Danne

Thanks, When I started this craft I bought some similar ones but round, and they where really bad steel. But I have seen people using them and sharpen them, so I guess it's a little bit of a gamble, some can be "ok" steel, and heat treated other really bad steel. I found out that Kevin Lee make custom punches. And he have good reputation. https://www.kevinleathertools.com/products/kl-custom-made-single-punch And on this photo there are some punches with square edges https://www.kevinleathertools.com/products/custom-fish-shape-punch

Thank you, lol, when I look at my straps or other leather projects, I only see what could be improved. I mean I know I have reached a level where I have quite good attention to details, but there are always things that can be improved, and also consistency is hard, the smallest "mistake" become so visible on such a small item as a watch strap. But it's also what I like about this craft (To spend time on on details, and improving details) The same merry christmas

Paraffin wax Bees wax Crepe rubber A sanding block (Just a small piece of beech wood to hold sand paper.)

I sometimes see people who ask what tools they need for this craft. This is most of what I use to make a watch strap. Not included are things like a granite plate for skiving, a punch pad for hole punches, a cutting mat, and such. I understand that an electric creaser and irons and punches from brands like Ksblade can be expensive, but there are cheaper good alternatives that will give you a really good result, like manual creaser irons (you heat over an alcohol lamp) and cheaper good quality hole punches and stitching irons. If there is one tool I wouldn't buy the cheapest then it's the skiving knife. This is a Kyoshin Elle 40-50 euros so not super expensive, but the really cheap ones out there will cause you a lot of frustration. And btw, I sharpen my skiving knife with wet and dry sandpaper (Mirka or 3M are good brands)

Tell him "It will last you a lifetime, and as you gets older the belt becomes shorter, just like jeans tend to shrink with age, especially after holidays :D"

I'm sorry, but you can't assume that the customer will know how to properly measure a belt. You have to make sure he understand and get the correct length. Let's say a customer would contact me to buy a watch strap, and I ask him for the lug width and strap length. He tell me his old strap is stamped 20mm and 115-80mm, and he would like a taper. So I make him a 20-18mm strap in the lengths 115-80mm. After he received his strap he contact me and tell me it's impossible to attach the strap, even though it has quick release spring bars, but it's not enough space between the spring bar holes and the watch case. And he send me a photo. He have a F.P. Journe watch, and it requires a strap that is curved at the lugs, and also need curved spring bars. Who did the mistake here? I did. Of course in my example with watch straps, even if I know what watch they have I might be able to find out that there is a short lug distance (distance between case and spring bar) but I know a regular strap fits (a curved strap would increase the gap) then I might have to tell the customer, I can make this type of strap in this leather to fit a watch with a clearance of 1mm, but I can't find information to be certain if it will fit your watch. In this situation, the customer can decide what they want to do, find the information, measure the gap, or just hope it fits. OR I can send them a small piece of leather that is 1mm in thickness and they can try if it fits between the spring bar and case. Communication is really important. Ps. I do understand your frustration though, I don't sell anything yet. And I'm sure I will end up in similar situations, like where a customer have bought from me before, and then he/she knew the dimensions, and all of a sudden they forget to mention something, and I didn't ask. But I still think I have to make a new product in that case.

Hi, I'm looking for an oblong punch with 2mm width, length doesn't matter that much 8-10mm or something. I use it to punch the hole for the buckle tongue notch on watch straps (as in my drawing) and I do punch it after the fold is done. Other shapes would also be nice, like a Panerai strap would require a wider square notch for the buckle pin. Of course it's possible to cut these shapes without punches, but a high quality set with different shaped smaller punches would be nice. I would say the most important is a high quality oblong 2*8-10mm punch, if there are no other high quality ones for other small shapes, a cheaper kit would do it.

Thank you. For a watch strap backstitching becomes quite important. On small things like a watch strap, your eye instantly focus on something like an uneven backstitch. Lining leather is around 1mm (2.5oz) Thank you

I usually make interior on my wallets in combination tanned goat leather, and edges are around 2mm at it's thickest. But making a slim wallet isn't only about the choice of leather, sure if you want to make a really slim wallet in veg tan cow leather, you might have to reinforce it, but it's also about construction, where to skive down edges. @Simplejack1985 Nice tooling, looking forward to see your finished wallet.

Found some more photos of straps I haven't shared here.

Thank you.

I do leathercraft as a hobby, and of course Instagram is a good place to show off your work when you do this as a business. Instagram is also a good place to connect with other crafters. Now to the problem, if someone asked me a question about a material or source for something, I was always willing to share. If I asked someone I never talked to before I I understood that I might not get an answer, some people don't share, or don't have the time to share, and I respect that. (I'm not talking about in depth construction questions, it was more that I asked about a material that was used and such) I did talk to a lot of crafters and we shared solutions, materials, sources and such, but I also quite often got messages from crafters that asked me for a source, or what material I used, and I shared it, and tried to help as much as possible, like what glue I had tried for that material, or where to source something in a smaller quantity, and other tips regarding what I shared. On multiple occasions a little later I asked that person about some new material they have found, and to my surprise they answer with a complete LIE. (Example: If I would use "Velodon" for a watch strap here, and someone ask me what material is that? and I answer "Ohh it's salpa, bonded leather") like obvious lie to avoid sharing.

Thank you

Not a workshop, but my working area.

Wow, super nice. When do you start making leather skiving knives? I do like my Kyoshin elle skiving knives, but a damascus blade and african blackwood handle. It would follow the theme on my toolboard where more and more tools get black

I try to find a good balance between soft/pliable and durable. Now I don't sell any leather goods (only a hobby) but some reinforcement solutions I've tried have resulted in straps that are very stiff (even with softer leather) until it has shaped itself around my wrist, I think something like that would annoy a lot of customers when they order a slim strap in a soft leather. But I think it also comes down to the type of leather used. If I would get the task to make a strap for a watch that would take a lot of beating over the years like yours, and I could choose leathers. I would probably choose bridle or cordovan, and build up the interior with a full grain cow leather if a padded strap. I do spend a lot of time thinking about different construction methods. In one way it can make sense to use a nylon fabric as reinforcement to avoid stretching at the lugs and between bucke pin holes. But those materials degrade over time, like I took out an old backback I had in my storage room, all straps where made from some synthetic material, and it was a high quality made bag, but I could tear some straps with no effort. And when we buy a reinforcement material today, with the requirements for the materials to be environmental friendly, how long will they hold up? especially when it's thin material? Let's have a look at some of the best crafters out there (my opinion, but a lot of people will agree) I saw a strap made by Niwa, and the construction is fully made out of leather. I can't say what the best choices are, but these constructions fully made out of leather appeal more to me. But I use Velodon for my flat straps, and I still experiment with different construction methods. https://www.instagram.com/p/B6O8GR0ALNc/ https://www.instagram.com/p/B6UOrkBA_GW/

Thank you, I really like watch straps, I like to work on attention to small details, and I think they are a good way to improve the attention to details. Even the smallest details are important, I mean on a large bag a "bad" backstitch will not be that visible, but it becomes really visible on a watch strap. Also mistakes when making small straps are cheap, a failure with a handbag will be a lot of wasted leather. Thank you.

Yes, navy blue and orange thread would look awesome. I did a bundstrap for this watch in these colors.

Thank you, I'm sorry to hear about your injury. With a fob you mean something like this? (Found on Google)

Wow, that tooling is so clean and consistent. Really nice work.

This is probably not suitable for your purpose where you completely lack a cutting edge, but maybe could be a good solution to sharpen hole punches? https://crimsonhides.com/products/hole-punch-sharpener

That's something I constantly experiment with. For flat straps I use Velodon (Freudenberg SH-1220 or Jaeger 1961) This is what I used for these three straps. 1. Pink + orange strap: Top layer 0.5mm goat + 0.5mm cow leather. From straps I made in goat leather before and tried for a while, it seems to work really good, and doesn't make the strap stiff. 2. Black strap: Freudenberg SH-5090 (0.1mm) along the lining and around the folds (but under padding) An example on how I line the top layer with cow leather. (It's not this strap, but a similar strap I made before.

Thank you

Thank you Thank you

Thank you, 1. I make my templates so they match the stitching distance/spi. Here is a printscreen from a wallet where I stitch with 3mm/9spi. 2. Sometimes I use a round hole at the point. Other times I start the first hole just as corners on my wallet in the example above. For really thin thread it do look better with a round hole, or it will be a quite large gap at the point. Here are some photos from the making of my latest strap (the finished strap is in my last post)