New To Leatherworking, Love The Site

[landm42006]

Hello all. First time posting to this great site. I am a watch nut, and see that in my hobby there are a few strap makers out there, and to fund my hobby I desire to make watch straps. But I am a Marine, and want to always go above and beyond in anything I do, hence the questions.

I have read the advise given by hidepounder regarding the burnishing of edges and hope I can attain the same results for my watch straps.

My main difficulty is in making sure the holes are lined up properly in the long end of the strap. Are there any jigs out there that are available?

Lastly, I have a burnishing wheel rigged to my drill press that I got from Tandy (heck, all my materials come from tandy). I have attempted to use gum trag with not much success.

Perhaps my steps are wrong.

1. I cut the leather to size

2. I glue the straps up after skivving the ends for a flush fit

3. I dye the straps using an "all in one" type dye (dont like that too much either)

4. I attempt to punch my holes but doing it freehand does not leave an exact line of holes in the long side of the strap.

5. I burnish (attempt to).

Are any of the steps out of order?

Heck, I am a mess after reading this. Is there a proper step by step posting on how to make a strap?

Again, I am glad to have found this site, and enjoy viewing the creations the members have made.

Thanks, Marty

[Cobra Steve]

Hello all. First time posting to this great site. I am a watch nut, and see that in my hobby there are a few strap makers out there, and to fund my hobby I desire to make watch straps. But I am a Marine, and want to always go above and beyond in anything I do, hence the questions.

I have read the advise given by hidepounder regarding the burnishing of edges and hope I can attain the same results for my watch straps.

My main difficulty is in making sure the holes are lined up properly in the long end of the strap. Are there any jigs out there that are available?

Lastly, I have a burnishing wheel rigged to my drill press that I got from Tandy (heck, all my materials come from tandy). I have attempted to use gum trag with not much success.

Perhaps my steps are wrong.

1. I cut the leather to size

2. I glue the straps up after skivving the ends for a flush fit

3. I dye the straps using an "all in one" type dye (dont like that too much either)

4. I attempt to punch my holes but doing it freehand does not leave an exact line of holes in the long side of the strap.

5. I burnish (attempt to).

Are any of the steps out of order?

Heck, I am a mess after reading this. Is there a proper step by step posting on how to make a strap?

Again, I am glad to have found this site, and enjoy viewing the creations the members have made.

Thanks, Marty

Welcome Marty, glad you found us. I am sure you will receive very good advice regarding your questions. Steve

Edited March 31, 2010 by Cobra Steve

[Johanna]

Hi Marty! I would do the steps 1 4 3 5 2. Welcome to LW!

Semper Fi

Johanna

[MADMAX22]

Practice and read the forums as much as you can.

Martin gave good advice on hole punching.

Use a ruler or a wing divider to find the center of your strap and mark off your holes to be punched. Now when you mark them with a little prick of the divider make sure your hole punch lines up just to the edge of the mark. Dont try to cover the mark because you wont be able to always center the hole punch. This will help alot in getting your holes lined up.

Get a few done then post up some pics if you can in the critique section and everyone here will be able to point you in the right direction on what needs improvement and what you may be doing right or wrong.

[landm42006]

Thanks all for the advice. I really want to up my game so's I can afford the hobby and provide a product different from some of the others, as well as to feed my need. So far I have learned that:

You don't use "all in one" dyes.

I don't have a clue on how to use a preval sprayer, or how to properly apply acrylic resolene.

I am making my straps from veg tanned leather I purchased from Tandy, and it has a long period of breaking in. Perhaps someone can tell me how to soften it.

I will be trying the edging method described by hidepounder this weekend. I have one of those plastic Tandy burnishing wheels mounted in a drill press turning at about 1000 rpm. Will turn it up a notch and use some saddle soap on the edge of the strap before attempting to burnish.

Will end up breaking something if I don't get the holes set up properly. I am using an oblong punch which compounds the problem, but will try the scribe method described above.

Again, any and all advise will be greatly appreciated, and if I am doing something wrong, please advise. I would like to get my hands on a good burnisher, once I get the directions dials in for a good edge burnishing. (I sometimes wonder if I am using the right leather).

Speaking of, I can recall that prior to getting a good spitshine on boots (back in the days when we used to spitshine, that is), a new pair of boots had to be stripped to get the kiwi to stick. Can the same be said of new leather purchased from the dealer? Is there anything on the leather that would prohibit even dye absorption or keep the edges from burnishing?

Thanks again, oohhh rahhh, and sorry for all the noob questions.

Hope to get some input soon.