JDFred

All your projects are turning out very well. I really like your creative use of the veiner in this one. It’s pretty cool.

I would use leather that matches the panels on the bag in 6-7 oz. I like the tongue and loop closure you have on the bag maybe you could add a hidden magnet or snap on the end of the tongue. On your gusset if you use a lighter weight leather it will help prevent the rolling in of the panels as the panels would have more rigidity than the gusset. It would also give you the option of using a different color leather for a nice contrast. If you do that make your closure match the gusset color to tie everything together.

You have a good design on your bag. I would use leather on the shoulder strap and maybe put a small tab on the tongue of your bag closure that locks into the loop to help keep it closed in case of a spill. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the tips. I like the felt idea I think I’ve got some pieces from a saddle pad where I cut a wither relief out that might work. Maybe I’ll take the plunge and get some tokonole next time I’m in town.

Thank you. I agree with you and Jonas about the buckle I’ll have to try that the next time. Do you have any good tips on edge dying as I always make a mess of it and get it on the front a back of the project, so o try to stay away from it. However you are right it would make it look a lot nicer. As for my burnishing I use glycerin saddle soap and water. I’ve been thinking of trying Tokenol or similar product, would that be a good direction to go? Thank you again.

Thank you. I recently found some Nigel Armitage videos that really helped me with my stitching. You’re right about sewing in the buckle. It is the one regret I have about the project. They are called tube rivets, they are not as strong as rivet and burrs. It was the only colored rivet I had to match the buckle. As to my reason for using them instead of sewing I don’t know. Probably it is how I’ve done it before and I see a lot of headstall made this way, admittedly the were more production type headstall. Also I’ve never sewn in a buckle so I’m not really sure how to do it. I use stitching chisels rather than an awl so not sure how to get all my holes to line up. I’m sure I can figure it out I just need to sit down and try. Thank you again for the guidance.

When I first started leatherwork I made a couple headstall that were less than great. I needed a new one for a new horse I got, so I decided to try again. I used 8-9 oz for the outside and lined it with 2-3 oz. It’s hand sewn with Maine thread and I used a 3/4” cart dome buckle. Then gave it a good coat of neatsfoot oil. Let me know what you think and what I can do better on the next one. Thank you for any input.

You could build a handle pretty easy for what you are wanting. I hate typing so I drew a picture forgive my poor drawing skills. Then you could use this jig that Tandy sells to keep everything straight.

Thanks for the link. I glued the whole thing because I over build everything and I don’t know any better. On my next liner I’ll try making the liner smaller and only glue the edges and see if that turns out better.

Good job I like your deluxe versions.

Thank you, he was pretty excited when I sent him the pictures. As to the construction I used side cutters to remove the rivets on the binder rings that attached them to the cover. There were tubes that the rivets went through that I used a Dremel to trim them flat to the bottom of the binder assembly. Then I put it together like you described, but with leather and plastic instead of plastic and cardboard. The cover on the donor binder was a heavier single sheet of plastic so I cut it into 3 pieces a front, back, and spine. I trimmed the edges of the plastic to be about a quarter inch from the edge of the leather, and left a half inch gap between each cover piece and the spine so it would fold easier. Then I glued them to the leather cover with contact cement and then glued the liner to that. That is part of the wrinkle problem was the same size liner as the cover and glueing the liner completely to the cover. I used #9 copper rivets to attach the rings to the cover. After I folded it, which was challenging I covered it with a towel and left my smaller piece of marble on it overnight then did the same thing to the other side the next day and mostly won the battle the keep it closed. Yes it is 8 1/2 x 11 paper sized. I figured you could get rings by themselves but I’m not sure where. Forgive my run on style of writing I hope this answered your questions and helped.

Thank you for the kind words. I only started carving leather about 8 months ago and building anything from leather about a year and a half ago. This was my first 3 ring binder so the learning curve was steep. The next one I’ll have to try making my liner shorter and only glue the edges instead of glueing the entire liner to the cover. That may also help with the keeping it closed trouble I had. Thanks for the advice.

Very nice work. I really like red and black together.

Thank you

Thank you. What color would you have used? I’m always looking for suggestions for my next project. Thank you. My wife picked that out and I really like the color of it and have enjoyed using it. Thank you. I’m glad the contrast stands out it was what I was going for, I was a little worried that the colors were too similar. I probably should’ve antiqued it for some more contrast but I need to practice with it some more before I try it on a large project. Thank you

A truck driver friend asked me to build a binder to keep his registration and paperwork in. He wanted his brand on the front cover and let me come up with the rest. Here is what I came up with. I used 6/7 oz for the cover and lined it with 2/3 oz. I used some thin chrome tan, I had left from a purse I made, for the overlay and the inner pockets. I used the rings out of a plastic binder and used the plastic from it as a stiffener in between the cover and the liner. Then I used twisted poly Maine Thread to hand sew it together. It is finished with neatsfoot oil and leather balm whit atom wax. My liner got a little bunched up by the rings when I folded it but other wise it turned out good. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

Very nice work. Your stitching is perfect. I’ll have to keep that foam trick in mind if I ever build a holster.

Very cool

Very nice work!

If you had some checkered ones I would be interested. I started using a lifter in my oak leave and the slicking bothers me, tried to clean it up with a small bevel with no luck.

That is what I noticed last night when I was using lifter and the basketweave stamp. I was able to touch the areas up but it started getting darker than I wanted. So I decided to do my tooling first then dye after. Thanks for the response. I was more curious if it was a cardinal sin of leather work or ok to do. It seems to maybe be ok in some cases but not real great for reagular use.

Thank you for the help. I’m going to do some more testing as I got to thinking about using lifters and it may leave a spot that will need touched up and look odd.

I think pastorbob on this forum started making acrylic templates recently maybe ask him

I’m building a 3 ring binder and I’m using some cheaper leather that doesn’t burnish well when tooling but accepts dye really well. I’m worried about my light brown dye turning to dark brown accidentally when dying over the tooled areas, and it might be more controllable on smooth leather. So I had a thought about dying first then tooling. I tried a test piece last night and the impressions I got seemed to be decent. I typically use Angelus alcohol dyes with a dauber. For this I was thinking of using a sponge to apply the dye. I’m trying to do a good job on this as it is my first commissioned piece. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.

Thank you. I may try a spray bottle I can see where it would give a more even coverage than a sponge.