Watch Strap Makers

[cottontop]

Anyone here into making wrist watch straps? I am just trying to get started and I don't have any tools or materials yet as I don't even know what to buy. I was thinking about some of the various kits I have seen on line and I wonder if they are any good? I think I could learn from the kits without investing a lot of money just starting out.

Joe

[chuck123wapati]

there is a lot of info here, you can find about anything  by searching the threads i have seen many on watch straps. welcome to the forum.

[mike02130]

Do not buy a kit.  You'll get a bunch of crap that you won't use and the stuff you will use will be junk.  Figure it out first.  Google and YouTube ought to be your best friend.  Learn some then come back here with some knowledge and you will get better and more concise answers.

[cottontop]

3 minutes ago, mike02130 said:

Do not buy a kit.  You'll get a bunch of crap that you won't use and the stuff you will use will be junk.  Figure it out first.  Google and YouTube ought to be your best friend.  Learn some then come back here with some knowledge and you will get better and more concise answers.

OK mike02130. Thanks for your input. Will do!

Joe

[mike02130]

1 hour ago, cottontop said:

OK mike02130. Thanks for your input. Will do!

Joe

Watch this and see what's involved and then come on back.

 

[cottontop]

Thanks Mike. That was very interesting. I think I could do it. I'll start investigating tools, templates, and more videos and will let you know how I am progressing.

Joe

[Tugadude]

I don't want to get into an argument about whether you should buy a tool kit or not, but there are some that appear to be decent and this one is under $40.00 and includes shipping.

Pretty much all of the tools are very useful.  To each his/her own, but it looks worth the risk.  If half of the tools are decent, you still come out OK.  Maybe others here know of some kits that contain useful tools of decent quality?

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/402273539473?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28

Edited May 27, 2021 by Tugadude
Added photo

[McCarthy]

Going off the top of my head, some of the tools you might want are a nice set of acrylic templates, x-acto knife, pricking irons (3.38 mm maximum), stitching pony, edge paint, 3M wet/dry sandpaper in various grits, a bookbinders paring knife, dividers, and hole punches. For glue, Aquilim 315 or Saregum. For thread, you can't go wrong with Fil au Chinoise. You will have to experiment with the thickness. John James 004 harness needles. Luxury upgrades would be a fileteuse and a multiple hole punch.

There are plenty of YouTube vids that show the process, mostly non-English but that doesn't matter. A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say.

[Hardrada]

A paring machine is a must. I couldn't make watch bands without my Schärffix.

[Hardrada]

This is the only "kit" that I've bought: a collection of templates. You can have them in acrylic but must wait for shipping. Shipping from Vietnam was slow even before the current situation, so I'd just get the PDF and print them onto cardstock:

https://am-leathercraft.com/collections/pdf-patterns/products/simple-watch-strap-pattern-video-tutorial-from-18mm-to-25mm

The video embedded in that page is a different one that the one I had previously watched from him. Here's the original, you can watch it prior so as to get an idea of what's involved and why a paring machine is needed:

 

[cottontop]

Thanks for all the comments and videos. You all are very helpful and have lots of resources and experience. I appreciate your responses. One thing I have wanted to do is to convert some of my existing watch straps into Pilot straps. Mainly, this just means that I needed to install some rivets to the lug ends of the straps; a single rivet for straps 20mm and under, and two straps for anything over 20mm. I have tried to up load some photos but my files are too large. If I can find a way to reduce their size, I will post some.

Joe