Advanced Molding?

[Willbury]

Hello everyone,

I have been experimenting with molding over the past year, I'm quite happy with the results I'm achieving now (check out my molded pen/notebook case I made recently).

A few days ago I came across this company Il Bussetto who is making these seamless molded cases (see the attached picture). This looks unbelievable, can you actually make the leather streach this much? Has anyone here done something like this? If so do you have any pictures of your mold forms?

I would love to try this out.

Cheers,

Will

[evandailey]

Heck, I'd like to know how you are doing YOUR molding, let alone theirs. Care to share your technique?

[Willbury]

My stuff is pretty straight forward. Just using a positive and negative mold and pressing them together. It takes some time to work out the mold shapes, how much space to leave between them for the leather, obviously this would depend on your thickness of leather. Here are some pictures from the process.

[shtoink]

I could be wrong, but the first thing that comes to mind is bonded leather. I can't see any way for the consistent results with even thickness and surface condition. There is the possibility of multiple thin layers being sandwiched and bonded together inside a very smooth mold and under high pressure. I just don't know enough about leather to do much more than speculate on how much stretch is possible.

[evandailey]

My stuff is pretty straight forward. Just using a positive and negative mold and pressing them together. It takes some time to work out the mold shapes, how much space to leave between them for the leather, obviously this would depend on your thickness of leather. Here are some pictures from the process.

I'm also curious as to your process for getting that perfectly even color in your molded pieces after them being wet and molded. You do some nice work.

[Tree Reaper]

I've been working with molds for some time now and prefer the foam to wood blocks for the ease of squirting the foam as opposed to carving the blocks to fit the mold.

If you make your mold inside the block and don't run out into the end of the block you can get two cases from one mold.

Kevin.

[Willbury]

I'm also curious as to your process for getting that perfectly even color in your molded pieces after them being wet and molded. You do some nice work.

I haven't had too much of a problem with the colour changing. It could be a combination of things that helps prevent a change in colour. I heat pariffin wax into the wood mold before using the it the first time. I have been using Wicket and Craig tooling/molding leather maybe that contributes. The only real problem I was having was getting small bluish dots on the leather, after some sound advice from a few people on this form I determined it was from little iron filings and I got rid of them with Oxalic acid cut with water.

I've been working with molds for some time now and prefer the foam to wood blocks for the ease of squirting the foam as opposed to carving the blocks to fit the mold.

If you make your mold inside the block and don't run out into the end of the block you can get two cases from one mold.

Kevin.

Kevin I just had read the tread on your foam trick, amazing! I have been contimplating how to make a fairly complex mold and I think the foam might do the trick. I'll post if it works out.

[Willbury]

Ok back to the original question, these cases. I have come across a few more examples of them, it appears they are made from a solid piece of veg-tan, the technique is reffered to as seamless leather molding. All the makers say say about is that they are using some ancient technique, commonly used for coin purses, seems that most of the companies are based in Italy. Someone must have seen how this is done.

[amuckart]

My guess would be that they're starting with a bit of animal that isn't flat. Those could well be - and I'm not kidding - bull scrotums or something similar.

[shtoink]

My guess would be that they're starting with a bit of animal that isn't flat. Those could well be - and I'm not kidding - bull scrotums or something similar.

That makes way more sense than what I was thinking. I hadn't even considered starting with something that wasn't flat.

[Tree Reaper]

Is it really leather or composites such as soft bioplastic resin or "manmade" leather?

[Willbury]

Is it really leather or composites such as soft bioplastic resin or "manmade" leather?

They claim it's veg tan calf leather you can see some more examples here. I've tried to look at some of their larger pictures, some of the items appear to have some small creases in them. This could be from forcing the leather into a mold, or they could be a glued seam.....

[HellfireJack]

If it's Italian then I would assume it's made like a Florence leather box. It's not actually seamless. The seams are hidden by burnishing and waxing.

Here's a video of the making of a such a box.

You can find more examples of the products of the process here.

www.peronifirenze.it/

[Willbury]

Ok did some serious internet digging and came across this article with a rough description of how it's done..... Not what I thought it was, there really are seams. Here are the details:

[Willbury]

If it's Italian then I would assume it's made like a Florence leather box. It's not actually seamless. The seams are hidden by burnishing and waxing.

Here's a video of the making of a such a box.

You can find more examples of the products of the process here.

www.peronifirenze.it/

Very cool thanks for the link to the video!

[cem]

I remember someone posting something like that here before it was a heart shaped coin purse and they said it was skived then glued with the seams hidden by burnishing and waxing like Hellfire Jack mentioned.

In Oz for that non stitch coin purse they use kangaroo scrotums.

Clair

[AaronR]

Clever skiving and gluing... Quite slick, but I wonder how they hold up in the long run.

Regarding the earlier comment on bull's scrotums I'm reminded of an old European shoemaker who succeeded in making a truly seamless shoe. No stitches, no glue, but it perfectly fitted the client it was made for. His trick was to use the skin from a calf's leg cut off latitudinally from the body and then shucked off like a snake. It was this he tanned and shaped to make a seamless creation.