Thick Veg Tan Watch Strap

[BobW]

My watch is about 13 years old and the stainless strap was looking a little rough. I liked the looks of some of the the thick watch straps I've seen on the Internet so I decided to make one.

It is made of three layers of 3-4 oz veg tan leather. I used a German made clasp. The orange thread is 277 poly.

Edited December 6, 2014 by BobW

[Rohn]

Another nice piece Bob. You do lovely work.

[BobW]

Another nice piece Bob. You do lovely work.

Thanks Rohn!

[Halitech]

Nice work. Is the middle piece just to give a gap for the pin to go through?

[BobW]

Nice work. Is the middle piece just to give a gap for the pin to go through?

Thanks Halitech.

Given the thickness of the divers watch, I wanted a thick strap. The three layers of leather gave me that thickness. Keen eye, the thickness of the center layer is nearly identical to the diameter of the pin!

Bob

[Halitech]

I was thinking there was a method to your madness

2 layers of 5/6oz would have given you the same thickness but would have been a lot harder to bend around the pin but the 3 thinner layers is a really good idea and really looks great. And it looks like you did skive the one end down a bit where the clasp attaches. I may have to give this a try sometime if I ever get a watch lol

[BobW]

I was thinking there was a method to your madness

2 layers of 5/6oz would have given you the same thickness but would have been a lot harder to bend around the pin but the 3 thinner layers is a really good idea and really looks great. And it looks like you did skive the one end down a bit where the clasp attaches. I may have to give this a try sometime if I ever get a watch lol

No method, just madness!

I still had to skive slightly for the watch pins but there was a LOT of skiving to get the clasp to fit. I have some Panarai style buckles coming which will work a lot better with the thick leather. I will probably finish it out to match my phone case with Havana Cigar stitching and the leather dyed black.

Yes, I think having a watch first is a good idea!

Bob

"Well...it seemed like a good idea at the time!"

[silverwingit]

I like it!

Question: did you hand stitch with machine thread? Every time I do that I wish I hadn't. It unravels, pulls off the needle, frays, etc. Nothing but headache for me. Even though I have some nice colors in my bonded nylon machine thread inventory, every time I reach for one for hand stitching I recall the previous nightmare I had using it.

Or maybe you have a secret?

Thanks,

Michellle

[BobW]

I like it!

Question: did you hand stitch with machine thread? Every time I do that I wish I hadn't. It unravels, pulls off the needle, frays, etc. Nothing but headache for me. Even though I have some nice colors in my bonded nylon machine thread inventory, every time I reach for one for hand stitching I recall the previous nightmare I had using it.

Or maybe you have a secret?

Thanks,

Michellle

No secret, Michelle. I did hand stitch it and it is machine thread. The only problem I had with it was I had to re-tread the needle several times. I just applied more beeswax and went on. It was trying to unravel close to the needles but I had 8 or 10" extra on each end so it didn't effect the strap.

I'm glad I didn't know ahead of time it wouldn't work, because I wouldn't have tried it! I guess ignorance is bliss!

Bob

[silverwingit]

Thanks for the reply, Bob. Yours pretty much echoes my experience except that I've had the needle problem towards the end of a run when thread was short. I made it work but it wasn't pretty.

I once was a young engineer who found myself doing medical research. I made lots of research "hay" doing things that, had I been in the field longer, I would have known not to try!

Michelle

Edited December 8, 2014 by silverwingit