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thorn697

A New Hobby - Making Straps

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Genius

It's really interesting seeing the improvement from your first couple to where you are now, keep up the good work

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thorn697

That canvas strap on the bronzo looks really cool. Hope you can find a good solution for the edge finishing.

 

Thank you! My mother gave me a tip for working with fabric that I will try very soon.

 

It's really interesting seeing the improvement from your first couple to where you are now, keep up the good work

 

Thanks! I'm glad you like it. It hasn't stopped being fun yet :)

 

If anyone has suggestions for things you want to see me try next, I'm all ears.

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wolfwood

How about going into the world of AP? :thumbsup:

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thorn697

How about going into the world of AP? :thumbsup:

 

Good new for you. I just ordered a JF!

Expensive AF, but I think it's so cool.

AP0331.jpg

 

 

Looks like we lost my big post from Friday, so I will attempt to redo it.

5,000 feet summary is my business is starting to grow. I've had lots of inquires and 4 sales in the last week through my Etsy shop. Pretty exciting!

The new tools and paint are really starting to create quality pieces.

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thorn697

I shelled out for some Giardini edge paint that came in last week. It's amazing stuff. It has the absolute perfect properties for painting an edge: sticky, low viscosity, quick drying. My edges have been turning out amazing when coupled with the filetuse (heated glazing) tool that I also purchased.

 

The set comes with a set of base colors and then mixing formulas for making about 200 other colors.

 

QRcDdvE.jpg

 

The other new tool serves 2 purposes. It puts that decorative crease in leather without burning it and it melts paints to form a smooth edge.

 

BuyHsof.jpg

 

This is what a strap looks like after having the crease put in.

 

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Another new thing I tried last week was mixing dyes on veg tan. This is the type of thing our friend JohnG (Nero) is a master at. It was a lot of fun and the results were spectacular.

 

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And here's the finished product on the Black Bay.

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A little peak at the edges ;)

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And finally...my first Etsy sale strap(s). This customer had a vintage ladies Chopard with a 8mm strap. It was actually really challenging to get a strap made so small.

XJyIbee.jpgc0XFzXv.jpg

 

 

That's enough for now. I've been cranking a lot of straps out the last couple weeks. Plenty more to show you in the next update!

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joegut

Hello Thorn, very nice progress in a short time!! Congrats!! I have never done a strap but had worked on leather and shoemaking more than 20 years. So can tell you a few things to improve the edge of the straps:

 

1) make sure the strap and lining are the same identical size (This seems logical but could solve most of the problem)

2) be sure to glue them together perfectly. This will hold both pieces when you tight the stich.

3) use sand paper to make the edge even after stitching

4) wax the edge and heat set the edge to give it a rounded uniform shape

5) use some finer sand paper to adjust any imperfection

6) wax the edge again and heat set the edge

7) dye the edge

8) Could be helpful to have a stitch adjustable groover, so after you stitch you can hide and protect the waxed thread.

 

But progress is just amazing!!!

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thorn697

Hello Thorn, very nice progress in a short time!! Congrats!! I have never done a strap but had worked on leather and shoemaking more than 20 years.

 

But progress is just amazing!!!

 

Thank you very much for the kind words and advice.

 

Shoemaking huh? I've seen a few videos on that process. Really cool process. I'd love to see some of your work.

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joegut

I'm sure you have seen it already since I have worked for brands like Timberland, Brahma, HH Brown, Keds, Nike and Oakley. Now I'm retired but still great friends with tanners and shoemaking factories in Mexico

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joegut

I do love the work Nero does, and the veg tan you did already it's very very nice.

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joegut

And see if you could get some natural atanado Leather. It will give you the properties of a veg tan Leather with the softness of chrome tan, to increace the confort to the Strap. Regards

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thorn697

I'm sure you have seen it already since I have worked for brands like Timberland, Brahma, HH Brown, Keds, Nike and Oakley. Now I'm retired but still great friends with tanners and shoemaking factories in Mexico

 

Very cool. Must smell pretty good there.

 

I do love the work Nero does, and the veg tan you did already it's very very nice.

 

Thank you. I will be mixing up some more colors and trying this again soon.

 

And see if you could get some natural atanado Leather. It will give you the properties of a veg tan Leather with the softness of chrome tan, to increace the confort to the Strap. Regards

 

I will look into it. I also want to find to find a source for some of the nubuck material they make Timberlands with. The issue is finding suppliers that will sell you less than a whole cow.

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joegut

Where in Texas are you located? I may be able to help a little some great tanners are really good friends and can get sides at least. Logistic need to be put in place so they can reach you. But count me in to help you any way I can.

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thorn697

I really appreciate the help. I will PM you.

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McJules

Great work bro!! Great improving! ;)

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thorn697

Great work bro!! Great improving! ;)

 

Thank you, thank you! Just gotta keep learning from my mistakes :)

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thorn697

Here's the latest update. Lots of straps in the last couple weeks. I discovered that pretty large exotic leather supplier has a showroom in Ft. Worth, so I set up an appointment to visit them next week. I'm pretty excited to see what I may be able to walk out of there with.

 

red dye strap got a blueish green twin sister

21ooIbX.jpg

 

Reopened the folded edge canvas project. I tried using my new glazing tool as a pseudo-iron to fold the edges over. It worked fairly well, but I need to do another one to get the result I'm really after. Also, got watching some Bob Ross videos and all the sudden I was painting all sorts of stuff.

 

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And yes...I realize that the star and spitfire are facing opposite directions. Don't drink and paint.

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Suede. I ordered about 30 colors of alcantara this week, so lots more like this in the future

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One of the most bizarre leathers I've come across...camel

urLniRO.jpg

 

And lastly, fully stitched stingray. I'm not sure why you never see these. It seems like every maker does minimal stitching on stingray because its a hard leather to puncture, but that's just my guess. I quite like the way it looks.

 

xh4nuCo.jpg

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thorn697

Finally got my AP in the mail today. All I can say is wow. The quality for a rep is really something else.

 

Here's some pics of this weeks work & the new piece.

 

First AP strap attempt will come soon!

 

kF9y8pQ.jpg

 

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My new lining leathers came in this week. Plenty of options from classy to crazy.

 

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Third attempt at the dyed veg tan strap

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Another 26mm camel strap. This time in brown

 

rEaHDC5.jpg

 

 

Gray polished stingray with blue edges and keepers.

 

gNje9RT.jpg

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joegut

Hello Thorn!! Just wow!! Your progress it's unbeliavable in such a short time. When will you be posting prices of the straps to get an idea?

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thorn697

Hello Thorn!! Just wow!! Your progress it's unbeliavable in such a short time. When will you be posting prices of the straps to get an idea?

 

I appreciate it!

 

I'm not allowed to deal on here at this point. The mods are a little lenient on hobbyist selling straps, but I still don't think I should be advertising prices.

 

I may pop a few up on M2M soon to see if there's any interest, but I don't want it to look like I'm trying to take business away from our other awesome trusted makers.

 

In the mean time, I sell on Etsy. Just search for Fu Staps to get an idea what I offer.

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wolfwood

Can't wait to see your AP straps! :rideemcowboy:

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Gobo1973

I've been a strap maker for quite a few years & agree with everyone that your works looking really good

 

How do you find the croc to work with ? I think its a bitch.

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thorn697

Can't wait to see your AP straps! :rideemcowboy:

 

I'm starting the test strap today :)

 

I've been a strap maker for quite a few years & agree with everyone that your works looking really good

 

How do you find the croc to work with ? I think its a bitch.

 

Thank you. I have typically found croc on eBay for reasonable prices.

 

Yesterday I visited my new friend at the exotic leather showroom in Ft. Worth. The guy was really great. He has connections to about every tannery in the world, so I am able to source anything you can think of. I'll be putting an order in with him in the next few days once my mouth stops salivating and I can narrow it down to a realistic order size.

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bbrcraver

The tan Panerai looks awesome.....

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thorn697

The tan Panerai looks awesome.....

 

Thank you. I decided to keep it for myself because I like it too much.

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thorn697

The maiden voyage AP strap has been completed. I did this without any inserts.

 

YZ9Q5Nx.jpg

 

Tl7HmYd.jpg

 

nzUcmkK.jpg

 

It turned with no gap even without the inserts. I carefully measured everything on the strap I was using as a mold and included a slope in the way I cut the the part that attaches to the watch.

 

CxiYPsx.jpg

 

UAs2zjO.jpg

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