setherd

I have been working on watch straps. I lately have been glueing my leather first, then dyeing the leather. then adding a little oil (neats foot oil). After that I cut it, make my groves for stitches, punch holes for the stitching. I add some more dye or oil if need be. then the final step is stitching and punching holes for the buckle. I use barge cement for the glue. I have had a few spots seem to come unglued. I'm wondering if by adding dye or oil after I glue is wrong. I thought if the leather had more oils in it, it would not lgue as well. I just got some bicks#4 and lexol in the mail yesterday so I'm going to try those instead of neatsfoot oil. Thanks!

I've made a few. still learning. my stiching sucks. I mainly stitch to reinforce key points and glue the rest with barge cement. I think a sharp knife, a good ruler and a good skiver are the most important tools. check out shane delaurian if you want to see a master strap maker. I want to really concentrate on my strap making soon. I'm coaching soccer right now and the season ends next week. I 'll have more time then. edit: I haven't found a good source for a pricking iron in the states yet. One UK company I contacted never replied to my question if they ship overseas.

ohhhhhh, then maybe mine have been sheared off. I've never seen any pieces of the stingray material so I just thought they were getting flattened.

This is a stingray watch strap I made. I wear it quite a bit, hence the stains on the back side. It was black stingray that didn't have the surface polished down. the backing was scrap plain leather I found. the keeper was belt leather I trimed down then used some rawhide string for a decorative touch. I used barge cement on everything and some stitching to reinforce key areas. if you look at the holes the dye bled a little when I was dying the inside of the holes. and the tops of the stingray pearls have been flattended from the buckle. Does anyone know If I used stingray that was polished flat would that stop the buckle from wearing it down? thanks for any feed back! Seth PS: watch is a customized Seiko 007

On my watch straps I currently tape a piece of paper to it and then measure out where I want the holes and draw a square say 2mm across. I then use a hand held punch to cut my holes. The punch fits just inside the square I drew. It is a lot of work. and even then they aren't as centered as I'd like. with something as small as a watch strap the slightest deviation is visable. Anyone have an Idea on a method to get my holes aligned and centerd? my way seems too complicated. thanks, Seth

thanks guys!

Hello, I have been making some watch straps and want to get better. I have a stingray strap I love. When working it though the edes are sharp. So far the best solution I've found is to take a dremel tool and bevel the outer edge. It's better but still not ideal. Also when doing that it tends to dull the shiny pearls. Anyone know a way to get the "shine" back on the leather? thanks! Seth