Danne

I have thought about similar problems. Now I do this as a hobby, but if I would decide to start selling products, my main focus would be watch straps. So I would most likely have larger cardboard tubes for the leather I will stock in larger quantities, but it would also make sense to stock a lot of different leathers in smaller quantities. (Like sq.ft sizes) I mean this way if a customer ask for a certain kind of leather, and maybe in a color that I might rarely have customers ask for, then I can still stock it in a smaller quantity. I think my solution would be smaller cardboard tubes for smaller pieces. storing it in a drawer on top of each other would require something like card folders, and if you want really large sizes, then we are talking about special folders for art and such, and they will be expensive if you only store one leather type/folder. The benefit with cardboard tubes is that you can build a shelf high up on the wall and place them there. Here is my plan for storage of the larger cardboard tubes, (upper left corner) and the smaller ones will be in storage room on a shelf. It would also be possible to roll up smaller pieces and store a couple of pieces in one card board tube. This is not a perfect solution, if you come up with something better, please share your ideas.

Since this thread is quite old now, you probably already bought the tools you need, but I share my thoughts if someone else have the same question. You wrote "I’d like to make small pouch-style projects for things like leatherman or Gerber multitools, as well as for various types of tool rolls." I would say a good choice is LCDiamond from leathercrafttools https://leathercrafttools.com/tools/punch/stitching-chisel-pro/list/ or Seiwa, CraftSha, Kyoshin Elle or OKA from Goodsjapan (I wonder if OKA produce them all? just a wild guess, maybe someone know?) and you want a thread that is strong, and suitable for outdoor use. Personally I would use Ritza (Tiger thread)

First, I need to clarify that I'm no expert on making watch straps, but I have spent many years analyzing straps, done prototypes, and I feel confident in saying that I can make high quality watch straps. (And these are my opinions, and if you have another opinion, I'm open to hearing it) The biggest problem (in my opinion) when it comes to making straps, is to find a good balance between durability and comfort. It's not hard to make a durable strap, it's not hard to make a comfortable strap either. A first thought might be "Yes, it take a while to figure out a construction method with a good balance between durability and comfort" but it's not that simple, because it all depends on the type of leather used, and the thickness of the strap. Let me take an example of a mistake, a very common one, something I've seen done by crafters/companies that sell or sold a lot of straps. (I will not mention anyone) If we take a flat strap with top layer and lining layer, no padding. Strap 1: Top layer - Cordovan or Bridle leather , lining - Zermatt/Vat alsavel/Swift/chevre goat or equivalent soft leather. Strap 2: Top layer - Chevre goat or alligator, and the same lining as in my first example. Both of these straps would be possible to reinforce, either with a dimensionally stable non-woven reinforcement, a nylon reinforcement, or a thinner top layer reinforced with a calf leather or high quality salpa (Like some versions from Salamander, I haven't use them, but looked at the properties as tear and tensile strength and elongation values) BUT strap 1 would still be a durable strap without reinforcement, especially with Cordovan. Strap 2 though, it would stretch at the lugs, it would stretch at the buckle pin hole, and the strap wouldn't hold up that long (One exception can be for a small watch, maybe a ladies watch sitting loose in the wrist) Let's instead say we make a thick strap (3-5mm in thickness) with padding, and we have to use a middle layer (either because the top or lining leather isn't available in thicker leather than let's say 1mm, or because the lug clearance doesn't allow thicker leather) now we need to find a new balance of materials depending on what leather we are using. If we use a soft leather that will stretch we still have to reinforce the folds at the lugs and at the buckle end of the shorter strap. Should we reinforce the whole length of the strap? should we use a firm calf, a soft calf or a soft split calf as middle layer? what leather should we use as padding? I believe the questions one have to ask is 1. What is the top leather and lining leathers properties, elongation, tear strength, and thickness of leather used. 2. How many layers of leather are used? how thick are the middle layer? is is suitable to use a soft split leather, a soft calf, a firm calf? 3. Do I use padding? is it full length padding? can I use soft split leather, a firmer more dense calf, do I need to shape the padding (which also will decide what leather to use.) 4. Should I reinforce the edges or the whole length? and what reinforcement? "Velodon" is a common reinforcement for watch straps, but Freudenberg Vildona and Jaeger 1961 is not the same, Vildona is way firmer (If we talk about the version with the same thickness around 0.2mm (SH-1220)) There seems to be a misconception out there, and it applies to some crafters and buyers. "If it's high quality top/full grain leather, then it's a high quality strap that will be durable" Just to clarify, I don't ask for construction advice here, I have figured out my construction methods, this was just to share my thoughts. Feel free to share your thoughts

It depends on the buckle, for most of the straps I've shared here where a buckle is attached, 1.5mm punch would be suitable (Even though I used 2mm on a lot of those straps, since I didn't have a 1.5mm punch before. Strap punches can be nice, but can also add up if you want different dimensions and shapes. So my suggestion is to buy single punches and make paper/card templates (In many cases it's suitable to use the same template as you use for cutting your strap) and pre punch the holes in your template, make an impression through your template onto the strap, remove template and it's easy to align the punch to the indentations and punch.

(These are my thoughts, and what I've learned from doing prototypes and using different construction methods, and other people might have other opinions about this) I would say that this question doesn't have one answer. Let me explain. You are making a strap with Cordovan leather (which is firm and doesn't have much elongation) Here I would say a really soft split leather is a good choice, if you want it rounded, chamfered corners will make it rounded. And you might also have a dimensionally stable reinforcement material under your padding, this would result in a very stiff strap if a firmer leather was used for padding, and it would at least for a full length padding cause problems (Firm strap that would require break in before it would be comfortable to wear. Let's instead say you want to make a strap in a soft calf leather like "Swift" (RMG Pomari Butter) and you want a rounded padding, then you need a more "dense" but still soft and pliable leather. A softer veg tan calf can be suitable here (not "tumbled" since the fiber structure would make it hard to skive it to shape, sorry for bad terminology)

Maybe Jaeger or NST?

I sand the edge transition diagonally with sand paper, since it's just a small bevel I find it easier to round it off with sand paper than an edge beveler.

I have been using Fenice for a long time, and the durability have been good on some leathers, other not so good. On dense chrome tanned leathers very durable, but I've had peeling edges at folds on wallets where I used vegetable tanned cow leather. I will evaluate some brands with and without primer other with just edge paint (Where it's less common to use a primer) I will also experiment with different heat, different edge finish to start with. (And of course if the producer have a SOP available, I will test that method as close as I can) And then "stress test" the pieces when fully cured (bending, stretching, scratching, trying to peel of the paint and such) So what brands will I evaluate? Uniters: With and without EP-sealer, I have tried Uniters before, but I think the products I have got frozen during shipping, because I did order it in the winter, and from my tests the adhesion is very good, but hard folding results in small micro cracks, and this is a problem that I haven't heard anyone else have. Stahl C427: Heatable edge paint that is used without primer, I might also test their edge paint PH54 with the primer PH53 Fenice: With their primer AR6250 Vernis 600: This is the test I did today, four coats of paint separated with heat and sanding and finished with beeswax polishing, the difference between the two pieces are the edge I start with, one is sanded with P180, the other up to P400 before the first coat of paint.

It's certainly from some machine in the production at the tannery, I have seen this on especially chrome tanned leathers, and also on high quality leather. Before I did split my Haas Zermatt leather it has a similar pattern on the flesh side. Here are a sample piece of Perlinger Noblessa calf.

Thank you, but 1mm thick will not work for me with these kinds of templates. I need an edge closer to the leather to cut against. But that material can still be useful in other situations. I do use Sookwang score tape now with good results.

I only have answer to this, I think it's because most of the world is metric, so hole punches in metric sizes will be more common. I guess there are imperial hole punch brands in US? Stitching chisels are usually both in mm and spi (stitches/inch) As example, I do small leather goods, and have 3mm/9spi, 2.7mm/10spi, 2.45mm/11spi irons.

Yes, I have tried a couple of brands, this is the one I like the most. It's not colored, it's two pieces of leather, orange and dark brown. Tricky to hand cut though. Thank you

Hi, thank you for your answer Yes Nitz use Uniters and no primers, I'm sure his edges are very durable, but he also doesn't work with oily/waxy veg tan. Yes, a good and durable way to finish edges.

Either no one use Uniters here, or people can't bother to share their opinions and knowledge. Sometimes it feels like I should stop sharing and helping other here. Sorry for being grumpy..

Hi, I see you are from Sweden. I haven't used Serafil, but I have ordered other things from Colliniatomi, and they have good prices on that thread, and a lot of colors. https://www.colliniatomi.it/en/production-materials/threads.html Do you use machine or handstitch? If you stitch by hand doesn't Serafil unravel? Serafil will be way more durable than Meisi superfine linen, the reason to choose linen thread is because of the look. I hand stitch and I used linen thread before (FAC and Meisi linen) but I had to restitch wallets and card holders after around 2 years if someone had them in their jeans pocket. I have found the thread that suit me very well. Meisi Xiange twist (It's a polyester thread, but doesn't have that typical synthetic look) Keep in mind there are two versions of Xiange, twist and braid, braid have a different look. Maybe you have seen it already, but Meisi also sell inside EU (So no import duties) http://meisi108.eu/ When I did contact them on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/meisi108/ a couple of years back they did send free samples of their threads. A couple of full spools, like Meisi superfine, Xiange twist, and some other spools, and also a lot of small samples in like 5 meter. And one color catalogue with thread samples in different weights. (I don't know if they ship this from EU or China, but at the time you had to pay for shipping only. Ps, look through my posts and try to see which thread I used. I have only used FAC 632 linen, Meisi linen and Meisi Xiange twist.

I have been using Fenice for a long time, but I have decided to give Uniters a chance again. I find Fenice very easy to use. The downside is that there are no solutions to match colors (Uniters have their Sherlock reader, a rebranded NIX color sensor, that will give you the formula from their base colors) I haven't worked with waxy oily leathers, so I haven't used any primers (Like AR 6250/P, UW 13/8, UW 13/9 which I guess are the more popular ones from Fenice) But I feel like I would need to use something for veg tan leathers also, because of the grain, it peels on folds on wallets in veg tan cow exterior, and I guess it's because the grain isn't as dense as chrome tanned leathers. Also even if my watch straps hold up fine, I do have a little bit of peeling problems, like layers of edge paint peel from each other (not from the leather) But this is not what I want to discuss. I know some people here use Uniters EP2000 (standard viscosity version of EP2000) Do you need any EP-sealer or EP-fibre glue (resellers sell them under other names sometimes) or how do EP2000 alone hold up one veg tan, and oily waxy leathers? (And to not get answers that are confusing, if it peels from oily waxy leathers, do you use other methods than a thin first coat with buffing or heating with electric creaser? (And sanding) Please share your opinions about Uniters. And btw, I struggle with getting a good finish, and for some reason the sanding dust makes brighter colored leather with a pronounced grain very dirty, and also stain thread, and I have to work hard to clean it. I haven't seen anyone complain about this, not sure if it's the sandpaper type I use that result in a "particle size" that sticks to everything. For P180 sand paper I have two different version, but for finer grits like P400 I use Mirka silicone carbide.

I'm quite certain they use Sookwang score tape (It's made in Korea) I use it with good results on finished leather and semi-aniline veg tan. It does adhere really well to paper, but doesn't stick like crazy to these kinds of leathers, and doesn't leave any residue or impact the finish. I often use some kind of regular one sided tape, either for a glue line, or for the end of where I need to rough the grain and assemble something. And like regular scotch tape will dull the finish on a lot of finished leather (Like Alran goat, see my photo where I had used that transparent scotch tape to hold the pieces together while gluing it to the backing leather, since it was two pieces of leather, sure I could polish it and it got away) This sookwang tape doesn't have that problem, I usually make it a little bit weaker in strength before I use it (Put it on a piece of leather and pull it away a couple of times) From the photos of my templates I put back the protection tape, but I plan to buy some sheets of silicone release paper, so I can stick my templates to that when I'm finished with my project, to protect the tape. I can try on aniline veg tan if that's what you use? It's really thin, and easy to remove the release paper. Another good solution to avoid templates sliding around (if you use card paper templates) is to coat the back side with water based contact cement and let it fully dry, it leaves a rubbery surface. An example how regular transparent scotch tape dull the finish (You have to open it full size and look the middle and you see how it's "dull" in the middle.

Even though I paint all my edges, I still burnish, like I burnish the edges during the edge painting process for example to smooth out texture on leather so I get an even edge when painting. And I also burnish after melting wax on edges. And a good example are keepers on watch straps. I either hold them down with a ruler close to an edge or on that block I showed you, or I use a large piper clip with glued leather around the edges so I don't leave marks. Looking forward to see your machining project. And a Datron isn't really a hobby machine lol. And that Tormach seems to be a quite good machine also (no cheap hobby machine either)

I have an edge painting guide (I'm no expert, but it results in nice edges) If you burnish, you can do it while holding it down against an edge, like this. (see photo) Yes, I want to see the making process of the buckle. I used to program lathes back in the days, I wish I had a small cnc mill though. A five axis Datron C5 would be nice

Yes, it's correct. The temper of the leather, the weight of the leather, and hole size/shape and thread thickness will have an impact on the stitching. Like a soft leather will be more sensitive to difference in tension, and a difference in tension will result in different look on the stitch. Some firm thicker leathers will not be that picky about tension or tension angle difference. When you stitch really thin and soft leather then both tension and tension angles becomes very important, just a small change in tension or angle will change how the stitch look. To make it even more complicated, if one side is a soft leather and the other side is firm, you might have to use different tension on either side. A tip, if you start a project make an extra piece of the same leathers and do a stitching test run first.

One material that is popular as reinforcement, and something you can experiment with are what people call Velodon (I guess it's because Hermès call it Velodon. From my knowledge and the versions I have of this material there are Freudenberg Vildona SH-1220 and Jaeger 1961, they are both 0.18-0.19mm in thickness and available in white and black. There are a lot of other options also of course, I like Luigi Carnevali Nylon pesante, but haven't found a reseller of this material, and buying from the producer is full rolls (100 linear meter?)

With interface I guess you mean a reinforcement material. Keep in mind that with flat straps reinforcement is relatively simple, but once you add that raised look (padding) it start to complicate things, because a lot of the reinforcement suitable for straps are dimensionally stable, and when you fold your padded strap around your wrist, depending on how you have used your reinforcement it can result in the top leather not being able to "expand" over the padding, and it doesn't fold very well. With the sides folded over along the length, if you want to look more into that google remborde watch strap. You can see a lot of photos on google images also. I haven't tried it yet. Good luck.

Yes, it's no problem with the templates, I will have to sand the inner edges of the larger parts anyway (they will be used to flush cut straps with padding also, so I have to remove the sharp edge) And the exterior patterns are cut to the finished dimension, and I will still sand them so they become a little bit more narrow to make room for edge paint. But I still need to solve this problem, I'm a perfectionist and this doesn't work long term.

You can use basically any leather, but making straps is harder than I first thought, or making good quality straps that is durable and comfortable. I'm no expert, and I'm completely self taught, but I experiment a lot with different construction methods and have learned to make some types of straps that I would say are very well constructed. Chrome tanned or vegetable tanned doesn't matter, sure you have to paint the edges on chrome tanned leathers. But the temper is more important. Let's take two examples. If you make a strap with one of the more basic construction methods, one top layer and a lining layer. If you would make this in a soft stretchy leather, it would almost instantly stretch at the lugs and buckle pin holes. If you would make it in a stiffer veg tan, or maybe bridle or cordovan it would hold up good quite without reinforcement. I would start with using veg tan leather like Walpier Buttero, LaPerla Azzurra Dakota, Wicket & Craig, and other leather that isn't like stretchy and super soft. When it comes to lining, a lot of people use Haas or Degermann Zermatt calf, or Degermann Vat alsavel (Because it's moisture resistant and hypoallergenic) But other softer leather with a finish is also a good choice, since it's comfortable around your wrist and doesn't pick up moisture.

(I just exploded it and moved the arc section) R22.2 and exactly the same as the two circles beside.