Hi there!
I am new to the GF (and laser) community, I got my machine in March this year and while I’ve been having a blast creating stuff, I think I finally caught the laser bug with my latest project–watchbands! OMG, combining my other crafting hobbies into the Glowforge is such a treat and opens up so much potential and possibilities! I’ve loved leatherwork for a while, but am terrible about getting clean cuts, and what do you know–the glowforge does that for me!
I desperately needed a new watchband for my Withings 18mm smartwatch, so I dusted off my calipers, took lots of measurements of my worn out band, fussed about in inkscape and came up with a design that I’m really happy with. I used the proofgrade leather that came with my starter kit along with some leatherworking tools I already had on hand (dyes, waxed cord, needles, atom wax) and re-used the metal bits from my old band.
My design doubles over the leather so the part that hits your wrist is also the smooth skin side, and the glowforge cuts all of the thread holes so it was super easy to assemble. I did a lot of cardboard prototypes to get the dimensions and alignments, I’m newer to inkscape but not to the fundamental ideas of vector work, so it was a good challenge for me.
I’ve fully engulfed myself in–I just finished up a snake/dragon scale design, and I have a full list of other designs I want to dig into as well. I did have some non-proofgrade veg-tan leather on hand that was a good thickness for the straps, so I think I’m pretty set for a while, now all I have to do is order more metal lugs and buckles!
I have a Tandy about 15 minutes away from me–been there, spent that! I went hog-wild on leatherwork tooling after taking a workshop course and fell in love with engraving. After getting home and starting on a project, I realized that leatherworking in an apartment with shared walls makes me a bad neighbor. (whoops!)
I’ll have to check out the leather liners, thanks for the suggestion!
Welcome to the forum! You did a great job on the watchband. I’ve been really enjoying leatherwork using the GF, also. I love the entire process of designing, dying, and stitching…all quite theraputic.
I’ve not bought any just yet and have only reclaimed the parts from old store bought bands, but the husband is quite into watch repair as a hobby and suggests Esslinger, so that was going to be my next shopping spree. https://www.esslinger.com/watch-band-parts/
Welcome to the forum! Nice work! Love the bee, especially as we are beekeepers! Funny how even with all the leather projects I see here on the forum, I somehow never think about doing a leather watchband. Most of the watchbands I see are silicone. I’ll have to remember this when I need a new band. Leather would be nice, and maybe not be so sweaty as the silicone. Of course, that means I’d have to remember to remove my watch when I go swimming! Thanks for showing us.
Thanks!! This is helpful! Plus, I would not have known what specific name to search for the items… I don’t think Google will help much with “that little pin that holds on watch bands.” LOL (ok I stand corrected, I just googled using that in the search and it DID! Bwahahaha!!)
