... Homemade Pen Sleeve ...

[my63]

Here is a picture of my skiving tool if you decide to get one watch your fingers they are razor sharp in fact they are designed to cut skin.

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3682/10707315025_93f0ce5181_z.jpg
IMG_5549 by my0771, on Flickr

 

you will get there in the end

 

Michael

[my63]

Hi T M Lee I thought I would show you were my edges are now I have removed everything else and applied Fiebings edge kote in neutral colour.

Once it is dry I will try some wax

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3808/11029223434_0b9893eacf_z.jpg
IMG_5719 by my0771, on Flickr

 

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5502/11029162686_4af60639ba_z.jpg
IMG_5717 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I might have gotten a little ahead of myself here as I plan on dying this case once I have the hang of the dye.

 

Michael

[TMLee]

To thin the edges of leather, you can shave it from the back side. I think that this should make it easier to get the finished edges so close to each other when glued. This is called skiving and there are tools for it, but this is as much as I can say. I've never done it and I'm not sure this is what you want, but it seems like a possibility.

 

 

Hmmm ...

 

I wasnt thinking of thinning the edges.

More like keeping its present thickness , but wondering how to smoothen them.

[TMLee]

Here is a picture of my skiving tool if you decide to get one watch your fingers they are razor sharp in fact they are designed to cut skin.

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3682/10707315025_93f0ce5181_z.jpg

IMG_5549 by my0771, on Flickr

 

you will get there in the end

 

Michael

 

 

Thanks ,

 

I only discovered this instrument just a week ago.

 

Its very similar to that used in pedicures ...

 

Is this tool specially for leather skiving ?

 

I tried it , but somehow couldn't get the hang of it.

It looks promising - no sharp corners to cause accidents - corners digging into leather.

 

 

I use a different kind, a razor scraper.

[TMLee]

Hi T M Lee I thought I would show you were my edges are now I have removed everything else and applied Fiebings edge kote in neutral colour.

Once it is dry I will try some wax

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3808/11029223434_0b9893eacf_z.jpg

IMG_5719 by my0771, on Flickr

 

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5502/11029162686_4af60639ba_z.jpg

IMG_5717 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I might have gotten a little ahead of myself here as I plan on dying this case once I have the hang of the dye.

 

Michael

 

Somehow , I notice that with heavier leather like yours , its easier to do edge dressing.

Everything is firm , stays together, and easily sanded down smooth under a sander.

 

But I am not sure.

 

The leather I am using is thinnish and flimsy and hence I have a problem sanding them down smooth.

 

I wonder how should such thinner leathers be treated?

Edited November 24, 2013 by TMLee

[my63]

How about this I will make a sleeve to your design and try the edge kote and see how it does.

I have some brown leather that is pretty thin. I am sure you posted the sizes the other day.

 

Michael

[TMLee]

How about this I will make a sleeve to your design and try the edge kote and see how it does.

I have some brown leather that is pretty thin. I am sure you posted the sizes the other day.

 

Michael

 

 

Thats mighty nice of you , although I dont want to trouble you

 

Maybe for such thin leather, one should skive the edges thinner then fold over the edges to create a folded edge.

That would be super.

 

But its a lot of work ! At least for me !

[my63]

it is not a problem I am forming some more cases this afternoon

 

I have run a line of pva glue along the edges

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3675/11031485894_7f3a610ee7_z.jpg
IMG_5721 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Folded it over and left to dry

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7337/11031545623_611f1a8bb9_z.jpg
IMG_5723 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I did try to skive the edges down a little but I could not remove enough to allow the edges to be turned over.

 

Michael

[TMLee]

it is not a problem I am forming some more cases this afternoon

 

I have run a line of pva glue along the edges

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3675/11031485894_7f3a610ee7_z.jpg

IMG_5721 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Folded it over and left to dry

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7337/11031545623_611f1a8bb9_z.jpg

IMG_5723 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I did try to skive the edges down a little but I could not remove enough to allow the edges to be turned over.

 

Michael

 

 

Wunderbar ...

 

Looks promising

[rcksil]

Looks good and simple. Now I have to figure out how to sew! Maybe I could get a college student to do it. The do still teach sewing in college these days?

 

Rick

[Ted A]

it is not a problem I am forming some more cases this afternoon I have run a line of pva glue along the edges http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3675/11031485894_7f3a610ee7_z.jpgIMG_5721 by my0771, on Flickr Folded it over and left to dry http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7337/11031545623_611f1a8bb9_z.jpgIMG_5723 by my0771, on Flickr I did try to skive the edges down a little but I could not remove enough to allow the edges to be turned over. Michael

It has been a very long time, but as I recall when we sewed leather in school we used rubber cement to glue the edges together. It held to permit sewing, but cold easily be pulled apart if a mistake was made

[TMLee]

This is Version 2

 

I thought about improving the design ...

 

some ideas sketched out ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2549.jpg

 

 

Studying the form, trimming away those corners unwanted.

Thought a taper might be nice.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2550.jpg

 

 

settled on this one ...

I noticed I needed some grip when using it.

So I created that 'hump' ...

Also , I wanted to improve the overall aesthetics.

Curving the head because that corner is functionally unused.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2551.jpg

 

 

Drew the profile on the leather ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2534.jpg

 

 

Glued reverse,

then cut out the profile ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2535.jpg

 

Open it out

and cleaned off the glue on the right side,

applied PVA glue on wrong side

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2538.jpg

 

 

 

 

Glued .

Gosh , I realised later , this pVA glue is super strong on leather !!!

I couldn't tear them apart when I needed to ..

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2539.jpg

 

Pierced the stitching holes

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2540.jpg

 

 

My makeshift stitching pony ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2543.jpg

 

 

One part done

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2544.jpg

 

Completed

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2546.jpg

 

 

 

 

Retrieving the FP.

(PILOT Custom 743)

 

 

 

Inserting the pen.

 

 

In both videos you see that finger grip is quite necessary when using the sleeve.

 

The tapered end resulted in the sleeve being a little tight for my largish pens, although it can still fit.

The taper should be less sloping.

 

Need to do some edge finishing.

I shall try PVA glue.

It seems to make the leather pretty 'sealed' up.

Any advice ? or caution ?

 

 

Also I dont know how to stitch the ends - the red stitches.

They dont look good.

(I cant stitch for peanuts)

 

Can anyone help?

Edited November 27, 2013 by TMLee

[my63]

Hi TM Lee

I have tried pva however it is very hard when dry.

The wax method requires heat from friction there is also a product called Gum Tragacanth which is used in the same way as wax.

I have recently dyed some of my cases and have stained and waxed the edges with good results.

unfortunately I am unable to post any images at the moment maybe I have posted too many I can copy and paste links ok but mot to this forum which is odd.

I normally finish the ends by going back over some holes and melting the end of the thread.

Stitch marking tools are a great help to me I have made small pieces of wood that show where the stitches go so I cant make a mistake.

I hope this helps.

Michael

[TMLee]

Hi TM Lee

I have tried pva however it is very hard when dry.

The wax method requires heat from friction there is also a product called Gum Tragacanth which is used in the same way as wax.

I have recently dyed some of my cases and have stained and waxed the edges with good results.

unfortunately I am unable to post any images at the moment maybe I have posted too many I can copy and paste links ok but mot to this forum which is odd.

I normally finish the ends by going back over some holes and melting the end of the thread.

Stitch marking tools are a great help to me I have made small pieces of wood that show where the stitches go so I cant make a mistake.

I hope this helps.

Michael

 

Thanks my63,

You are correct.

PVA makes the leather rather hard.

But I notice it makes the leather become thin (dense).

 

The wax method is still better.

 

Stitching

Yes , I tie off the ends ,

seal the cut ends with a cigarete lighter,

push the knot and whatever back inside the stitches to hide them from view.

 

What I mean is I dont know how to stitch the red ends.

Something nice and presentable, that looks like my sketches.

 

 

Photos

You can upload your pics on a photo hosting website. (some are free like PhotoBucket)

Then

copy the links to FPN.

 

Thanks

[my63]

Hi T M Lee

I think my picture problem has been caused by an update to IE anyway I have switched to safari for now.

These edges have been glued for stitching then sanded smooth then sealed with edge kote then I applied wax.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3738/11102091343_251cd75f01_o.jpg

IMG_5805_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I am like you learning as I go I have learnt that the material used to buff needs to be quite rough

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2887/11087321474_e7de2940ed_o.jpg

IMG_5800_1 by my0771, on Flickr

This case is almost finished now it has changed colour since the last time from natural to black.

Regards

Michael

[TMLee]

That's quite nice actually , your pen cases.

 

Do you use a bench grinding machine?

 

I am wondering if I should get one. Or is the DREMEL enough, maybe I should be using a coarser grinding / sanding tool ?

[YeOlCaptain]

Wow! Great job!

[TMLee]

Wow! Great job!

 

Thanks

[TMLee]

The two versions side by side ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2552.jpg

 

 

Some attempts at edge dressing ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2554.jpg

 

 

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2555.jpg

 

 

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2559.jpg

 

 

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2562.jpg

 

 

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2563.jpg

 

 

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/One%20piece%20Leather%20Pen%20sleeve/Version%202/DSCF2564.jpg

 

 

Cant seem to get the hang of it ...

 

[my63]

That's quite nice actually , your pen cases.

 

Do you use a bench grinding machine?

 

I am wondering if I should get one. Or is the DREMEL enough, maybe I should be using a coarser grinding / sanding tool ?

I do have a bench sander but I did not use it on these cases. I will try it on the next ones though.

Have you tried using an old piece of denim or similar rough cloth to buff the wax I have thought about trying wax made for polishing wood it might take less friction to achieve the results we are looking for.

I have a european version of a dremel called a proxxon multi tool,

 

Michael