The watchband on my Pebble broke a few days ago, and until I try my hand at leather-working with the 'forge I thought I’d make a temporary one out of wood. First I tried a living hinge, but I’ve had mixed results with that and I wanted something a bit stronger. I also wanted to use more of the “scrap” wood I’ve been generating from other projects. Here’s what I came up with:
The band is made up of several wooden links (1/8" hardwood, pictured above), small, M2x19MM bolts, M2 nuts, and a few lasered wooden clasp pieces. The clasp pieces need work, as they are too weak to suffer much abuse at the moment, but the band has held up since I lasered this thing out, so I’ll call that a victory. I’ll upload the .svg file when I’ve fixed the clasp issue.
The file contains just enough pieces to fit my wrist (plus and extra or two), so ymmv. Also this was very difficult to assemble–I recommend feeding the bolts through the links first, laying the band on its side on top of the heads and then screwing the nuts on this way. I have a nerve disease, though, so if I can do it, it’s likely you can, too. Final note: if this were to be a permanent band, I’d put a drop of superglue near the end of each bolt at the nut. This wouldn’t glue the nut in place, but would keep it from traveling off the both–should you wish to remove the nuts and add/subtract links, acetone/nail polish remover would do the trick.
Edit: Here’s the .svg – I’d love for someone to improve on this. The clips currently work by tension from a correct fit on the wrist and simply clip onto the metal rods in the watch face for a clasp-less design. I’ve included both my original design and newer design for the clip. Also I’m terrible at tetris-ing. Does anyone have a script or something they use to get the pieces to fit? I use Inkscape.
Edit 2: I realized I should include the clasp and link files individually in case you need more links. Here they are: tessellate at your own risk.
I’ll use that script, Thanks! I still actually have the pins for the Pebble–I suppose I could just remove the band with the springs each time. The clips work fine, though, so I’ll use those for the time being. …Or do you mean for when I make another band? That might be a good idea.
I did another version in acrylic which I like much better:
My pebble band isn’t broken. But I am thinking that wooden approach looks slick enough to give it a shot (also curious if it would be too weak with wooden dowels instead of screws or posts)
i dig the exposed-bolt look of the acrylic, but i would worry about snagging stuff with the exposed threaded end. Acorn-head nuts might solve that. I bet those posts, in brass, would look great on the dark wood links.
C-clips (or circlips) - but I second the Chicago Screw suggestion. You get a nice rounded finished end on both sides and they are typically stronger then the material they’re holding. A drop of blue threadlocker on them and they won’t come off accidentally. Rods with circlips are still going to have a small protruding post end which can catch and in this context look unfinished (be different with a more steampunk design where the fasteners are part of the aesthetic).
How small do Chicago Screws get for that length? Rivets? (The really macho choice, of course, would be very thin rod threaded on each end and smooth in the middle)
These are “Gucci Style Band Pins”. Essentially, they are what you have but designed to look “finished”. I would also get some “Loctite” from the same company to secure the screws. I would also look into “fold over clasps” You would need some fanangling to get the spacing right, but it will look very professional when you are done.
I’ve already planned something similar to this for when I get my GF.
Both the wood and the Acrylic look FANTASTIC! Great Work!
