Making A Pen Case

[my63]

Progress report. Pen cases first. The formed Kydex has now been wrapped in suede, It is now time to make the outer covers, I made the wooden mold yesterday.

 

2022-12-11_08-56-45 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Pen boxes.

 

2022-12-07_04-31-08 by my0771, on Flickr

 

2022-12-11_09-05-57 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The leatherwork is almost finished all of the edges need to be sealed, The I can add the veneer before fitting the interior.

I am pleased to say both boxes are sold but I will be making more next year.

 

 

 

[Anne-Sophie]

I am very happy your cases are sold out and that you are working on the next batch of pen cases,

[manolo]

Really nice work, those boxes are impressive.

[my63]

Thank you Anne-Sophie and Manolo for your comments, There will be more boxes next year, possibly some larger ones.

 

I am making progress on the pen cases after adding the suede to the kydex pieces I have started forming the outer front panels.

The wet leather is placed over a wooden mold and the second part of the mold is applied and clamped in place. The wet leather will take up any marks including finger prints and wood grain.

 

2022-12-14_07-07-50 by my0771, on Flickr

 

After allowing the front panels to fully dry it is time to see if they fit.

 

2022-12-14_07-34-09 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I need to make some final adjustments before applying the dye.

[my63]

Moving forward with the pair of three pen cases in Emperor size. These are large cases.

 

2022-12-15_08-50-09 by my0771, on Flickr

 

One of the fronts has been burnished the one on the left is yet to do.

[Anne-Sophie]

Such beautiful work!

 

It is sure to make the future owner happy!

[my63]

Thank you Anne-Sophie.

Unfortunately I have had to pause all work for the last week due to illness, I wont go into details but my GP came to my rescue with Antibiotics and anti sickness meds after 4 days in bed I now only feel unwell.

Rather than try to rescue 2022 I have decided to wait and start working again in 2023 well maybe next week.

On a positive note I am working on a large multiple pen case design I have two in mind that I will share with you soon.

I hope everyone who reads this has a Happy Christmas and a prosperous new year.

Michael 

[JulieParadise]

Uuh, that sounds terrible! Hopefully you can take your time to rest & recover. Get well soon!

[Anne-Sophie]

In addition to the flu, covid and pneumonia, there was a cold like bug going around the U.S, I guess it ended up in the UK as well.

 

Scary because the symptoms could have one of the first two highly contagious and dangerous first two, but no.

[my63]

Thanks to both of you, meds are sort of working but I am seeing the doctor tomorrow.

In the meantime I am trying to do a little work when I can. The cases have been glued together ready to have the stitching holes made.

 

2022-12-28_04-19-39 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The pair of boxes are also moving forward, this is the start of the embossing inside of the lids.

 

2022-12-26_10-48-35 by my0771, on Flickr

 

And here is a sneak peak into next years first project.

 

2022-12-26_10-48-51 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I wish everyone the best for 2023. To those who take the time to contribute I thank you your support means a lot to me. 

[Anne-Sophie]

 

You are such a great artist Michael!

 

The fact that you take the time to share with us all your creations is a true honor.

 

Royal blue and black are so beautiful together.  

 

I'd like to remind urushi pen owners that Michael is able to reproduce the red thru black color and the glossy texture with his masterful skills at applying dye to leather. 

Check this thread and his webpage, it is truly breathtaking!

 

 

The next batch of boxes already have customers, so exiting!

 

Michael, are key locks, like the one you are showing, available in steel/silver color? 

 

Because I have followed you for such a long time, I am aware of your plodding through your health challenges, I meant like plowing through but steadier.

 

 

I usually don't say Happy New Year before January 1st, but being across the pond, January 1st will come to the UK before it gets here. And unless, I keep my eyes on the international clocks, I get mixed up and might not say it on time.

 

So Happy New Year  to you Michael, your lovely family, your town and the UK, I think I pretty much everyone covered in your vicinity.

 

 

[my63]

Thanks Anne-Sophie 

I have checked with the manufacturer Abbey England the locks are only available in brass at this time they do other locks in a nickel plate finish.

 

2023-01-07_11-46-08 by my0771, on Flickr

 

2023-01-09_12-22-39 by my0771, on Flickr

 

2023-01-09_12-23-22 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Now the cases are finished it is time to complete the boxes so they can also be shipped. As you all know mistakes happen and I make my share. I am not sure how I managed to get glue on the front of this panel. But I did.

 

2023-01-12_07-44-40 by my0771, on Flickr

 

It was easy to resolve the problem I made a replacement pane.

 

 

 

 

  

[my63]

Now that the pen cases are finished I can switch back to the pen boxes. I have formed the plastic panels that will support the pens. Trimming the panels is difficult as I need to consider the thickness of the edging card plus the thickness of the suede, then the thickness of the suede that is wrapped around the pen tray.

 

2023-01-15_08-39-54 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The outside edges are made from greyboard wrapped in suede which is dry fitted first. On this box the red one it applies to the top and the bottom, the black bow is different.

 

2023-01-15_08-40-06 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Test fitting the pen tray and the side panels.

 

This is the black case pen tray.

 

2023-01-15_08-40-16 by my0771, on Flickr

 

More progress to follow

 

 

[Anne-Sophie]

Thank you for taking the time to inquire and share about the lock color.

 

The pen cases with the name of the pens are really beautiful.

 

The pen boxes are such work of art, I wouldn't have guessed how difficult it is to fit a pen tray, but with all the layers involved, I now can see it.

[my63]

The owner of the boxes has allowed me to share images of the boxes with the name on them.

In order to make the embossing I print out the text which is pre approved, I glue the paper to a pice of grayboard, It takes me a long time to cut out each letter.

 

2023-02-05_12-36-04 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I usually draw lines onto the backing card before cutting out the letters to help locating them once they have been cut out. After cutting out the letters they are mounted and covered in suede. It looks like this.

 

2023-02-05_12-35-52 by my0771, on Flickr

 

When fitted to the finished box it looks like this.

 

2023-02-05_12-36-32 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The red box is slightly different as it has a deeper lid, To fill the space I made a small pad for writing on, It has leather on one side and padded suede on the other.

 

2023-02-05_12-37-12 by my0771, on Flickr

 

2023-02-05_12-37-21 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I have made bases from card wrapped in suede for each box which is a very expensive way to cover the bottom of a box.

 

These are still what I would call prototype boxes and hopefully I will get some feedback and can continue developing the process.

[XYZZY]

Alex is going to have some really nice pen cases.  Especially the purple!🙂

[Anne-Sophie]

Lovely!

[my63]

As my health has started to improve I have been able to do a little more I am up to 1.5 to 2 hours per day now.

 

This is my 2021 slimline mold for Emperor size pens, Using this I can make single pen slots in any number I wish although realistically 5 is about the limit for this type of case.

 

2023-02-05_12-38-19 by my0771, on Flickr

 

A couple of hours later we have four pen slots, The Kydex is 1mm thick and is very light. When wrapped in suede they look like this. The first two slots from the left of the picture have been glued in place and the next two are lose.

 

2023-02-05_12-38-44 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I dont think I have showed this before, Once I have the slots wraooed in suede I make a template of the shape. I use this template to make the wooden form.

 

2023-02-05_12-38-56 by my0771, on Flickr

 

When the template fits all round I can stop sanding  I decided to seal this mold with some white spray primer before using it for the first time. Then a wet piece of veg tanned leather was plced in the mold and the upper part was fitted and clamped.

 

2023-02-07_08-16-14 by my0771, on Flickr

 

You may have noticed a thin plastic sheet between the mold and the leather, well it is a secret 😮 ha ha I have found wider molds allow the leather to lift in the middleas pressure is applied to the sides, It also helps to prevent the wood scaring the leather as pressure is applied.

 

2023-02-07_08-15-42 by my0771, on Flickr

 

This image shows a dark line where the pressure is actually applied to the leather. I wanted this corner to be sharp and as this case is going to be black then it does not matter, rounding over the edge on the uppr part of the mold would reduce the mark but the corner would have a matching rounded edge.

 

[Anne-Sophie]

 

So happy that you feel better!

 

All those mold and templates are genius ideas, plastic wrapping the soft leather is also very smart, I   remember when you made a case that looked like a shoe, was it dyed?

 

So that is how there is no visible marks on your tan leather cases.

[my63]

Thanks Anne-Sophie, I am back to working for a couple of hours a few times a week which is great.

 

The next step for the 4 pen Emperor case is to apply the dye once that has dried it was time for stitching. By hand no machines, marking the holes with a prickining iron and then two needles on a single piece of thread 6m about 20ft long.

 

2023-02-16_07-18-08 by my0771, on Flickr

 

After many hours we have this.

 

2023-02-16_07-17-45 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Next project.

 

I have been asked to create a case for 7 Emperor pens. My molded design will expand to 5 pens but will struggle any larger. So we need something else. I have dabbled in bags in the past and of course briefcases. Time to combine the two. But what if you go to a pen meet and want to display your pens. 

Some years ago I turned an old doctors bag into a pen case for that project I made something like this.

 

2023-02-07_08-15-52 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I have used fine nappa leather to create the slots, The red is leftover leather from another project, The actual case will be black.

 

2023-02-16_07-25-45 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The internal board will provide all of the required support.

 

2023-02-16_07-26-55 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Please forgive the shine on the leather I took the picture outside in February and had to combat this unusual weather phenomenon called sunshine ha ha, we usually get a few weeks in july.

 

This is the project the lock I shared last year is for. I think i will aloow you to see the case as it appears.