Light weight press for making stitching holes quickly

[SteveOz]

@Handstitched Sadly, I'm in the East and they're in the West. 

[Handstitched]

3 hours ago, SteveOz said:

Sadly, I'm in the East and they're in the West. 

Bugger !!!!  Wishful thinking . 

[DonInReno]

Somewhere I saw a picture of a guy who used a drill press with no motor and the shaft had a pin so it didn’t rotate.  It was essentially a low pressure arbor press.

Drill presses are often free so that’s a good low $$ toy.

[SteveOz]

@DonInReno Thanks for your suggestion here. I'm actually blown away by all of the support I've received from everyone here on the forum. I have to go and do some tinkering in the shed to try some things out.

Thanks again everyone for taking the time to help me!

[dikman]

Steve, when it comes to leatherwork this is THE place to get answers to any questions you may have. The knowledge base on here is quite remarkable.

[SteveOz]

Curiosity got the better of me. So, I made one of these light weight presses. It amazingly gives me a perfectly straight line of holes on both sides of my work without the noise of a mallet. I had everything in my shed except the toggle clamp. It cost me $23.00. A nice rainy day project. I'll be tinkering with my Singer next to try that out.

Thanks again everyone for your kind suggestions.

[fredk]

That looks the job right enough

[dikman]

Well, that's different. As long as it works is all that matters.

[SteveOz]

@fredk Thanks, I readily admit that it is a funny looking thing. For the time being it does the job nicely for straight and tapered watch straps without any noise.

[SteveOz]

@dikman Thanks Mate. It has cut down the time it takes to make stitching holes greatly. And it is better than what I can do with a mallet, and stitching chisel following a marked line.

[Wepster]

2 hours ago, SteveOz said:

Curiosity got the better of me. So, I made one of these light weight presses. It amazingly gives me a perfectly straight line of holes on both sides of my work without the noise of a mallet. I had everything in my shed except the toggle clamp. It cost me $23.00. A nice rainy day project. I'll be tinkering with my Singer next to try that out.

Thanks again everyone for your kind suggestions.

Nice! what clamp did you end up choosing? Seems to be the right one!

[SteveOz]

@Wepster Hey Mate, I found one locally that was made in Taiwan. It's not too bad, it was only $23.00. The brand name is 'King Diamond'. I would have preferred to buy something made locally or in the U.S., but the cost was prohibitive for those. Anyway here is a link to the King Diamond site-

 http://www.king-diamond.com.tw/push_pull_type_toggle_clamp_KD-302F.html

King Diamond, when only the best will do.

[chuck123wapati]

2 hours ago, SteveOz said:

@dikman Thanks Mate. It has cut down the time it takes to make stitching holes greatly. And it is better than what I can do with a mallet, and stitching chisel following a marked line.

that thing rocks my friend, nice looking tool !! 

[SteveOz]

@chuck123wapati Hey Man, thanks for the compliment. It looks like a Rube Goldberg machine in a big way. But, it works surprisingly well.

[AlZilla]

Nothing Rube Goldberg there at all. I can see that being very useful.  An edge guide might be something to consider..

Very, very nice.

[SteveOz]

@AlZilla Thanks for the compliment Mate. It's doing its job very quietly. I do have an edge guide on it. I can punch holes in a tapered watch strap as the edge guide is quite small. So, if you blink, you'll definitely miss it.