Making A Pen Case

[my63]

Those regular readers if there are any may have noticed I have not shown the final pictures of the three pen Nakaya Long pen case.

 

2018-04-07_01-23-47 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The owner asked me to alter the text on the strap to read

 

2018-04-07_01-23-27 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I don't know how well the picture will show but it reads "Nakaya Long" which is perfect as the case will hold three of these pens.

 

The case is almost dry enough to start assembly.

[my63]

The Nakaya long case is finally finished

 

2018-04-08_05-03-38 by my0771, on Flickr

 

2018-04-08_05-04-07 by my0771, on Flickr

 

It will be off to its new home on Monday

[my63]

I made a case inspired by a pair of brogue shoes and was recently asked if I would make another so I thought I would share it with you.

The first step in this process is to decide on the design.

 

20180405_083325 by my0771, on Flickr

 

As I mould the leather in a wooden form I transferred some positioning marks from the form to the template.

 

20180408_120138 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Once I could position the template on the mould I started to punch the holes here is my test on grey board.

 

IMG_20180408_143737_072 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Before I moved on to a test on leather.

 

IMG_20180408_151611_964 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Once I was happy with the design I soaked a piece of leather putting it into the mould and clamping it down to force it into the required shape.

 

20180409_135435 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The leather is 3 mm thick veg tanned shoulder so it took three days to fully dry.

 

20180413_183426 by my0771, on Flickr

 

While the leather was drying in the mould I started thinking about the inside I had already prepared the kydex arches I would use to form the pen slots. once trimmed I wrapped them in suede.

 

20180414_151230 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Trial fitting the components the end of the strap has a loop to attach a tracking device.

 

IMG_20180414_182338_733 by my0771, on Flickr

 

As the front panel has holes punched through I decided to add an extra kydex piece to provide extra support.

 

IMG_20180415_143505_889 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Appling dye I used an antique dye to give this effect.

 

20180415_161741 by my0771, on Flickr

 

More to follow.

Edited April 20, 2018 by my63

[my63]

Getting the pieces ready for assembly.

 

IMG_20180417_190022_217 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Pieces are glued together prior to making the stitching holes before stitching

 

IMG_20180418_101815_198 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Holes marked and punched ready to start stitching with Barbour linen thread.

 

20180419_104025 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The lower section has been stitched allowing me to work out the shape of the flap.

 

20180419_141220 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I used a grey board template to work out the shape for the flap cutting small pieces off.

 

IMG_20180419_170907_589 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Once I had a shape I made a full template.

 

20180419_173835 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Now the basic shape is finished I can trim the length to fit the design.

IMG_20180420_131242_277 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Thanks

Michael

[Sblakers]

Received my case! Not allowed to open it until the 30th . Will posts pics as soon as my wife lets me open it.

[my63]

Received my case! Not allowed to open it until the 30th . Will posts pics as soon as my wife lets me open it.

Great news I am pleased that it arrived in good time. I hope you have a great day.

[my63]

It took some time to get the shape of the flap where I wanted it but I got there in the end.

 

2018-04-22_09-22-19 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Another one finished

[my63]

I hinted in an earlier post about a small case for a Montblanc Mozart fountain pen.

Over the years I have made moulds of many sizes but I have never made one this small I believe the dimensions of the pen are 113 mm long and around 9 mm maximum barrel diameter I have added 3 mm for the clip.

 

2018-04-23_09-32-44 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I made this slim line Montblanc 149 case a small as I could and yet it looks huge compared the liner for the Mozart case.

[my63]

Although this case is designed to be small the Kydex shell will make it very strong. It still needs to be made to a high standard with a suede liner.

 

2018-04-24_05-00-34 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The suede covers all of the Kydex inside and out this is not necessary however I think it looks good so that is what I do.

 

Once the glue on the suede has dried I cover it with some thin plastic film and start to form the outer leather cover.

 

2018-04-24_05-00-55 by my0771, on Flickr

 

When the moulding was finished it was time to apply the chocolate dye.

 

2018-04-24_05-01-16 by my0771, on Flickr

 

When the dying was finished I applied some carnauba wax which I find evens out the colour.

 

2018-04-24_05-01-37 by my0771, on Flickr

 

After the dye was almost dry I started to assemble the front and back pieces.

 

2018-04-24_07-00-56 by my0771, on Flickr.

 

Time for stitching.

[my63]

almost finished [

 

url=https://flic.kr/p/25a2LtT][/url]2018-04-25_03-05-02 by my0771, on Flickr

[Anne-Sophie]

Michael, I missed the latest posts, new works and innovations.

 

I am delighted that more people see your work and want items from your workshop!

 

From a notebook cover, to a case for really big pens to a case for a really small pen to personalizing via stamping to shoe like pen cases, what an innovator and wonderful craftsman you are!

Edited May 4, 2018 by Anne-Sophie

[my63]

Hi Anne-Sophie I assumed that maybe you were on a world cruise or some similarly exotic holiday

 

I have been rather busy lately and forgot to share the finished pictures of the Mozart case.

 

2018-05-04_09-22-16 by my0771, on Flickr

 

For size comparison here is a slim line Montblanc 149 case.

 

2018-05-04_09-41-29 by my0771, on Flickr

 

These cases are designed to protect pens they have a Kydex liner which is wrapped in clothing quality suede then the whole thing is wrapped in hand dyed veg tanned leather and hand saddle stitched together.

[Chrissy]

Oh I need one of these cases. Was this one made specially for a customer?

 

PM sent.

[my63]

Oh I need one of these cases. Was this one made specially for a customer?

 

PM sent.

Hi Chrissy I made the case following your comments on the Montblanc forum about needing a case for this size of pen.

I will reply to your PM

[zaddick]

My most expensive pen (by a lot) now has a semi-permanent home in a single pen tube case you made. I trust your cases to be a safe and protective home when I am on the road or even just in the office.

 

Keep up the great work.

[my63]

Thanks Zaddick I take great pride in my cases and spend a lot of time on them. I appreciate your feedback.

 

I have the second brogue style case as I remember you have the first, This one awaiting shipping with a briefcase I am still restoring. Just for fun I thought I would share a picture of my largest and smallest cases together.

 

2018-05-04_10-22-10 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Thanks

 

Michael

Edited May 4, 2018 by my63

[Anne-Sophie]

Hi Anne-Sophie I assumed that maybe you were on a world cruise or some similarly exotic holiday

 

I have been rather busy lately and forgot to share the finished pictures of the Mozart case.

 

2018-05-04_09-22-16 by my0771, on Flickr

 

For size comparison here is a slim line Montblanc 149 case.

 

2018-05-04_09-41-29 by my0771, on Flickr

 

These cases are designed to protect pens they have a Kydex liner which is wrapped in clothing quality suede then the whole thing is wrapped in hand dyed veg tanned leather and hand saddle stitched together.

The holiday wasn't fancy, I usually check FPN a couple of time, but the droid device who was tasked for that, decided it didn't want to work.

 

So, no FPN and also no stress inducing catastrophic news and idiotic reality entertainment gossips either.

 

Mark Twain had a hedge on us with his travel journals and fountain pens.

 

I just went to your blog to find out more about the briefcase, your restorations are really beautiful and time consuming works to blend perfectly the antique feel of the case and its need for contemporary uses.

 

The same is true for the pen cases beautiful and tough as Kydex.

Edited May 5, 2018 by Anne-Sophie

[my63]

Welcome back Anne-Sophie your comments are always appreciated as are anyone's. I have also had some technical issues lately my elderly Ipad decided it had been stolen and was registered with find my ipad never mind it only took 24 hours to resolve.

 

Recently I was approached and asked to make a protective case for three Danitrio Genkai fountain pens these are flat topped pens without clips so I decided to make some thing a little different.

 

I made a ne form and moulded the kydex pieces to form the pen slots.

 

20180427_222343 by my0771, on Flickr

 

These pen slots required a new form for the outer cover to. The only wood I had in this size was a block of oak so this is quite an expensive form.

 

20180427_222739 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I moulded the wet leather over the form by hand.

 

IMG_20180428_153201_475 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Wrapping the pen slots in suede.

 

20180428_154716 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Here is a trial fit of the outer cover with the pen slots wrapped in suede.

 

20180428_163610 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I stamped the strap with the text as requested

 

20180428_184820 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Time to apply some dye I wanted a antique type effect so I applied the dye and rubbed it off in some places and left it in others.

 

As this case had been ordered with a pen rest I formed the slot to hold it with the actual rest for a good fit.

 

20180429_171853 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Only once the leather had started to dry could I see if my effect had worked.

 

20180430_100115 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I am pleased to say it did work out quite well. Time to bring all of the pieces together

 

20180430_141021 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Using a special tool I marked out the stitching holes.

 

20180502_143059 by my0771, on Flickr

Edited May 8, 2018 by my63

[zaddick]

Looks good. It will be a large case.

 

What was the thought behind going with a rectangular shape when the pens are cylindrical? Just curious.

 

I am sure REN will be happy with the case based on progress so far.

[my63]

My information is the Genkai is a maximum diameter is 20 mm and 175 mm long I thought with the flat top the squared shape would be different. This case will be as long as the Emperor size cases but smaller in the other dimensions.

 

Once the stitching process started I was able to work out the position the text in the correct place.

 

IMG_20180502_211400_030 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Making holes through both pieces of leather and the suede lining almost 9 mm thick is very difficult if the holes are not perfectly straight then the stitching on the back of the item will look really messy there are two stitches out of place on the back of this case. I try to get the stitching perfect but it is very difficult.

 

20180503_215845 by my0771, on Flickr

 

After the stitching was finished I trimmed the edges and rounded them over polishing them with a slicking tool.

 

20180505_134936 by my0771, on Flickr

 

20180505_135620 by my0771, on Flickr

 

To finish the edges I dyed them sanded them dyed again before sealing them with bees wax. I don't have a Danitrio Genkai but I do have one Danitrio which is one of my daily use pens.

 

20180507_160537 by my0771, on Flickr

 

20180507_160559 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Thanks for reading

 

Michael