dont like the to sew with it, but the back side of the straps I can see tiny rips. I rather have a real hole than a tear. Not sure why this is. I guess, I will just buy a regular awl like some of you mentioned that doesnt have a needle at the end and instead utilizes a blade. Gosh, I so did not think this would be so hard for me. Cheers, NYIS

HI everyone, thank you so much for your suggestions. I currently have a Tandy sewing awl with a needle attached to it and tried using it last night. The only problem with it that I see is that when I poke a hole through my leather straps, on the backside of the strap the hole looks more like a tear and it doesnt look very nice because the leather looks torn. How to I fix that problem?? Thanks again. And Hilly, thanks for the link to that prong. Would those holes made by that prong you suggest be small enough for a watch strap hole? Cheers guys!

Thank you all so much for your help and suggestions. I have printed everything out you all sent me and visited the links some of you have provided and am putting your advice into practive. . I found it all completely helpful. I thank you so much. I love such helpful forums like these. As soon as I get some better stitching done I will share with everyone. Warm regards! New Yorker in Sydney.

G'day folks, When making holes, do most of you prefer to use a 4 prong punch to make evenly spaced holes or do you use s stitching spacer and then an awl or what? I have started making watch straps and the holes I have been making are with a rotary punch. Not sure if I like it, especially because it seems that the holes are still not perfectly aligned even though I have been using a stitching wheel. How do you all get nice aligned holes for sewing your stitches? I am trying to decide if I should buy a 4 prong punch or buy an awl? Its just that some of my straps are a bit thick and I can't imagine pushing holes into these thick pieces of leather with one. Thanks so much for your answers Cheers, NYIS

Hello everyone, Thank you all for the help you always so kindly offer me. It is very appreciated. I have a new question today regarding stitching holes. As some of you may know, I have been learning to make watch straps and I have been using a #5 and #6 stitching wheel. I have also been using a rotary punch to make small holes. I still feel my holes are not aligned as well I would like. I have heard of people mention that they use a 4 prong punch to make evenly spaced holes. Will someone please tell me which prongs I would need that would correspond with a #5 or #6 stitching wheel or so? And last question is, I make 20, 22 and 24mm leather watch straps. Is there a general strap end punch that would work for those three sizes? Thank you so much in advance. New Yorker in Sydney (though currently in NYC visiting relatives this month)

Hello friends, I have been learning to make watch straps and just started learning to sew the stitches on them. Here is a link to some photos of a recently completed strap. http://www.flickr.com/photos/21757158@N03/sets/72157622680810486/ I think the stitching, although not horrible, is also not very nice. They are not completely straight looking or uniform and I was really trying hard to make it look nice. I am using a saddle stitch with two needles. I have made the tiny holes with a little watch band hole puncher that makes about 1.5mm holes and i think I am using a number 7 stitching spacer wheel (not sure what its called). I also scribe the leather with a groover before punching the holes and before using the spacer. The thread is prewaxed and about the same thickness of most of my watch bands that I have purchased in the past from strap makers. Now, can any of you fine people please tell me why my stitches look so bad? Do I need to make bigger holes? Do I need more space between the holes? Do I need to pull the thread tighter or less tigher? Not sure what to do. I would really appreciate your suggestions. Kind regards, NewYorker in Sydney

Hello everyone, Thank you so much for kind help and suggestions. I very much appreciate it. I am taking everyones advice. I understand now that I have to keep my hand steady and the leather steady when I use the strap cutter otherwise it is easy for the strap to end up being cut funny. I now see the difference in working with a ruler with a cork back vs without. Makes a difference. I also am finding it a bit better to cut the straps to the size I ultimately want by first sandwiching and gluing together. I do see that it all takes practice and patience and boy do I have trouble with the patience. I will keep at it and keep practicing. If and when I have a strap that finally looks like something I really like, I will post a photo. Thank you all again so much! Cheers

Hello Mike, thank you for your reply and advice. I bought a strap cutter at your suggestion and have been practicing all morning, but maybe Im doing it wrong but the cuts still dont seem perfect. Perhaps they never will be? Maybe I can sandpaper the sides or something. I don't know. I feel discouraged, that's for sure. Any other ideas? Thank you again. Kind regards. NYIS

Hello everyone. I have decided to try and make homemade watch straps. This past weekend I tried making my first two watch straps. Geez, they look terrible. The biggest problem I am currently having is making the straps straight. I measured well, but when I cut with the blade using the ruler I just dont seem to get all four sides straight. It may be a little narrower on one side or when I sandwich the straps they dont necessarily match up either so I have to cut again and then it looks terrible. Frustrating. Do you some of you use a special cutter or something? It would be nice to have perfectly cut and even strips. Any ideas, suggestions, etc? Thanks in advance for your help. I look forward to hearing from you. Kind regards, NewYorkerInSydney