Can you buy die cut leather like for strap attachments

[MtlBiker]

I'm working on a bag that is on the way to being the nicest I've ever made, but I'm a little stuck on one wee thing... I need to make or buy some small leather pieces to attach d-rings to my bag.  I'd like to use something similar to the screen capture I'm posting and the problem is that my skill set isn't yet up to making these and/or maybe I just don't have the right tools to make them.  And the bag I'm making uses 4oz chrome tan leather and I'd like for these to match.  Do you know of any company that sells similar pre-cut little pieces?  Probably veg tan that I could dye and finish to match the bag.  It seems to me that such small things could be made and sold in bulk.

In a perfect world I'd have a clicker press and a die exactly as I need.  But alas, I have neither.

[Dwight]

Look up above . . . in the ads . . . Texas custom dies . . . 

I would imagine . . . guesswork from past experience mind you . . . the die shouldn't cost but around 75 bucks  and maybe less . . . 

For something that small . . . you take your time and mallet cut it by slowly but surely tapping all around the sides . . . should have to go around 3 times . . . but it'll work.

With a lot of my scrap leather . . .  I do key fobs . . . got the die long before I got a press . . . that's how I handled it.

May God bless,

Dwight

[chuck123wapati]

3 hours ago, MtlBiker said:

I'm working on a bag that is on the way to being the nicest I've ever made, but I'm a little stuck on one wee thing... I need to make or buy some small leather pieces to attach d-rings to my bag.  I'd like to use something similar to the screen capture I'm posting and the problem is that my skill set isn't yet up to making these and/or maybe I just don't have the right tools to make them.  And the bag I'm making uses 4oz chrome tan leather and I'd like for these to match.  Do you know of any company that sells similar pre-cut little pieces?  Probably veg tan that I could dye and finish to match the bag.  It seems to me that such small things could be made and sold in bulk.

In a perfect world I'd have a clicker press and a die exactly as I need.  But alas, I have neither.

 

[MtlBiker]

19 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

 

Thanks Chuck, but I'm really going to either find someone local (or at least in Canada) that I can get clicker dies from, or find a supplier who already has something similar to what I"m looking for.  Doesn't have to be identical but has to be nice. 

I'm sure that you (and most of the experienced members here) would have no trouble cutting out something like what I'm looking for, but that's a little beyond my present skills and tools.  Plus I need to be able to make a bunch, with them all identical.

Cheers!

 

[chrisash]

Its a simple design and can be made even simpler with just straight edges, make a number of cardboard copies until your confident to cut out the leather you have as thats the perfect match

 

[MtlBiker]

32 minutes ago, chrisash said:

Its a simple design and can be made even simpler with just straight edges, make a number of cardboard copies until your confident to cut out the leather you have as thats the perfect match

 

Thanks.  I'm certainly going to try cutting these, but I'd like to keep the curves because I think the thing would lay flatter with less chance of the corners catching on something and looks bad with use.

The more I look at this, the simpler it looks to me.  And gee, if the left side one doesn't exactly match the right side one, who'd ever notice?

[LeatherLegion]

Try Bradshaw steel rule dies . They are in Cambridge ON.

[Matt S]

Cutting dies are great, but to make them pay you have to balance the cost of production against the labour and mistake/wastage costs of doing them by hand. For me that breakeven is usually around 100 pieces if they're for my own production work but every person must work that out for their own.

I have to say though that it doesn't look like a particularly complex or close-tolerance part, nor does that leather (~2mm?) look very difficult to cut. Take you some scrap, mark them up with your template, strop your knife and try cutting a few dozen. It'll be great practice for a very fundamental skill in leatherworking. At the end line them up in order that you cut them. Compare each piece and look for any differences in accuracy of cut-to-line, in cleanliness of the cut (and snagging/stretching/tearing) where the knife got blunter or the leather changed). Figure out what worked best and how different input variables altered the results. What you could get away with and what you couldn't. Then pick the best/strongest/prettiest/neatest/most consistent ones that you need for your bag and chuck the rest in the circular filing cabinet. You will have invested an hour of your time, 0$ and a little scrap material to increase your knowledge and skills and you'll have enough strap attachments to complete your bag in less time than it'd take for the die manufacturers to respond to your email.

[MtlBiker]

10 hours ago, LeatherLegion said:

Try Bradshaw steel rule dies . They are in Cambridge ON.

Thanks for the lead.  I've already found a couple of places in the Montreal region that make these dies also, and it works better for me to order locally and then go and pick up.

Cheers!
 

[MtlBiker]

2 hours ago, Matt S said:

Cutting dies are great, but to make them pay you have to balance the cost of production against the labour and mistake/wastage costs of doing them by hand. For me that breakeven is usually around 100 pieces if they're for my own production work but every person must work that out for their own.

I have to say though that it doesn't look like a particularly complex or close-tolerance part, nor does that leather (~2mm?) look very difficult to cut. Take you some scrap, mark them up with your template, strop your knife and try cutting a few dozen. It'll be great practice for a very fundamental skill in leatherworking. At the end line them up in order that you cut them. Compare each piece and look for any differences in accuracy of cut-to-line, in cleanliness of the cut (and snagging/stretching/tearing) where the knife got blunter or the leather changed). Figure out what worked best and how different input variables altered the results. What you could get away with and what you couldn't. Then pick the best/strongest/prettiest/neatest/most consistent ones that you need for your bag and chuck the rest in the circular filing cabinet. You will have invested an hour of your time, 0$ and a little scrap material to increase your knowledge and skills and you'll have enough strap attachments to complete your bag in less time than it'd take for the die manufacturers to respond to your email.

Very good advice, Matt.  Thank you.

Other factors I would take into consideration would be repeat accuracy of the cut pieces and if it's a piece/component that would be used over and over in different projects.  Meaning it doesn't have to be 100 pieces for the same style bag, but maybe 100 pieces spread out through multiple different projects.  But I do agree that practicing skills is extremely important and that's what I will certainly be doing.  I'm just working to finalize my template design and once I have that to my liking, I'll be cutting a bunch by hand just as you suggest.  I also have to figure out if veg tan would be better for these strap anchors than the chrome tan used in the rest of the bag.  And even though I'd have to dye and finish the veg tan, I think that by being able to nicely finish the edges would add to the appeal.  But first to finalize the template and then practice practice practice.

Cheers!
 

[chrisash]

They will defiantly last longer in Veg Tan and quite often bags show a mixture of Chrome and veg tan combined into the design. which can include different coloured pieces, just like leather is often used on canvas bags for decoration and also strengthen area's and straps

[fredk]

Be careful with what you buy. Some [a lot] of this pre-cut is not in leather as we know it but in plastic leather

[TomE]

Another idea is to change the construction and run the tab ends through an oblong (crew punch) hole and sew/rivet in place with a decorative stitch on the outside of the bag.  Would use a plain strap from same leather as the bag.  This construction is stronger than a surface mounted tab for the Dee ring.

[MtlBiker]

12 minutes ago, TomE said:

Another idea is to change the construction and run the tab ends through an oblong (crew punch) hole and sew/rivet in place with a decorative stitch on the outside of the bag.  Would use a plain strap from same leather as the bag.  This construction is stronger than a surface mounted tab for the Dee ring.

Thanks for the suggestion.  The strap anchors I'm making will sandwich around the interior and exterior of the bag (clamping it so to speak) and will be riveted.  The sandwich construction is meant to cover the side seam stitching at the top, where I did a bit of back stitching.  And it's also what the video that I got these ideas from did.  I'll show my finished product in a couple of days when it's finished.  This will be the first bag of this design, of what I hope will be many.  At least to my eye, it's the most gorgeous bag I've made yet.

[TomE]

1 hour ago, MtlBiker said:

Thanks for the suggestion.  The strap anchors I'm making will sandwich around the interior and exterior of the bag (clamping it so to speak) and will be riveted.  The sandwich construction is meant to cover the side seam stitching at the top, where I did a bit of back stitching.  And it's also what the video that I got these ideas from did.  I'll show my finished product in a couple of days when it's finished.  This will be the first bag of this design, of what I hope will be many.  At least to my eye, it's the most gorgeous bag I've made yet.

Sounds good.  Look forward to seeing it.   Stohlman describes a number of ways to attach handles and straps in volume 2 of his case making books.

[toxo]

On 4/12/2022 at 2:49 PM, MtlBiker said:

I'm working on a bag that is on the way to being the nicest I've ever made, but I'm a little stuck on one wee thing... I need to make or buy some small leather pieces to attach d-rings to my bag.  I'd like to use something similar to the screen capture I'm posting and the problem is that my skill set isn't yet up to making these and/or maybe I just don't have the right tools to make them.  And the bag I'm making uses 4oz chrome tan leather and I'd like for these to match.  Do you know of any company that sells similar pre-cut little pieces?  Probably veg tan that I could dye and finish to match the bag.  It seems to me that such small things could be made and sold in bulk.

In a perfect world I'd have a clicker press and a die exactly as I need.  But alas, I have neither.

 

You don't have to spend lotsa money to do this stuff on the scale that most of us are putting out. Here's a couple of tips for us cheapskates.

This is in progress.

I've made several like this using home made clicker dies like this.

I used a cheap 1 ton Arbor press by putting a steel plate on top and walking it around the press. And another thing that no one mentions is this type of die is the most economical on leather. With those that are inset into wood you can't see to get as close to the edge as possible so more wastage.

This next bit is about your initial question along with a short video to show the sort of thing you can do with rule steel shapes.

I don't do video and I've just knocked this up because it shows what can be done much better than words can.

 

[MtlBiker]

@toxo - Great!  Thank you!  And your "in progress" bag looks like it'll be real nice.  Thanks for the photos and the video... very helpful.

(I bought the 1-ton arbor press.)

 

[toxo]

3 minutes ago, MtlBiker said:

@toxo - Great!  Thank you!  And your "in progress" bag looks like it'll be real nice.  Thanks for the photos and the video... very helpful.

(I bought the 1-ton arbor press.)

 

Another little tip for the Arbor Press. I take the collar off from the left hand side. It's been off since I've had the press. When I want to raise or lower the ram I just hold the ram where I want it with my hand, slide out the bit that has the handle in it and slide it back in after repositioning the handle. Never once has it even looked like coming out without the collar.