Punch Or Knife Cut?

[toasty1435]

Hey I really like how this cut out for the watch tang is squared instead of the oblong punch I usually see. Is there a rectangular punch somewhere or what is the technique for cutting a small notch like that so cleanly?

[amuckart]

That looks knife cut to me. If you look really closely at the left side of the slot it looks like the cut goes a little too far.

The key I've found cutting slots like that is to always cut away from the body of the leather, so for a given rectangle there will be eight cuts.

I do it with a very sharp and sharply pointed Olfa AK-1 craft knife using a KB4-S/B blade going in almost vertically at the corners. I use the Olfa knife because the blades are a good contour and much higher quality than most x-acto / craft knife blades, and I got given them

[Ferg]

I have a square hole punch that cut a hole 1/8" on all sides. I have not done the square hole in a band but looks easy.

ferg

That looks knife cut to me. If you look really closely at the left side of the slot it looks like the cut goes a little too far.

The key I've found cutting slots like that is to always cut away from the body of the leather, so for a given rectangle there will be eight cuts.

I do it with a very sharp and sharply pointed Olfa AK-1 craft knife using a KB4-S/B blade going in almost vertically at the corners. I use the Olfa knife because the blades are a good contour and much higher quality than most x-acto / craft knife blades, and I got given them

[toasty1435]

Ok so sounds like I can just use a knife? I currently only have an X-acto, is there any other kind of knife that would be better/sharper/easier to use? Any other tips for such a clean cut like this?

[hidepounder]

Ok so sounds like I can just use a knife? I currently only have an X-acto, is there any other kind of knife that would be better/sharper/easier to use? Any other tips for such a clean cut like this?

the strap in this photo was punched....probably on a clicker where they can produce at lot of them at once. You won't be able to duplicate this exact look with your knife, but if you are careful you can still produce a nice clean cut that is very acceptable. Additionally...if you are making "custom" watch bands, you don't want them to look "manufactured".

Bobby

[toasty1435]

OK thanks for the help everyone, I'm just getting started into doing this and this was only my second strap I made so I'm still learning a lot.

[LeatherLegion]

Hey I really like how this cut out for the watch tang is squared instead of the oblong punch I usually see. Is there a rectangular punch somewhere or what is the technique for cutting a small notch like that so cleanly?

I would probably use a flat chisel for the long sides and a narrow craft blade (looks similar to a flat chisel) for the smaller sides of the rectangular

[Luke Hatley]

it looks like an 1" English point punch to me.