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

[TwinOaks]

Here's how I keep nylon or poly thread on the needle: Thread through the eye and feed enough through to get 2x past the point (just to have some working room). Take a lighter/match and lightly melt the end of the thread just so that it sticks together. Push the point of the needle through the thread, trying to pierce one of the cords. Then, feed the needle through the thread which makes a loop, and pull the loop down snug to the needle's eye. That gives you a thread that is locked onto the eye of the needle. Simply trim off any excess tail of thread and get to sewing.