How To Make Perfect Aligned Holes....

[motomuzieq]

Good day everyone... I've been trying to make a watch strap around 2 months and I have issues in making buckle holes... It is very difficult to make buckle holes perfectly aligned...or is it just me? Is there any suggestion? Thank you for all of your help....

[electrathon]

Make a templet, keep trying till you get one right. Make it from leather. Clamp it on top of your strap. Punch through your templet into your strap. Perfect every time.

[motomuzieq]

Make a templet, keep trying till you get one right. Make it from leather. Clamp it on top of your strap. Punch through your templet into your strap. Perfect every time.

Leather template... Never crossed in my mind.... Thanks a lot, I'll give it a try

[silverwingit]

Black River Laser Centering Gauge Template sets make laying out rows of holes a snap.

http://www.blackriverlaser.com/leather-craft-templates-gauges

Michelle

[DR80]

I made a template for a 20mm watch strap. It's a little work, but just one time

I made a pdf with 18,20,21,22,23,24 for you.

watch_strap.pdf

[Mudruck]

Thanks for the template! That is going to make making those dang little holes line up when I do work like that.

[DR80]

Thanks for the template! That is going to make making those dang little holes line up when I do work like that.

Forgot to say one thing. Make the holes 0,5mm larger on the template, otherwise the hole punch will get stuck. I only use the template for marking the holes.

[biglew]

thanks

[DR80]

Made som strap-ends.

10-33mm, 34-45mm.

10-33.pdf

34-45.pdf

[motomuzieq]

I made a template for a 20mm watch strap. It's a little work, but just one time

I made a pdf with 18,20,21,22,23,24 for you.

DR80... You're a life safer, thank you so much!!

Forgot to say one thing. Make the holes 0,5mm larger on the template, otherwise the hole punch will get stuck. I only use the template for marking the holes.

Yeah, I wish I've read this before... But I've learned it...a hard way...after ruined at least 10 templates

[Panpan75]

Thank you all for sharing your templates.

[SmokeyPoint]

If you're not using a computer, the trick to a template is to make two holes, perfectly centered, perfectly the distance apart you want on a piece of leather as wide as the strap end you will be making. Once you have a template with two perfect holes, make a template of the strap end with one perfectly centered hole (use the first template) the exact distance you want it from the end. Then use a rivet, chicago screw, etc to pin your two-hole template to the top of the strap end template. Mark the second hole, remove template, punch hole, move top template to the hole you just punched, and repeat until you have the strap end template you want. When I am making templates, before I make the final punch on any given hole, I pull out the scale and check center and distance. Measure twice, punch once.

As DR80 said, only use the template to mark the holes. I walked in on my wife punching holes THROUGH my template once. Once.

[electrathon]

If you use leather for your template the leather will easily stretch to allow you to punch through the template. Once your template is straight there is no variance in your hole alignment.

[motomuzieq]

If you use leather for your template the leather will easily stretch to allow you to punch through the template. Once your template is straight there is no variance in your hole alignment.

Electrathon, I wonder... If you made a template from leather, do you harden it? I'm thinking to dip my leather template to boiled water after I finished it, hoping that it would stiffen, so it would be easier to punch a hole from it

[electrathon]

Do not try to harden it. Just use veg tan. You want the holes to stretch out a little as you are drive the punch through.

[motomuzieq]

Alright, i'll do that... Thanks a lot, I'll posted the results when it's done