A B C Tutorial "how To Make A Strap"

[pubus]

thank You Kostas

only few members posted their straps here, so many told they would

[Jumbie]

This was an awesome thread.

Thanks guys. Maybe I'll take up the strap-making challenge one day when I have the time.

[juyaku]

I have been inspired by pubus! I bought some leather today and some tools (needles, thread, leather hole puncher etc) and have started my own strap of tan suede. I am thinking either black or red stitching.

I am doing mine a little differently. I have done the glue first and then will cut the strap to fit after the glue has dried. We will see which method works the best. After cutting I will start the stitching process. I will be taking pictures! Thanks for the most excellent tutorial. I am wondering now what household items I can use to darken and distress the suede but I will worry about getting it finished first! Thank you so much pubus!

[pubus]

Thanks for your kind words mate and Im looking forward to see your straps pictures posted here

Its what RWG is for. To help others.

and by the way, you may use some olive stolen from your kitchen to darnek your suede

Cheers,

Kuba

[MAHLER]

Bump a great post!!

[Toadtorrent]

I missed this one before. Thanks for the bump!!

[MAHLER]

"Pinned"?

[blackbard]

Nice. In addition to patience, I will add, Patience again, tough fingers, budget for leather when you screw up your piece because of a mispunch..., understanding wife for the time it takes, more tools, band-aids and some other nice chemicals for finish work. But good basic tutorial...

In the disclaimer to this topic, I will say that it is not so hard to make a strap on your own. But as You will see further in this post, this takes time, requires patience, patience and once again patience. I advice You to take your time, never rush with any parts of the process because it will only cause inaccuracy in Your project.

My english may not be accurate but I hope that everything will be clear for You all

Also remember that this is a complete amateur tutorial as I am no proffesional strap maker.

I advice You to get straps from dealers, those straps are better quality and for sure will last longer.

You can either use the tools simillar to mine, or buy proffesional tools for example HERE. If I had the money I would buy those for sure

I would also like to thank to Aaron HKTan who gave me some advices and pointed some things I was so curious about.

Anyway, lets begin

A - Tools

Here is the picture of the tools I use to make straps. I think I dont have to tell you what a particular tool is, as You can clearly see it above But specific, the bottles You see one the left top corner are special leather

paints (aprox 2euro cost each), they are used to paint the edges of the straps, so the leather would look better, when dry, they are flexible and hard to go off. The big glue is a transparent poliuteranic glue used to shoes, leathers etc. This is the main one, the smaller, Super Glue helps in the stitching part

B - Leather

I dont think that there is any rule in leather choosing. So we pick one

A leather belt I bought for small money and tools needed to this B part.

We slice the leather to the size we like. I sliced a bigger piece. When it comes to the dimensions, please reffer to any strap You own. For my 7.1 inch wrist I make straps 110/70 in lenght, So as You see, I need to slice two pieces of 230mm and 150mm. I add 10mm for the loss due to the bend process. We can always cut the leather after glueing.

Now, using the ruller and a spike I try to mark the leather with two straight line in distance of 24mm or a little more, as the leather can shrink a bit after cutting it.

This is the way I slice the leather. I use heavy steel blocks with straight edges, so theres no way Im gonna slice a no straight piece

This is the part where You cut the leather if its too long for your size. You simply bend over the leather aprox 15mm from the middle and try to fit as it is showed on the picture. If you cut the right size, You would not have to cut the spare part of the leather. If You are completly sure that the dimensions are proper, but really really sure, as there is no way turning back from this moment we can proceed further.

We make markings on the inside part of the strap so we are able to put the glue well. I used the spike again, but you can use pen or something completly different I have no idea about These lines arent nessesary, but they help alot

Then we put the glue. I put the glue in straight line, and then, with a help of a simple match I spread the glue on the whole surfance.

And this is the part the leather must glue strong. I use two steel blocks squized as You can see on the picture. Theres plenty of options in this part, You can even put number of heavy books on the strap

Next You have to make the ..... (I cant find a word for it, as Im no english native speaker also ) thing that holds the longer part of the strap. The way to do it is almost the same as above. You can get the idea from the pics.

You can either glue it, or make a simple loop stitch. About stitching - further in the post And then fit IT in the right place, and glue the rest of the leather as shown on the picture.

You end with a complete stitchless and holeless strap

Now its time to prepare the holes for the stitching part.

First put your watch lug tube in the strap (or something alse of similar shape), this will help You, to get the stitching line distance from the top of the strap most accurate. Remember to get this line straight and at exact distances from both edges. Believe me, every 1mm of difference will make Your eyes bleed

With help of spike, razor, knife or anything else, try to make straight lines on the part of the strap You would like to have the stitching, and its important to choose the visable, front side of the strap.

Now the hard part, amateur hole punching Tools required are spike, hammer, ruller and loads of patience.

This is the way I do it, but I quess there is many other ways. So through the lines You have made before, You make holes exact same distance from each other. I prefer 4mm, but I quess its Your choice what distance to choose. Anyway, put a ruller next to the line, put a spike on the place You would like to have a hole, and strike it with hammer.

Remember to strinke from the frontal side of the strap, as the spike can go a little away from the point You put the spike on the front side and i result, after making number of holes, You can get not nessesary a straight line of holes on the back of the strap. Thats why

Then simply punch another and another hole, till Your strap is ready for the stitching!!

C - Stitching

Choose the thread of size, color and facture You like and arm yourself in even more patience. This is, imo, the taughest part of the whole process.

I use the simple loop stitching, just follow the pics, and everything will be clear

Wuoala! The stitching is ready, now cut the thread, finish it with a little help of Super Glue, You can use sandpaper on the dried glue to not harm your hand. I use the same razor knife I used to leather cutting and it works fine with me.

You get the strap almost ready to go!! All You have to do is to cut the space for the buckle.

Then put the buckle and one part of the strap is ready to use

The second part of the strap is easier to do, because You simply bend it over, glue it, punch the holes, stitch it, and its ready. For the rounded end of the strap You can use a pro tools, or cut it, I do it that way, with the same razor knive You used before. When the second part is finished You have Your brand new self made custom strap

UPDATE 12.06.2006

So You asked about the sizing holes... This is the best method imo but You may use another. Excuse me for using a done already strap, but Im too lazy to do another one now

Just put the buckle on the strap, put the watch on Your wrist, bend back the buckle pin and meshure you wrist with it (just tighten it until youre satisfied) then take a spike, or some pen, whatever, just to make the mark where You have to put the first and the most important sizing hole. Then just use punchers on this one mark, and mark the other places to put the rest of the sizing holes if You want them.

These are the punchers I use. For my pictured here buckle, that has GPF style buckle pin I use round puncher. For the tang buckle I used to use the second one, pictured on the right that is oval. Did I paid big money for it as it is a very rare tool to get? No I just bought another round one and squized it in a vise until I got the right shape of the puncher. It works perfectly and it costed very little money compared to the ones You can buy online.

And thats mostly it about making sizing holes

In the end...

Id love to read Your comment on this and see pics of somebodys self made straps If any questions, please feel free to PM me or post here. I will try to help.

Best regards,

Kuba

[georgegrasser]

Does anyone have a black leather loop for a Tauchmeister T0013 I could have? I broke mine off.

Edited July 3, 2009 by georgegrasser

[punisher31]

Nice bump, and now I know what I can do with those old belts that I don't wear anymore...

[MAHLER]

bump