Punching oblongs is terrible

[Dwight]

Actually . . .  I simply went up to the top of my punch . . . took a triangle file . . . and scribed a line that shows the direction the long part is.

Then I put the back of it on the dot I made for the back of the hole . . . line up the line on the top of my punch with the direction the belt is laying . . . tap it enough for an impression . . .  lift and look . . . if all looks well . . . put it back down . . . slam bam thank you maam . . . there's a hole there . . .  and it looks right.

That's just the way I do it . . . but that little line up on the top of my punch is truly THE secret of it for me.

May God bless,

Dwight

[jcuk]

On some of my larger Crew punches i put a mark in the centre of the punch on either side, easier to line up the where you have marked the leather for your crew punch hole. I use a permanent marker for this.

Hope this helps

JCUK

[TomE]

Use calipers to lightly scribe a tram line on either side of the mark for the hole.  The lines bracket the center of the strap and are 1-2 mm outboard of the width of the punch.  Roll the punch into position, lining up along the tram lines.  Tap lightly and check the impression.  Pound away!

[HaloJones]

One of these may help 

https://kemovancraft.com/products/leather-belt-punching-hole-positioning-ruler-assist-mark-hole-position-keep-all-the-holes-in-one-line

[Warhauk]

4 hours ago, HaloJones said:

One of these may help 

https://kemovancraft.com/products/leather-belt-punching-hole-positioning-ruler-assist-mark-hole-position-keep-all-the-holes-in-one-line

That is a pretty interesting tool.

[Handstitched]

A technique  that I have used, is mark out the oblong with the template, like what alpha2 has shown, and cut both ends of the oblong with a  rotary punch,say # 5 or 6  and either use the oblong punch or a  wide wood chisel to cut the remainder,  thats worked for me . 

HS

[RockyAussie]

17 hours ago, Warhauk said:

Does anybody have some tips on punching a straight oblong? I spend way too much time trying to line it up and reline and so on, then I go to punch, is about 1/3 of the time, it is still a bit crooked. Are there really people out there that can just set it down, punch, and good? I usually use a wing divider to get my 2 center points, draw a line between them, then try to line my stamp with it. Maybe I am just spatially challenged and cant tell how to line things up.

Yep ..been there and done that. If you are only doing this on the odd occasion then practice this on some strap scraps, Hold the punch away from you about 45 degrees and push down firmly once you have it in the middle then slowly roll it forward until you can see it looks level keep the pressure down and hit the punch. Practice a bit and it will come right pretty quick.

[Outfitr]

On 12/31/2021 at 9:21 PM, Handstitched said:

A technique  that I have used, is mark out the oblong with the template, like what alpha2 has shown, and cut both ends of the oblong with a  rotary punch,say # 5 or 6  and either use the oblong punch or a  wide wood chisel to cut the remainder,  thats worked for me . 

HS

This is what I usually do. I purchased a bunch of clear plastic templates a long time ago for all different widths of straps and they work great for centering. I just scribe the hole and use a punch for the ends and a sharpened wood chisel for the straight sides. Some day I'll buy some good quality oblong punches.