Marking Aligned Holes?

[DavidL]

How do you mark the holes on a belt and get them aligned in the centre. The most common way i see this done is people have a paper layout and put a dot in the middle. To me that would be inaccurate and difficult to get the punch centred and be an issue on things like watch straps.

Do you use a template and draw the outline of the circle?

Use a template and press an indentation with a hole punch and align in the groove?

Something else?

[wlg190861]

Say you are making a belt, 1 1/2" wide, I use a clear plastic ruler ( the ones you can buy at ( Wal-Mart ) Lay the ruler on the belt, line up the edge of the belt with the 3/4 inch line on the ruler, take a pen or any pointed object an put a mark every inch. Most belts have 5 holes. When you punch the holes, use your eyes to center the punch.

I hope this helps you.

Dan

[Dwight]

Pretty much the same as wig190861, . . . except I have a punched out template made many moons ago from a manila folder.

I lay it on the top of the belt, . . . pencil, pen, nail, punch, . . . use something to mark the front to back location of the holes.

Then I lay it on the table, . . . belt point looking directly at me, . . . lay my hole punch back side on the mark I made, . . . adjust it left or right as my eyes tell me what is centered, . . . punch it.

I learned a long time ago, . . . if I cannot see any error in the location, . . . nobody else will either. I just eyeball and punch.

May God bless,

Dwight

[DavidL]

ok, looks like I need more practice. A while back I was making a shoe and the eyelet holes where slightly off, enough where it was noticeable and I was curious if there was any thing that I haven't thought of.

[thefanninator]

Weaver has a centering device for this.

[Red Cent]

I use a wing divider. I mark the spot with a pencil, use the wing divider to establish center, place the punch over the mark made by the divider stem to make an impression, then use 1 ton hand press to punch the holes. Little involved but I have not had a "bad" hole for quite a while.

[25b]

Weaver has a centering device for this.

You have a name for the tool or a link to it?

[silverwingit]

For me, the trick is not so much how you mark the hole's locations, but how you physically punch them.

Having marked the locations of the holes with, say, a point using a round awl, one method is to place the punch centered on the points, where another places the leading or following edge of the punch at the points. With the latter method, you can always see the marked point but must be very careful of left/right placement. With the former method, which I actually prefer, you must make a light test impression with the punch to ensure that it is indeed centered over the given marked point.

Of course you can and should always make light test impressions before punching any hole, whatever placement method you prefer.

Michelle

PS: Here is that Weaver centering device. You should know two things about it, though. One, Weaver only sells to tax licensees. Also, the device is designed to use their Master Tools punches which are very, very nice but quite pricey. Search that same catalog to see what I mean.

http://www.weaverleathersupply.com/Mobile/Catalog/ItemContent.aspx?ItemNumber=185FD3CC33B7CF69C99B93B444F2313F6A85E188A47961DAB96A232C7F033E4818485C02B019734BB68DC4C6A1E9B194AFA55689811E277237334E382C069D02BAF005735363B572E8FFCDA522DB7EA6F894C0F2C8C282BB60AB9D59DC14E2FB43E3D97F9A6304D177B9AC42B13D3327106661CF8E801C592F9C9AB1FA196EF1

Edited December 4, 2014 by silverwingit

[thefanninator]

You have a name for the tool or a link to it?

http://www.weaverleathersupply.com/Catalog/ItemContent.aspx?ItemNumber=29291&CatalogId=001&CatalogDetailId=40&NSM=Y

Whoops, just noticed it was already posted.

Weaver will sell to anyone now. The Weaver Leather Supply site is for anyone.

Weaver Leather is for businesses.

Edited December 4, 2014 by thefanninator

[Jaymack]

Black River Laser at Ebay makes a pretty cool template. I haven't bought one yet, but I will soon.

[Doc Reaper]

I make templates out of half inch thick wood stripes that are as wide as the belt I'm making. I used a drill press to drill the holes in the stripe of wood one inch apart. I use a nail that is slightly smaller than the drill bit to keep the nail straight and centered, I insert the nail then lightly tap it to mark the leather. I have different width templates for each belt blank width, about seven different templates I have made years ago! Most are made of cedar that a neighbor cut down in his yard. If you make a template, make it so it last! Quality begets quality!

[Pablo27]

If you are needing template material, Target or Wally World sells flexabe chopping/cutting matts that make good templates. They are in the Kitchen section and run somewhere around $5 for 4 of them and are 12"x15". There are assorted colors in each package so you could use different colors for different sizes, etc.

Paul

[kevinp]

I use two pairs of dividers one set to half the width of the strap and the other set to the hole spacing.

[Chief31794]

I mark a hole with an awl at an accurate location, but I think you said your problem was punching them accurately after marking them right where they should be. I tap the punch lightly and lift it leaving a small impression, then I move the punch if necessary and keep tapping until I get the mark dead center of the punch impression, then I put the punch in the impression, and punch it through. All the slightly offset light impressions are obliterated by the punch.

This works for round holes and ovals.

Chief

[jwallace]

I had some templates made for my watch straps and I still have to work to get my holes lined up straight. However, in my experience, it's a combination of things that contributed to the holes being misaligned.

As others have mentioned, I mark the holes with a nail, then I use my scratch awl to make a proper indentation. Then I use the hole punch itself and press it into the leather just enough to leave a mark. I measure the mark and ensure that it's straight, then punch.

However, I found that punching my holes with the strap faced perpendicular away from my body helped me align things better. When I had it facing parallel with my chest, my holes were almost invariably crooked. Since changing position, they have improved remarkably. I also have seen a great improvement by punching on a marble slab with my self-healing cutting mat on top of it. With this method, I was able to get these holes:

[ramrod]

wing dividers here. i set it for the width of the belt. but i also double check by measuring both sides of the belt. that way you know it is centered.

[taintedelephant]

I was taught a long time ago when drilling a hole in a concrete wall to mark it with a cross bigger than the hole, that way you can see it with your tool in the way. I'm new at this, but it works for me when I need super accuracy. For belts I just draw a circle inside the template, and eyeball it.