How To Make Perfect Aligned Holes....

[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