... Homemade Journal ... 2016

[my63]

The angle of the skive will alter the depth of the skive using your tool.

 

Skiving knives come in all shapes and sizes this one is called a round knife or head knife. Although its main purpose is cutting.

In this picture I am using it to thin the inside of a briefcase flap to repair a tear along the edge of the brass hasp. The curve of the blade allows the knife to skive easily in this situation.

 

DSC_0066 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Going by size this is my next largest skiving knife its right hand corner slightly more rounded to help skiving it is also used for cutting.

 

DSC_0036%5B1%5D by my0771, on Flickr

 

This knife also has a flat back which makes it ideal for cutting along a straight edge.

 

There are more tools for later.

[TMLee]

Finally found some hobby time and did all these over a few days ....

 

 

ALL are A6 size

 

They are all waiting to be stitched soon to be offered for sale.

 

PM me if you are interested to purchase any of the above.

 

Writing papers offered

I offer the following writing papers to be stitched with these covers.

(let me know if none of these papers suit your preference, I may just have something suitable not listed here)

 

1) TOMOE RIVER paper , 52g , Cream

 

2) NATURALIS Absolute White , 120g , smooth

 

3) NATURALIS Vanilla White , 135g , smooth

 

4) FABRIANO ECOQUA BIOPRIMA , 85g, dotted grid (3.5mm) (reviewed here)

 

5) FABRIANO ECOQUA BIOPRIMA , 85g, Plain

 

Almost all come with spine accents like so ...

So the stitches lie in the deboss and are kinda sheltered from getting snagged & such.

 

This Maple leaves - is visually stunning .

You can make out the maple leaves detail underneath the black spine accent

The black material is almost M***skine-like

 

 

Beautiful Washi paper. YUSEN paper. These black and red papers are lacquered !

 

Sakura flower motif

 

Solids (plain) bookcloth covers are classic ...

Perennial favourites

 

 

This one was a delightful surprise.

I hadnt tried out this YUSEN design yet

Didn't expected it to turn out so elegant ...

Its next variant should be 'more' symetrical

The motif looks kinda like it would be on a traditional Japanese Samurai body armour?

 

At certain angles, a grid pattern becomes more apparent.

Mesmerising up close....

 

 

Thanks for looking .

 

Feel free to ask anything ...

Edited November 29, 2017 by TMLee

[TMLee]

Found another nice leathercraft store here locally

 

Bought this goatskin , veg tanned, crinkled ...

 

I thought it looked interesting ...

 

 

 

Visualizing the layout ...

A6 size

portrait layout

 

A6 size

Will try this out before

producing an actual A5 one.

Trying out the crinkles running in a landscaped format

 

 

 

Now begins the arduous task of skiving down the edges ...

I notice that this goatskin seems easier to skive down.

(can anyone explain why? I know nuts about leather )

Its already 0.6mm to 0.7mm thick when bought off the shelf.

I usually skive it down to 0.5mm or even as paper thin if my patience doesn't wear out.

 

 

Wish me luck ...

Edited December 2, 2017 by TMLee

[WolvertonMountain]

Wish me luck ...

 

I wish you luck skiving down the edges, Mr Lee, and I am waiting to see the result.

 

Clifton

[TMLee]

YAESS .... !

 

Looks promising ...

 

I decided to add Obernauf's leather oil to the places where the cover edges are... to make it supple ...

 

The hide just drinks it up thirstily ...thru to the front side ..

The oil will dry out over sometime (a week or 2)

Either that, or I can apply on the finished side to get an even (but darker) tone which will then return to the original light tan colour over time.

 

 

The skiving is tedious and so far no accidents and damages to the skin.

What I do is to skive it down until I cannot see the red ballpoint ink outlines that mark the coverboard.

Then draw the red outlines again and repeat the process till the leather is thin enough to my satisfaction.

(I usually target to achieve the thinness thats about equivalent to about thick papr thickness - around 160g grammage.

 

 

the corner foldovers are always challenging with leather, esp if the leather is rigid or stiff and hard to bend.

so what I tried that works is to dampen the leather with clean water, using a finger.

This makes the leather softer and it folds over the edges easier.

The glue has to be also very sticky to achieve a good result.

So what happens is that you apply glue on strategic places and watch it closely till it almost dries out.

This stage is where the glue is stickiest.

Then execute the foldover.

 

 

The leathercrafter at the shop said something like

"how well the finished product looks like will depend on how much effort you put in at each stage of crafting, especially when working with leather."

And that is so true as you recall the handiwork of fellow FPNers here , for eg, how "my63" here restores his leather bags.

It just can't be hurried.

This is particularly challenging when skiving.

I want so much to complete the skiving, but I have personally experienced so many 'accidents' , damaging the leather when the blade goes in too deep all becos I wanted things to go faster.

 

 

 

 

 

Glue down the straight edges first.

Leaving the corners unglued for later operation.

Concentrate on the straight edges first...

 

 

I don't cut the leather in any special pattern in order to execute the corner foldovers.

Its pretty much the same cut I would execute with paper or bookcloth.

I find this technique yields a better end result.

The trick is actually clamping down the corners flat after turning in the corners.

(this is illustrated in the later pics below)

This pic shows the 90deg corner just turned in.

It hasn't been hammered down with a few whacks yet.

Its wettish but glued down.

You can see the leather folded and pressed down onto itself.

 

 

This here is the same thing but the rounded corner.

This can only be achieved with an angled tweezer

The more pleats you hace , the rounder the result.

 

 

After glueing down, I whack the folded corners with the end of the handle of my brayer

You can just see that the corners are flatter - more smashed flat.

But it can be better as I will show later.

 

 

The leather has a thickness

which will show up very prominently when the flyleaves are installed.

So what I do is to install a filler-board .

So, trim away the edges of the leather on all 4 sides to achieve a straight neat cut that will receive the filler-board neatly.

 

Here you see the edges of the leather all cut straight, ready to receive the filler-board which is selected to be as close as possible to the thickness of the leather.

 

 

Filler-board glued in place.

The corners , you can see, are thicker and rise above the white card.

There's a simple solution - these corners need to be clamped down flat under great pressure overnight.

 

My primitive clamping system.

Superstrong clamps.

You can multiply the clamping force by putting more pieces of wood to make the entire thing thicker for the clamps to work on.

Get some flat pieces of whatever that will come into contact with the leather, becos the clamping is so great that whatever that is NOT supposed to be there will get imprinted !

 

 

Will let you guys see the finished product tomoro after letting this sit overnight.

 

Meanwhile , I think it looks promising ....

complete with all blemishes ....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 3, 2017 by TMLee

[mhguda]

Great to see you tackle a new challenge!

Too bad leather covers are so much NOT my thing... I much prefer paper and/or cloth covers. But that's just me...

And again, thanks for sharing the whole process. It really makes me appreciate those journals even more.

[DWR]

Love watching the progression of your handiwork. I look forward to seeing this new chapter for TMLee!

[mamajones]

All of these are soooo beautiful. I really admire your ability to do such wonderful work!

 

I'd love one to have one of your journals, but I fear I would never write in it, only feast my eyes on its beauty!

[my63]

Hi T M Lee Skiving is not easy those green cutting mats will give slightly as you apply pressure skiving needs to be done on a hard flat surface like glass, marble, or granite.

This may sound mad but your blade should not only be sharp but it should also be polished to glide easily through the leather. After honing my blades on a fine stone I then use a leather strop with jewellers rouge to polish the honed edge.

I should warn you that you should take care when wetting leather especially veg tanned as it will leave marks when it dries even a drop will leave a mark especially thin goat skin. It is best to wet the whole piece rather than the edge.

Leather will stretch but wet leather will stretch even more.

I hope this helps you a little keep up the amazing work.

[TMLee]

Great to see you tackle a new challenge!

Too bad leather covers are so much NOT my thing... I much prefer paper and/or cloth covers. But that's just me...

And again, thanks for sharing the whole process. It really makes me appreciate those journals even more.

 

Thank you for your encouragement

[TMLee]

Love watching the progression of your handiwork. I look forward to seeing this new chapter for TMLee!

 

Thanks DWR,

sharing notes with others also interested in crafting

[TMLee]

All of these are soooo beautiful. I really admire your ability to do such wonderful work!

 

I'd love one to have one of your journals, but I fear I would never write in it, only feast my eyes on its beauty!

 

Haha , thank you for your kind words.

 

I always make my buyers promise me they will put them to use, otherwise my efforts will be wasted.

These journals are unique but are designed to be written in.

Edited December 4, 2017 by TMLee

[TMLee]

Hi T M Lee Skiving is not easy those green cutting mats will give slightly as you apply pressure skiving needs to be done on a hard flat surface like glass, marble, or granite.

 

Thanks my63,

Yes, I do skiving on a glass surface.(hmmm ... somehow that doesn't sound right )

Its a must.

 

 

 

This may sound mad but your blade should not only be sharp but it should also be polished to glide easily through the leather. After honing my blades on a fine stone I then use a leather strop with jewellers rouge to polish the honed edge.

 

Yes, on occasion, I do sharpen the razor blades.

But I cant get the hang of it.

It stays sharp for a very short while.

I must be doing something not right.

 

Whats a jeweller's rouge?

 

 

I should warn you that you should take care when wetting leather especially veg tanned as it will leave marks when it dries even a drop will leave a mark especially thin goat skin. It is best to wet the whole piece rather than the edge.

Leather will stretch but wet leather will stretch even more.

I hope this helps you a little keep up the amazing work.

 

 

Oh no ! Inexperienced newbie moment !!!

 

 

 

 

[TMLee]

The morning after clamping overnight ...

 

 

 

 

superflat !!!

 

[ You can also try this on your soft cover leather or leather-like Bible covers.

They have the same problem due to lack of time. (the pleats are not flat)

Peel away the flyleaf carefully,

Use a small wet brush, and dampen the pleats wet (but not dripping wet)

Find suitable flat surface objects and clamp that corner for a few hours at least.

 

When successful, glue back the flyleaf using pVA (white glue) ]

 

 

 

Before ...

 

 

After ...

 

The other right angled corners ...

 

Before ...

 

 

After ...

 

What comes next will be the choice of flyleaves.

And in such situations, I use heavier (thicker) paper so as to mask/hide the lines/edges between leather and the filler-board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[my63]

Jewellers rouge is a polishing compound the reason for using it is to remove the very fine scratches left by sharpening. A sharp blade will cut leather but not for long a polished edge will glide through leather very easily.

As you cut with a blade the fine edge will form a burr even when using a cutting mat barbers use a leather strop to remove these burrs and polish the edge of their razors. You cannot see a burr but you can feel it with your finger nail especially when sharpening once you have a burr on the very tip of your blade you switch to a finer stone when the burr is gone you are done. then you polish.

My strop is a piece of wood with leather glued to it and rouge applied actually any metal polish will work but rouge is best green is the finest I use red first then green.

I have used a piece of grey board with rouge on it when I have misplace my strop works ok.

This does not apply to anyone using a set of ultra fine (expensive) Japanese water stones which do the same thing.

20171204_064401%5B1%5D by my0771, on Flickr

 

I use the strop 10 times each edge before I start cutting and then a quick strop every few cuts, When skiving I will strop even more frequently your knife needs to be razor sharp.

 

To help get the angle right here is a little tip someone gave me.

Put your first edge on the strop in this picture polishing happens when the edge is moved to the right to get the angle right slide the edge to the left the wrong way altering the angle until the blade starts to cut into the strop. This means the cutting edge is in the perfect position for polishing when you draw the edge to the right. you will get the feel for this very quickly.

 

20171204_064448%5B1%5D by my0771, on Flickr

 

Sorry for the long post hope it helps.

[TMLee]

Jewellers rouge is a polishing compound the reason for using it is to remove the very fine scratches left by sharpening. A sharp blade will cut leather but not for long a polished edge will glide through leather very easily.

As you cut with a blade the fine edge will form a burr even when using a cutting mat barbers use a leather strop to remove these burrs and polish the edge of their razors. You cannot see a burr but you can feel it with your finger nail especially when sharpening once you have a burr on the very tip of your blade you switch to a finer stone when the burr is gone you are done. then you polish.

My strop is a piece of wood with leather glued to it and rouge applied actually any metal polish will work but rouge is best green is the finest I use red first then green.

I have used a piece of grey board with rouge on it when I have misplace my strop works ok.

This does not apply to anyone using a set of ultra fine (expensive) Japanese water stones which do the same thing.

20171204_064401%5B1%5D by my0771, on Flickr

 

I use the strop 10 times each edge before I start cutting and then a quick strop every few cuts, When skiving I will strop even more frequently your knife needs to be razor sharp.

 

To help get the angle right here is a little tip someone gave me.

Put your first edge on the strop in this picture polishing happens when the edge is moved to the right to get the angle right slide the edge to the left the wrong way altering the angle until the blade starts to cut into the strop. This means the cutting edge is in the perfect position for polishing when you draw the edge to the right. you will get the feel for this very quickly.

 

20171204_064448%5B1%5D by my0771, on Flickr

 

Sorry for the long post hope it helps.

 

 

Thanks so much for taking the trouble to explain.

 

I have to re-read to understand, not becos of your explanation but becos

its unfamiliar to me.

Edited December 4, 2017 by TMLee

[TMLee]

Hi all,

 

the following with a yellow tick have been spoken for ....

 

 

Not surprisingly, the maple leaves are popular becos they are visually stunning ...

 

I shall craft more of this and offer for sale.

 

 

 

 

 

[TMLee]

The morning after clamping overnight ...

 

 

 

 

superflat !!!

 

[ You can also try this on your soft cover leather or leather-like Bible covers.

They have the same problem due to lack of time. (the pleats are not flat)

Peel away the flyleaf carefully,

Use a small wet brush, and dampen the pleats wet (but not dripping wet)

Find suitable flat surface objects and clamp that corner for a few hours at least.

 

When successful, glue back the flyleaf using pVA (white glue) ]

 

 

 

Before ...

 

 

After ...

 

The other right angled corners ...

 

Before ...

 

 

After ...

 

What comes next will be the choice of flyleaves.

And in such situations, I use heavier (thicker) paper so as to mask/hide the lines/edges between leather and the filler-board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So these are the flyleaves which I installed.

 

Its 170g paper that is also textured.

 

Here you can see the surfaces underneath.

Can be better .

So it proves that whatever goes underneath can still impact the overall aesthetics.

 

 

I used matching brown bands

 

 

[my63]

Good morning TM Lee I knew I had seen a you tube video of a book binder making rounded corners. It took a little while to find it he refers to paring leather rather than skiving but it is the same thing.

 

 

I hope it helps.

[TMLee]

Thanks "my63" ,

 

I think I will go look to get one of these paring knives.