Light weight press for making stitching holes quickly

[SteveOz]

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

[Handstitched]

  On 6/25/2023 at 7:09 AM, SteveOz said:

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

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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]

  On 7/20/2023 at 6:46 AM, 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.

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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]

  On 7/20/2023 at 8:38 AM, 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.

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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.