The Original Strap Cutter

[LePoisson]

I bow in deference to teh many pros here, but the only strap cutters I've used I made in about 10 minutes on my table saw and drill press out of hardwood offcuts. They only cut one size of strap, but since they cost a razor blade and 6 woodscrews, cut precisely, and never need adjustment, I'm pretty happy with them. No layout or measurement needed - just make sure your final depth and width of the strap cutting slot matches your desired outcomes.

I'm not sure whether there is a name for these. I guess you could call them strapp cutting blocks. Construction is in 6-7 easy steps...

1. Drill 6 holes in two rows on the narrow side of a block of wood to a depth of about 1".
2. Cut a slot in the block lengthwise equal in width to the "normal" thickness of leather you work, and to teh depth of the width of strap you wish to make.
3. Slice off the face of the block with the 6 holes in it, leaving yourself with a block with pilot holes, and 2 small plates.
4. Place a razor blade between the facer plate and the block, and screw the plate in place, holding the blade. For safety, grind the blade flat to the block if it protrudes.
5. Test cut a scrap of leather. The strap should be too narrow by about 3/8"
6. Adjust depth of the groove in the block to the width of strap you want by re-cutting the groove on the table saw deeper into the block until you have the depth you want. If you go too deep, shave a little off the face until you have exactly the width you need.
7. Mark the block for its intended use and add it to the tool shelf.

I have about 6 of these, set up to different sizes. Some have a different size on each side of the block. For instance in the one shown, I can cut a 3/4" strap (sized a little small to fit my buckles) on the side facing the camera, and a 1/2" strap on the opposite side.

[chuck123wapati]

18 hours ago, LePoisson said:

I bow in deference to teh many pros here, but the only strap cutters I've used I made in about 10 minutes on my table saw and drill press out of hardwood offcuts. They only cut one size of strap, but since they cost a razor blade and 6 woodscrews, cut precisely, and never need adjustment, I'm pretty happy with them. No layout or measurement needed - just make sure your final depth and width of the strap cutting slot matches your desired outcomes.

I'm not sure whether there is a name for these. I guess you could call them strapp cutting blocks. Construction is in 6-7 easy steps...

1. Drill 6 holes in two rows on the narrow side of a block of wood to a depth of about 1".
2. Cut a slot in the block lengthwise equal in width to the "normal" thickness of leather you work, and to teh depth of the width of strap you wish to make.
3. Slice off the face of the block with the 6 holes in it, leaving yourself with a block with pilot holes, and 2 small plates.
4. Place a razor blade between the facer plate and the block, and screw the plate in place, holding the blade. For safety, grind the blade flat to the block if it protrudes.
5. Test cut a scrap of leather. The strap should be too narrow by about 3/8"
6. Adjust depth of the groove in the block to the width of strap you want by re-cutting the groove on the table saw deeper into the block until you have the depth you want. If you go too deep, shave a little off the face until you have exactly the width you need.
7. Mark the block for its intended use and add it to the tool shelf.

I have about 6 of these, set up to different sizes. Some have a different size on each side of the block. For instance in the one shown, I can cut a 3/4" strap (sized a little small to fit my buckles) on the side facing the camera, and a 1/2" strap on the opposite side.

those are nice!

[fredk]

On 12/15/2021 at 6:45 PM, LePoisson said:

. . . I'm not sure whether there is a name for these. I guess you could call them strap cutting blocks.. . . 

Most excellent

All this talk on strap cutters, I decided to do some up-grading that I've long wanted to do on my strap cutter. I wanted to change the thumb screw to a knob and that lead to changing several other parts

My strap cutter, bought from Le Prevo about 21 years ago

I changed the thumb screw bolt to a knob

But on doing so I had to change the captive nut to the knob's bolt M8 thread. But the original captive nut is a poor one and I reckon it was not far short of needing replaced anyways. Its on the left and the better replacement on the right

The blade clamping bolts and their nuts were showing corrosion and the screwdriver slots were a bit churned up so they got replaced with M4 Allen key flanged head bolts and brass nuts

and, I glued on the top of the bars a steel ruler

If I can find a suitable replacement I'll change the thumb screw bolt on the bars as well

[MarlinDave]

I made something similar to the one LePoisson made a while back. Worked OK but I did not think to grind the blade off. Cut myself a lot. His design is so much better. And I only do 3 or 4 widths. 

[Spyros]

Well technically you need an adjustment for the thickness of the leather as well, otherwise a soft-ish or thin-ish leather might start bending on itself inside the cutter slot which would result in an uneven cut.

But with the thick/firm leeather typically used for straps and belts it's really not an issue, so yeah no reason why not make a couple of those LePoisson cutters (TM) for your mostly used widths.  Its a good idea 

[Brewerkel]

On 11/17/2021 at 3:11 AM, DearBear said:

I mean this one.

 

 

The Leatherworks Company closed down in 2016 - 17 or so. No doubt the product is hard to find now. We sold hundreds of them over the years. We had to sell the Tandy one after that. It was okay.

Luckily, I have two or three of the originals around my shop as I am an incurable hoarder.

 

[LePoisson]

On 12/16/2021 at 7:59 PM, Spyros said:

Well technically you need an adjustment for the thickness of the leather as well, otherwise a soft-ish or thin-ish leather might start bending on itself inside the cutter slot which would result in an uneven cut.

But with the thick/firm leeather typically used for straps and belts it's really not an issue, so yeah no reason why not make a couple of those LePoisson cutters (TM) for your mostly used widths.  Its a good idea 

To the bending - you get a pretty steady hand after a while and figure it out. I may get some turn out at the end of a strap and have to scrap the last couple inches, but most of the time, that's where I punch a hanging hole anyhow (I have a rack I store my strips on before working them). And since I work from the opposite end toward that spot, well, meh. It's headed for the scrap bin regardless.

If I'm starting on a skinny bit of a strong taper, then the cutter does not start the strap nicely. Workaround is to just square off the end of the hide for an inch or so to allow the cutter to get a start - which is going to happen anyway after I cut the strap out, so no excessive waste there.

[Dlane]

I made my own 1/8”-4” works great, helps to have a machine shop.

[fredk]

Good job

I used to see on ebay a similar type of strap cutter made in China. It was a bit more elaborate and seemed of lighter construction