How to make leather zip pulls in less than 1 minute per

[RockyAussie]

This technique could be done with a hand punch if the die were made in that way in case you do not yet have a clicker press. When a zip pull tag is so small it is difficult to work on in so many ways and can be very hard to do in a short time frame. I hope for budding manufactures this will be of some help. If some think that this type of thing is not the right place in this forum please let me know and I will delete it if possible. If you think it is suitable please say so and I will proceed to show more.

[SamB]

This is a great and helpful tutorial!

Thanks for your time 

[Matt S]

Excellent tutorial -- often the smallest bits are the hardest.

 

What is in your edging mixture?

[RockyAussie]

Firstly thanks SamB and Matt S for the positive feedback.That's not so easy to answer as the names here are different to what most would know. The Ares (italia) S.r.l. would be the main one but to get the huge colour range I mostly use the clear AR 6350 Neutro Denso and mix in pigments to get my own colours. In the U.S. the Fenice range would be the same I think and available from Campbell Randal. I commend them for having a decent colour card etc on the products unlike most. Also I use another that would be similar to the Giardini range and is good in some other respects. I  need a lot of various colours and high quality properties as I hope the pics below show some. The mix is about 90% water and only to seal and colour the raw edging of the pulls in this case. It mostly absorbs in in this case and does the job well.

[catstamp]

Thanks for sharing your tutorial and finishing techniques. 

[RockyAussie]

Thanks catstamp, I hope to do a few more soon, maybe watch bands or bangles next.

[alfredleatherworks]

This is a great tutorial!  Thanks for sharing!

[Trevor Baret]

Great stuff Rocky.

[Isla]

Thanks. 

[RockyAussie]

Wow ...that's going back a bit to find. Thank you and I hope it comes in useful.

[Grumpymann]

Thanks a bunch! Any chance this can get pinned?

[bikermutt07]

That's a good tip. Thanks.

[Instinctive]

Brilliantly simple line up jig too which I had seen you post earlier for wallets but could not remember who had done it.

[SonderingSusan]

great tutorial rocky, thanks for sharing !just one question, where can u get that open ended knife piece that cuts the shape of the tab? thanks, 

[RockyAussie]

16 hours ago, Instinctive said:

Brilliantly simple line up jig too which I had seen you post earlier for wallets but could not remember who had done it.

Thanks Eric. Truth is if it wasn't simple I probably couldn't done it. For those who would like to see more of it and how it works here is a link to the post and there video that shows it in action and a  pdf file with all the measurements and stuff to make it.

 

11 hours ago, SonderingSusan said:

great tutorial rocky, thanks for sharing !just one question, where can u get that open ended knife piece that cuts the shape of the tab? thanks, 

@SonderingSusan I get my knives made up here in OZ to whatever shape I want. I normally send a thin cardboard cut out of the shape I want and it gets made up. The knife here made by Tony would cost about $35.00 Aud (around $25.00 US) if that helps. The knife shown is as would be used on a clicker press but for a few dollars more it can be made as a hand punch version. I have attached a few pictures to help understand better what I am trying to say.

This 1st pic shows how small this zip pull is and the knife used to cut it as above.

This second one shows how the same 3/4" or 20mm steel knifing can be done as a hand punch tool as well.

This one is to show what the hand punch looks like closer up... and note it is used for cutting the ends of the bracelet straps in the picture.

This hand punch is used due to the various width and boney nature of this part of the crocodile skin and being quicker to achieve the cut than in a clicker press.

Hope this helps a little more. Brian

20 hours ago, Grumpymann said:

Thanks a bunch! Any chance this can get pinned?

Ha Ha ....Maybe one day if they start up a Manufacturing Tips section. I don't  think this is viewed as Leather work quite. BTW I would love to see that section a lot. Brian