Making A Pen Case

[Anne-Sophie]

Anne-Sophie

 

I am not sure what the first part means I did make a cover for a small Arc folder my daughter still has it.

 

I have tried to rectify the spelling mistake but it was imported form my original blog I have tried to remove it. My daughter has tried to find the more drop down without a background colour was it on the mobile version.

 

Thanks

Michael

 

The Arc notebook cover project was new to me. Beautiful, as always.

 

I checked your site on Chrome, the drop down menu is transparent and that is a problem because the background image confuses the viewer and mixes up its data with the drop down menu's data.

[my63]

Thanks Anne-Sophie we have found the issue.

[my63]

My work with the NHS has now ended,

New stocks of suede and leather have arrived so I have started making cases again this morning.

 

2020-06-20_09-27-28 by my0771, on Flickr

 

This is a matching pair a two pen and a four pen. Kydex tubes have now been wrapped in electric blue suede once dry I will make the outer covers.

Edited June 20, 2020 by my63

[my63]

Now that the pen tubes are wrapped in suede I need to think about the outer covers,

In order to make the outer covers I need to make a wooden mould to form the leather, It has taken the best part of the day to make these two.

 

2020-06-22_10-13-02 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Next I need to cut the clamping piece to force the wet leather over the mould.

They look quite rough at the moment they will be super smooth tomorrow.

Edited June 22, 2020 by my63

[my63]

This pair of cases are going to have some custom punching patterns, To do that I need a design that fits each case and of course a template.

 

2020-06-22_09-52-03 by my0771, on Flickr

[my63]

The next part of the leather moulding process is to make the outer part of the mould.

 

2020-06-23_09-54-52 by my0771, on Flickr

 

In the picture you can see all of the components both parts of the mould and the templates for the punched pattern you cant see the suede wrapped Kydex insert.

 

In my spare time this week I helped my son build his new desk.

 

2020-06-23_09-59-10 by my0771, on Flickr

[N1003U]

The next part of the leather moulding process is to make the outer part of the mould.

 

2020-06-23_09-54-52 by my0771, on Flickr

 

In the picture you can see all of the components both parts of the mould and the templates for the punched pattern you cant see the suede wrapped Kydex insert.

 

Nice work. Your carpentry skills seem to be as good as your leather working and sewing skills, which is to say, very good. I am envious, but I also appreciate good craftsmanship, regardless of my own skills (or lack thereof ).

 

I have some technical questions that perhaps you have answered before, but I did not note:

 

1.) What weight (thickness) of leather do you generally use to make the outer shell of the case?

2.) What is the approximate clearance between the mould and the flat clamping piece?

3.) How does the amount of clearance impact the overall forming process? (It seems that if it is too tight, it is hard to get the clamping board flat over the mold with the leather in place, but if it is too loose, it might not stretch the leather adequately over the mould, and make punching/stitching to the back piece a bigger challenge.)

4.) How far away from the "corner" of the moulded leather do you punch holes to stitch on the back of the case?

 

Thanks again, I enjoy watching the progress of your projects, from arrival of raw material to finished product.

[my63]

N1003U thanks for the compliments.

In answer to your questions:-

Leather thickness is not an exact measurement I order 1.8 to 2.2 mm but the thickness can vary across the hide.

I have some gauges I have made over the years to help me to form the rounded edges of the mold, once I am happy with the shape and symmetry of the mold. I draw around it and use my dividers to add my best guess at the thickness of the leather. usually around 2mm but i don't measure it it just looks right.

 

2020-06-25_09-43-29 by my0771, on Flickr

 

When molding wet leather if the fit is too tight the leather will tear or split. Like this

 

2020-06-25_06-45-51 by my0771, on Flickr

 

This is a test piece of scrap leather I pressed this and the leather split.

 

2020-06-25_06-45-51 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I opened the gap a little and tried again a smaller split which you can see just in front of attempt no 3 which is ok.

 

2020-06-25_06-46-06 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I think the outer frame is important although I have formed the leather by hand before it takes more time and is hard on my hands which are not good at the best of times.

I was due to have had two surgeries this year one on each hand but they have been cancelled due to Covid 19.

In my ideal world the leather would form a 90 degree bend along the corner but it always springs back a little.

Unusually for me I have invested in some machinery to take the weight off my hands so I have a band saw and scroll saw for cutting the shapes. My latest is a bobbin sander which has different sized cylinders which sandpaper on them which spin and move up and down which makes sanding inside corners much easier

 

2020-06-25_10-19-04 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I am quite happy with this mold although it may be a little tight on this corner as you can see there is the start of a split at the front so I will sand a little more in that area.

The frame needs to be as tight to the base as is possible to give the desired shape.

 

Stitching is another area where I just go with what the case needs, there is not a lot of measuring. I use the dividers to give me a gap of somewhere near the thickness of the edge of the case (front and back) Then I will pick a point near the middle of that and that is where the stitching line will go.

I make templates for the flap but I don't usually keep them as each case is slightly different I just make new ones, This might appear that I am not organised but I don't want to cut everything from a template nor do I want to mark the stitching from a template, It would save me time and would definately help my hands but I would not be happy with them.

 

I hope I have answered your questions.

[my63]

When I am happy with the position of the outer frame it is time to mold the real thing. The leather has to be dyed before I put the leather into the mold. When it is molded the leather compresses and takes dye differently this does not really matter on darker colours but as this is going to be light tan it has to be dip dyed rather than have the dye painted on.

In light of the previous questions here is the end of the mold where you can see how tight the frame needs to be.

 

2020-06-27_03-43-32 by my0771, on Flickr

 

2020-06-27_03-43-53 by my0771, on Flickr

 

There is a lot of pressure involved in this part, The plywood holds up really well to this.

 

2020-06-27_03-44-09 by my0771, on Flickr

 

2020-06-27_03-44-23 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The two and four pen cases are now drying out they should be lighter than this when dry fingers crossed.

[N1003U]

Thanks, those are lovely photos of the jig and the process. I am almost feeling a little inspired to try this one of these days...

 

Did you say the leather was nominally about 2mm (maybe a bit more saturated)? That gives a good feel for the scale of the case.

 

That is a lovely brown color. Will it darken a bit with age?

[my63]

The hide will be between 1.8 mm and 2.2 mm overall it will compress in the mold which is why it takes dye differently.

This was supposed to be light tan not brown so if it does not lighten up as it dries I will be making them again tomorrow.

You never know how a hide is going to take the dye.

I can make small cases these are in the medium range for MB 149 size pens I usually make large cases for Emperor size pens.

[Anne-Sophie]

Thank you so much for helping the NHS with a various duties, to fight the pandemic.

 

Your son's desk is very nice looking, is there anything you can't do?

 

 

Thank you for sharing the molding process with us, Michael!

 

It is extremely precise work with materials that are natural, so they vary.

 

Your rigs of molds and clamps are such a perfect solution to ease up the pressure on your hands.

 

 

 

If the leather stays brown, can you still keep the molded case to be used with another set of suede wrapped tube?

 

There are many users of 149 MB sized pens and your cases are the most beautiful and safe, leather and suede cases, I have ever seen, they are also bespoke.

[my63]

Thanks Anne-Sophie I appreciate your comments.

I had time today so I have pressed on with the design as you point out I can always make them into other cases if they are the wrong colour.

But they did dry to light tan well almost..

 

2020-06-28_05-41-05 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The cases were almost dry so it was time to add the antique stain to give the desired finish.

 

2020-06-28_04-02-57 by my0771, on Flickr

 

2020-06-28_04-03-06 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I had to paint the antiquing gel into each of the punched holes with a small brush so they all looked the same.

[Anne-Sophie]

They look like classic shoes. So much flair!

[my63]

They look like classic shoes. So much flair!

Yep that was the plan time to add some blue suede (sorry I could not resist)

 

2020-06-29_09-39-47 by my0771, on Flickr

 

2020-06-29_09-40-07 by my0771, on Flickr.

 

More assembly next.

[my63]

I have made the rear panel from Kydex and glued it to the leather which is then covered in suede.

 

2020-06-30_10-41-38 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Both cases are now at this point ready to have templates made for the flaps and stitching.

[my63]

I always make new templates for the flaps on cases I would like these to be the same.

 

2020-07-02_09-29-45 by my0771, on Flickr

 

These templates are for the stitching lines not for the actual shape I will create the shape from the stitching once it is finished.

There is a third case in this group but it is a different colour and is much smaller I will start it tomorrow.

[Anne-Sophie]

The blue suede shoes look very nice!

[my63]

Time for stitching as with all of my cases it is stitched by hand it takes me 2.5 hours to stitch a case this size, I did not like the first stitching so I cut it out and did it again

 

2020-07-06_09-18-56 by my0771, on Flickr

[N1003U]

The case is turning out quite lovely. Well done! A very classic look, in my opinion.

 

Do the small the outer punched holes guide your trimming, or if not, what is their purpose?