Make total sense. I sometimes forget we can't all be as cavalier as some anonymous jerk named CrankAddict on the internet 🤣

Very interesting indeed. Are you referring to the Meisi thread in particular? The one I was wanting to try was their Xiange poly twist. A strap maker I've spoken with says it has the look of linen but it's stronger and easier to finish. For actual linen I'll stick with FAC. Cost isn't a consideration because the Meisi is actually a bit more expensive as far as I can see.

Thanks Phil! Both of those look great. Your prodding got me to pull out the digital calipers (previously was going off RM website specs). Looks like the 832 I have is between .35 and .40 and the 632 is between .45 and .49. So if nothing else that tells me the .35 Meisi should look ok in these applications. I haven't had any real "trouble" with the FAC, but you can clearly see bumps along its length and the calipers are picking up variance even when I can't see it. On the other hand, wabi sabi? 🤣

I'm using 4z 2.7mm spacing irons with 1.5mm teeth. In terms of looking like "fine leather goods" the 832 was night and day better than the 632 on my first usage, you should give some a try.

Do you have plans to source some knock-off end links and make your own custom straps for it?

You can't talk watches without a pic haha. I think you are totally right. People would flip out if the bracelet links were misaligned or a few screws were proud of the rest. But a sloppy stitch here and there or a mediocre edge finish and I guess people don't notice. Or maybe they tell themselves this is actually desirable because it shows it is hand made? I believe in order to be a watch lover you have to home in on small details, so I'm surprised more people, even non-leatherworkers, don't fuss about strap nuances. The green dial is gorgeous. I'd encourage you to try the medium size on a few times before making a final decision. I'm 6'4" and have a 7" wrist but still felt the medium size, being square, was plenty big and really looked the part for this classic model.

Aha! I think you've just filled in all the blanks for me. I have always pictured this process as re-liquifying and smoothing out the edge paint. But if it's purely to change the sheen then I'm completely off base. I will keep going with sanding/painting until perfectly smooth and at that point I can now see why your recommendation to use alcohol is just as good or better than heat. Before this confused me because my experiments with the alcohol didn't remove hardly any material, certainly not enough to smooth out a valley. But now I get it! Also, it's funny to me, now that I'm becoming much more critical of the details, what you actually see on professional products. On the factory leather strap of my new Cartier Santos you can clearly see a line/valley down the middle of the whole side. Same thing on my JLC factory strap. It seems the true artisanal makers such as yourself hold themselves to higher standards than the prestigious brands.

Thanks as always Phil! I have ordered some samples from RM just yesterday in fact. As a person just looking to make things for himself I can't imagine ever needing to buy anything in a whole hide :) In fact, if these sample swatches were just an inch or so longer I could get away using those for most watch straps haha.

Ah, that makes sense. I had "techniques of stitching" written in my notes, but must not have been the advanced version. It was from early 2022. I need to subscribe again at some point and see all the new cool stuff!

Thanks for the reply Phil! I watched that video of yours a while back. Are you referring to the French binding technique or was there another type of hidden stitch that I'm not recalling? Very interesting comment about embedding a small thread in the crease. I wonder if I've ever seen a strap like that. In other words, I wonder if I totally missed that detail and assumed it had no threads. In terms of your concern for a glued strap with a buckle, are you talking about the buckle itself becoming detached or more the tail of the strap delaminating on the sides from having to bend it to go through the buckle? Obviously neither would be ideal, but in my mind there's a big difference bewteen "ah, this strap is starting to look worn out" and "ah, it appears I've lost my watch" 🤣

Angelus wrote back: "Thank you for reaching out. You can use our paint as an edge paint, but we do have a product made specifically for this purpose. " https://angelusdirect.com/products/angelus-leather-finish The problem is, that only seems to come in two colors. So I guess I'll play around with the regular multi-color paint and see what happens.

Well this shows how little I know. In my mind, I thought if it's an acrylic paint designed for leather and made to be extremely flexible (their website shows a piece of painted leather twisted into a spiral) then it would be ok. I have sent an email to Angelus asking for further clarification. I will report back... Given the range of colors and the multiple additives (thinner, thicker, matte, satin, gloss) it would be wonderful to be able to use the product. But obviously if it's going to fail after application there is no point. Seems odd that it could bond strong enough to last on a sneaker but not live on the edge of a watch strap, but we've already established I don't know anything ;)

@Leathercraft Masterclass right, good point. But that's exactly what happened. In the first test I really had to pull hard. In the second one it just pealed away with clearly less bond. I guess it gives me some comfort that you would not have expected this either

@Leathercraft Masterclass Thanks for those notes. At the moment I'm not sure which end is up following a second experiment which ended in complete failure. I have two different ripstops, and the one was billed as a "DWR" ripstop and clearly feels coated. I wanted to test it against the one I used previously, and on the one I used previously I wanted to test both joining while wet (how I did it the first time) and letting it set up first and joining as a second step after it dried. I did all that and waited 24 hours and all 3 pieces of ripstop pealed off the flesh side of the leather quite easily. This was a chrome tanned leather as opposed to the vegtan I had used on the first test, but I'm still confused as to why I got so much less of a bond this time. There was definitely a difference between the two ripstops. The non-DWR one allowed the glue to come right through to the other side whereas the DWR one kept it sealed in. But regardless I would have expected the non-DWR one to perform the way it did in the first test. If I were gluing to the grain side I could see a different outcome due to oils or waxes or just a smooth surface, but shouldn't the flesh side of all leathers accept adhesive the same way?

@Russ have you considered ripstop? I bought a yard of it for $7.99 at Joann. That tape linked above claims "ultra thin" at 0.25mm. The ripstop measures 0.08mm. It is very stretch resistant. I have tried to pull as hard as I can on a 20mm wide strip and it doesn't budge. I've also tried to rip it and cannot. You will have to glue it yourself of course.

@Leathercraft Masterclass ah, that's quite interesting. I was quite happy to get an actual Barnsley. After seeing your video that is what I googled for, but here in the US it didn't seem worth it to pay $25 shipping for a $8 knife from the UK. So I ordered a non-branded "English paring knife" from a US book binding repair company. When it showed up I was pleasantly surprised to see the Geo Barnsley and Sons marking on it. Who knows when it was actually made, but this all makes me curious.

Just to close out on this topic, I had emailed Barnsley last week and they got back to me today with this: We have always put a standard factory grind of 7 degrees on the paring knife, this way users can sharpen it to their desired edge. I have just spoken to the tool room and they have suggested you regrind the entire bevel to your desired 13 degrees.

This has definitely been an eye opener on the 0.6/2.7 thing. I honestly had no idea. The 2.7mm irons have 1.6mm wide teeth so that sounded like plenty of room to get 0.6mm thread through haha. But I suppose 2 pieces of it, plus the thickness of the needle eye ends up being pretty tight. Thanks everyone for the input!

@Leathercraft Masterclass thanks Philip, I really appreciate it! On a side note, it's funny because I made this sheath for the Japanese skiving knife but I feel like I'm never even going to use that knife. I don't know if your preference has influenced me or if I would have come to this conclusion regardless, but the Japanese knife just feels super awkward for skiving. Like the knife itself is in your way all the time. The English paring knife with the way it comes in from the side so you can actually see what you are doing just makes so much more sense to me.

@kwrcst Thanks for the encouraging words! I do wish I had known about the odd shape of the Tiger thread before I bought 6 spools from RM. I had read several other places (before finding this site) that Tiger thread was the premium thread for watch straps. On this forum it definitely doesn't seem to have as great of a following. Not sure I'm ready for Lin Cable pricing but I'm temped to get some of the Twist poly. It's available in a smaller size (.45mm vs .6mm) but I need to confirm with RM that it's actually round first!