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In this post i discuss the advantages of strap cutters, how much they cost, how they work and what they are used for. If you are new to leathercraft and are keen to learn more, read on for some more info on the humble strap cutter tool. What is a Strap Cutter used for.
The draw gauge will usually have some form of adjustment arm that you will slide in and out to adjust for the width of the strap you intend to cut. It will come with a thumb screw or wing-nut you can use to clamp down, fasten or loosen the blade and also making width adjustments for your straps. A draw gauge is a handheld strap cutting tool you can use to cut out straps from heavier leather. You can use a draw gauge to cut over 11oz leather, tooling leather, heavy harness leather or skirting leather.
The design for the strap cutter and the draw gauge is totally different. The first noticeable difference is that the draw gauge has a pistol grip while the strap cutter doesn’t. This feature on the draw gauge makes it more easier to use. A very useful tip for draw gauges is to strop the blade before use to ensure you get the best of the best cuts. Strap cutters are tools, with sharp blades, used to cut long lengths of leather material into consistent widths. For example, if you have a large leather hide and want to turn it into 2″ wide straps for belts, this is the tool for the job. Most have interchangeable blades, so over time a fresh one can be put in to help ensure the cutting edge is sharp, making cuts smooth and easy. Types of Strap Cutters Push Cutters (Plough Cutters)
The draw gauge is a great option and investment for your crafts if you cut a lot of straps for belts, bracelets, and any type of strap you might need.The strap cutter is usually made from wood while draw gauge is made of high quality metals. 3. Usage:
There are a few factors I have outlined that you can use to compare the differences between a draw gauge and a strap cutter. These factors include their design, material, usage, safety, maintenance, cost, and who it’s most suitable for. 1. Design: Another obvious difference is that the strap cutter has a top wooden bar that guides and also helps to feed the leather smoothly through to the blade. The draw gauge can be used to cut heavier leather while strap cutters are great for light to medium weight leather. As far as learning how to use both tools is concerned, the draw gauge has a bit of a learning curve to it and may result in you wasting some leather straps. It’s however, a great money making tool after you have mastered its use. 4. Cost: The draw gauges are usually made of metal and because of that it’s usually more expensive. They are, however, more durable and worth the cash if you want a sturdier strapping tool. You will find that the draw gauge unlike the strap cutter will have a pistol grip making it more easier to use. It’s a relatively easy tool to master and once you have cut a few test straps you should be ready for the real thing. Having said that though there are a few important steps that i would like to discuss before you begin cutting.
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The strap cutter is a hand held device used for cutting strap blanks such as belt blanks, guitar strap blanks, and all types of straps. The cutting mechanism for the strap cutter is a “pull”, meaning pulling the blade towards you to cut. Using the draw gauge is a fast and more importantly one of the most accurate ways to cut straps. When used right, the draw gauge leaves a desirable beautiful clean edges on your straps. Hotjar sets this cookie to identify a new user’s first session. It stores a true/false value, indicating whether it was the first time Hotjar saw this user.
This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. The strap cutter is a much much easy tool to master and whether left-handed or right-handed, it won’t really matter. All you will have to do is to always make sure the measurement readings are always facing you when cutting and that the cutting edge is also facing the measurement numbers. On average, you will find that the draw gauge to be more expensive when compared to the strap cutter. This is often due to the materials (metal and wood respectively) used. 5. Safety: Normally, this is used for cutting straps off of a hide of leather. The first thing you want to decide is your size obviously. Now, the tool itself does have a scale on it, but it’s not super accurate. It’s close, but the best way is to just put it up to the mark that you want. In this case, mark it for one inch and lightly tighten the screw.
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You will need to use a straight edge/ long steel ruler on your hide before you use the strap cutter. This is because leather hides never come with perfectly straight or parallel sides and the edges are usually rough. Use your steel ruler to cut a nice long even straight edge on your hide/ skin. It does help if you are cutting/ holding the strap cutter in your right hand, to hold the strip that is being cut with your left hand as you pull the cutter towards yourself. The numbers on the ruler should be facing you as you cut and keep the cutter flush with the leather edge as you cut. Pull all the way until the leather cut is complete and you now you have one belt blank. The cutter can also be adjusted to cut wider or narrower leather straps or belts. Situated at the top of the wooden handle is another wingnut that can be adjusted. You will notice that there is a ruler with measurements on the 2 pieces of parallel timber pieces. Usually shown in inches and millimetres that can be set by sliding the 2 pieces of parallel timbers in our out of the slot. Set the ruler to your required measurement and tighten the wing nut and you are ready With a strap cutter also known as a wood strap cutter, you will be able to cut straps from any kind of leather, with width from 1/8inch of an inch all the way up to 3-4 inch straps. One unique thing about the draw gauge is that you can get more use for the blades because you can move the blade up and down to get completely new blade edge to cut with.
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