Skald

That's some pretty slick edges, looks like they are cut from wood. Great thanks, I hardly thought of an alternative glue compound, for some odd reason. I got this quite worthless glue for thin leather, which most certainly won't do. But beyond that there must be others that leaves a thinner "weld". I'll look up the Weldwood thing, and see if I can get hold of it. I live in Sweden, and many products can't be shipped because they are considered dangerous as they are flammable. Again, thanks.

Can't seem to view the images, not even the domain lowes.com at the moment, so it might be temporary. Will again check later. I have these "disposable" (that I don't dispose so often, but clean and re-use) sponge swabs with plastic handles, that I got from work (used to clean print heads on large format printers). It's really easy to apply different kinds of coatings without getting these darn bubbles etc. Next best thing to airbrushing I've tried. There's a certain amount of drama otherwise, if you get more and more bubbles occurring the more you try getting them out, and notice how the coating starts to cure. :D And yeah, I think that if you dye first - "work it" - and re-dye, you'll have a deeper gone and more worked in dye, that will sit a bit better. Of course depending on what dye you use. These undyed hides are always a little difficult to get properly dyed. Unless of course if you "groon" them. But doing so seems to render the hides virtually "unchangeable", I think it makes like any other step more or less impossible (forming/burnishing/glueing/surface treating etc.).

Oookay, I've done some experimenting again. And I am "sort of" pleased with the outcome. I didn't completely get rid of "glue lines", but I got a pretty nice result anyway. Here's what I did. - Rough up flesh side of leather with quite coarse sanding paper (or I have this "pads", but anyway). - Apply Barge All purpose cement, rub it in a little, and sort of "scrape off" excess and get an even surface. Let dry for an hour or so. - Put pieces together, press firmly. Smack the glued parts with wooden mallet, put between two "protective layers" or aluminum, mount in vice and let sit at quite hard pressure for an hour or so. *sewing part left out* - Sand edges carefully, using coarse sanding paper. Try to achieve the shape you want, sand both across and along the edge, to sort of "kill off" fibers that won't budge otherwise. - Wet edge with fingertip, and sort of "rub it in" a little with fingertip. Leave to dry. - Dye edge now if you intend to, let dry for a moment (I used Fiebings Oil Dye). Then sand it again with a fine sanding paper, and just add a little water to the edge again, and let dry. - When dry, burnish with this wooden Dremel tool (bought mine from leatherburnishers.com), just go rather gently with it. Add a little water now and then, to avoid burNING instead of burNISHING. - Dye again, if you feel it have become too "washed out" due to sanding and burnishing. - Now you can buff a little more with a few drops of water, and a medium rough canvas cloth, to get it a little more even and smooth. AND... I haven't used any "compounds" at all as of yet, except for dye on one of the two test pieces I did (i.e. the other one left natural). But there are two I will use now. I guess usual "gum trag" might do, but I used this other alternative offered by Seiwa Leather (goodsjapan.jp), smells like wood glue, and is supposed to be all natural. And it's great, much better than the gum trag I had earlier. - Apply gum trag to edge with fingertip, sort of "work it in". Let it sit for a minute or so, then lightly rub it in even more. You might add a drop or two of water with your finger, and work it in even more. Add a second layer and to the same, let dry. - Rub the edge lightly with a bone creaser (I used one I made out of reindeer horn), rub untill you get the level of "polish" you want. Then you can rub it a little more with a cloth, doesn't need to be very rough (used an old T-shirt myself). - Treat the edge with a diluted "Mop'n Glo" compound. Don't have that brand here in Sweden, but I just what I had, and I was very pleased with the result. I simply dilute it a little to get a more sublime shine, not that mega glossy plastic feel, which might even rub off as some old snake skin. It seems to be absorbed better with a little water in it. I add a second layer right before the first one has really dried in. If you wish, you can of course coat the whole piece at this stage, but I didn't. Afterwards, you might wanna gently hand polish the piece, of course. I was really pleased with the result of this. And I will make some sort of small bifold and use for a while, and see how this edge "sits in" after a month or so of usage. As with most leather, I guess it might look even better after a while. So! I asked a question, got good answers, and returned a "status report" I hope might come in handy for some others too! My idea generally is: As few zippers, buttons, plastic finishes, chemicals and so forth as possible - just to produce "unbreakable" stuff that will last until you grow tired of them and buy new. So this one do follow that principle quite well...

Thank you all for fast and really serious answers! So I've thought a little, and: I'll try to "work in" the Barge Cement a little more, and make sure there ain't too much of it. I guess that's a good start hehe... Then due to your suggestions, I'll put some extra efforts into making sure the surface is as "level" as possible and not only looking so at a first glance. I doubt a little that the later part is the problem for me, as suggested by Red Cent. I think it's more that the rubber is "first to go" because it's softer, and that leaves a visible level difference. I have seen the same thing in working with wood and metals, if you have a harder and a softer material - and apply a little too much force when you work it. I'll also try to use less "stuff" as suggested by Red Cent, and at least try working with water and elbow grease instead, at least as a test. I might add, that I am quite positive that I suffer from this "OCD" thing which makes me quite over judgmental. At least by western standards, had I been Japanese it would have been seen as fully normal. I'm not like "If nobody can see it's not 100% you are okay to roll", but rather "Things never should roll unless 100% perfect - no matter what people see". <

Not bad at all, don't know if you came up with the concept yourself, but a smart way to make a bifold less "bulky" if you use a little thicker leather. *thumbs up*

There must be more threads about finishing edges, than the number of times I have stuck or cut myself working with leather (i.e. many). I haven't done much that have been "two piece glued together", where I have needed to make nice and shiny edges. But now when I try, I can't float my boat. So to speak. I have no real problem to make the leather itself "Hideponder'esque" in smoothness and so forth. BUT... If I don't glue the two pieces together, they are merciless at splitting. Just a little twist and bend, or whatever "deforming", and the two parts split up. If I do glue both parts together (using Barge's "All Purpose Cement", a red jar), I will get this thin glue line. Perhaps 0,5 mm's thick. And it doesn't really matter how much I burnish, it will still always be visible - even though I dye it. Simply because the rubber compound is softer than the leather, and will "wear down" and form a shallow sort of ditch between the two parts. You do notice small "turds" of rubber going off as you burnish. I can't say I think I add very much glue, really. I apply to both parts, let them dry, put them together and squeeze, then hammer them a little with a mallet - and then even press them in a vice for a period of time. I do all other parts, and "clear off" any residue of rubber on top of the edge. But we have this cursed sad visible line. So how do I come to terms with this? Simply less rubber cement? I feel it's difficult to actually add any less, unless I try experiment and thin it out before I use it. And less cement could perhaps not be enough? I don't know really. I made a few experiments on scrap bits today, but all of them have this "glue-line-ditch", despite looking great otherwise. And I need the edges to hold up, not just look pretty until you bend or do whatever with them. :-/

I have a real problem finding some quality round leather cord (all from these 0,5-1 mm's, up to the real "fleshy" ones on several mm's), both natural and colored. All I find is this glossy looking Asian made leather cords, which look more like plastic than leather. It has some thin finish layer which indeed is quite plastic, after a few days or use that finish is like worn off, and the cord becomes all fuzzy and dull looking. The strength of these are quite dubious too, and at places you can easily snap them off.' Years ago, you often found these more "fatty"/"waxy" looking cords, which was way more durable. They didn't look that sad-excuse-of-a-cord after a little use, and the strength was way more reliable. Another problem of cheap'o cords, is the dye of them. They shouldn't literally BLEED dye if they get wet, and then end up gray and stiff. So the "waxy" ones, if you get my point. I would like to know of flat cord too (for lacing), that doesn't have this horrible plastic looking finish. If anybody know of any. I am pretty sure I could start make some cord/lace, but at the moment I feel my precious time is better used for more productive work.

Been in the same situation. I got a more solid table, a 2 inch granite slab ("stolen" from scrap bits where they make tombstones) and a rubber mat beneath it. It makes almost no noise at all, at least not so that it's being heard very well outside the room where I work. I got another tip, which till make it almost dead silent. Get a massive tree trunk (yes), which is wide enough to work on top of. Get it properly plain and straight on top, and just put a slab (and maybe a rubber mat) beneath it. It's probably as silent as it will ever get. I tried that in my father's garage when there's was no proper table around.

Is there a chance to get a proper view of that? Feels kind of "chopped off" at places, and it seems really good!

I have a Pfaff System 133. It chews through anything, as much goods you can manage to fit into it at least. Problems occur when the thread starts to snap when things are all too thick, but I've never experienced that with normal use. Only real problem is that it sews too damn fast, like many industrial machines do. I need to change some parts to slow it down a little, it's a real problem to maintain any civilized speed with it. There are not many settings available, and therefore not much that can fail either. it's quite old, and you ca find them really cheap.

Never seen that kind of plastic, but it seems interesting. I don't know the definition of "mil" really, but I'll try to find out what it equals in millimeters. The kind of plastic that I got, is what covers these large posters outside supermarkets etc. It withstands bending and tearing without cracking up, but is quite easy to cut anyway. But I suppose I'll run out of it sooner or later, so it's good to know a new source of good plastic for patterns. I started making the whole pattern in Illustrator yesterday however, because the pieces I got from the wallet will be quite hard to trace on plastic if I want to make it good. So when I am done, I think I'll print them and stick them to the plastic sheets I got with this "temporary glue spray" I got, and cut the pieces out carefully.

That sounds like some sort of hardware stores? There ain't none of these around here, those particular stores I mean. But I'll look around at the ones we got here, there ought to be mosquito nets "on-the-roll" for purchase here as these parts of the land are infamous for all the mosquitoes. I am not all 100% sure those nets will do, but they do look much the same from what I remember. Strange that none of the leathercraft stores sells these nets, they are probably more usual than the acetate sort of windows these days. I like the nets a little better, because I am used to these clear windows getting miscoloured (yellowish, or some color rub-off from something) or scratched/fuzzy sooner or later.

I have a problem finding not the clear acetate or other kinds of "see-throgh" plastic, instead I am looking for the mesh sort of wallet ID window material, the "net" sort of material. it's usually quite stiff, a little like some sort of mosquito net for windows, but still not quite the same. Anyone seen anything like it, and know where to get it?

So. I "reverse engineered" a Timberland wallet, that I had actually never used - so it was a quite big step to do so with a quite expensive accessory like this one. I did so because it's a wallet without "coin purse", and I have a problem using those. The idea is however to make some small adjustments, and include a coin purse from another pattern I have. But that's another story. So, I have all these little nice pieces of the wallet I took apart, but I am not sure really how to deal with it the best way possible. I am thinking of laying them on top of a large piece of quite thin but sturdy plastic, draw them up and simply cut them out. I can't really think of any problem in doing so, and it seems to be the best way to do it IMHO. Have you done anything similar? or do you have any better suggestions? I first thought of making a "copy" of the whole thing in Illustrator, simply measuring every piece and drawing them as paths. But it might be a lot of work for something less usable? Given that I'd have to print and cut each piece every time I was about to make a new wallet, or at least as soon as the paper pieces were worn out.

One of the most stunning things I have ever seen made of leather, simply totally whack. :D Did you wet form if over some dragons head?

Åh tack så mycket. Du får alltid vara min läderslöjdstolk märker jag. Gum Arabic vet jag ju vad det är, det borde gå att fixa. Skall bara se hur det ligger i pris jämfört med att köpa motsvarande mängd från utlandet. Tack tack.

Really nice work. I might be a little late here to praise your work though. I am a little curious about how you shape these helmets? Do you wet form them on anything, in that case what, or how do you make these really? They look really well shaped in any case.

Ah I see. I have a problem to keep apart all these terms, as I am not "native English speaker", and learn both Swedish and English terms for techniques and materials etc. And sometimes I don't know the equivalent in the other language, most often what I should call it in Swedish. Great thanks for the tip on mossback/gummed leathers. I'll be sure to remember that next time I need to order more hides, it should spare a whole lot of extra work.

When searching for the word at eBay, I've actually found some several sellers speaking of it as baking supplies. If I only knew what it's called in Swedish, and I'd find a supplies for baking who has it hehehe... The thing here in Sweden is, it's kind of Soviet Union when it comes to finding "special things" for crafts or whatever. And if you find someone who sells it, it's like Tandy stuff, costing fours times as much as over there. In addition, I live a helluva bit up in northern Sweden, so the only option is really to order things from either southern Sweden, or buy it even cheaper from England or USA. Further on, I don't mind some "cracking" of the burnished surface, especially on stress points, I guess we can call it "character" or "patina".

Thanks folks. Sounds partly a little like my experiment with the iPod-case, only that I just used antique stain instead, and that the result didn't last very well because of that. Gum tragacanth seems to be a problem to get hold of here in Sweden, because nearly all mail goes by airmail these days, and it will get ruined as it might freeze during the flight. Some several sellers at eBay don't ship internationally because of that. I will however try these suggestions out the best I can. The sanding in between several layers sounds like a really good idea, and I never even thought of that myself.

I am making a simple leather satchel/messenger kind of bag. And I won't use any (fabric) liner on the inside, as I find it kind of "unmanly", and probably one of the first things what will be ruined on such a bag. I COULD of course use some thin leather and cement it to the backside of the leather, but preferably I would like to have the good ol' flesh side free as it is. The problem is, that I guess dirt of all kinds would stick to the flesh side of the leather, which wouldn't be all too good (there's a hygiene aspect to it of course, besides that it would look bad). The flesh side of the leather isn't like VERY smooth either, if you put some effort into it, you might grab a "flesh thread" with your nails and jerk it out. So I want to prevent that. So, if you have done anything similar, how did you treat the flesh side? I mean, there must be dozens of people here who have made cell phone cases and bags and what not, with a "free flesh side"? Once I made an iPod-case, and just rubbed some Fiebing's antique stain on the flesh side, and sort of burnished it with with a piece of smooth reindeer antler, and the result was pretty good. It lasted for about a year, before you could start to see "cracks" in the finish. Also, I am not very found of super glossy finishes, probably mostly out of fear for them staring to look wrinkled or cracking up after some time. I am a kind of "natural is best" guy, so I would pick something more organic before some mega acrylic finish, no matter if they work well. I am of the opinion that leather should be able to breathe and live its own life, not be capsuled in plastic. There's an old "hunting satchel bag" that belonged to my grandfather, which has a "free flesh side" at its inside, and it looks rather smooth and nice. He might have brought it back from America I believe, as he went there in his 20'ies. He is dead since like 32 years ago, so I can't really ask him what the inside looked like when he got it, and if the finish it got is due to "patina" of if it's original. So, how do you treat your flesh sides the very best way? A dark finish is all okay, maybe even preferable.

Buckleguy wasn't bad at all, but seems to be missing some few things I want, which is a pitty. I want a place stocking all the things I need (feels problematic to order from several different retailers all the time), but this place http://zoronmfg.thomasnet.com/ has both a lot of stuff, and quite good looking stuff. I think I'll stick to them, and hope that someone might have use of that site too.

Had not seen Ohio Travel Bag before, many thanks. Buckle Guy was among the more interesting ones I had seen myself earlier. I'll go through Ohio Travel Bag this evening and see what I may find. I am looking mostly for quite plain but at the same time traditional looking buckles etc. (but not full of ornaments etc.), somewhat like military hardware from the 1800's or so.

I've been trying to search this whole forum + using Google to find a good source of quality hardware for bags and similar. Preferably brass, but other metals are of interest. Point is, I want the highest quality possible to find - price is really not an issue. I have found a few pages that has some stuff I could buy (don't know about the "feel" of them, only seen pictures that is). But it annoys me that no one seems to have ALL of it. And I would love if the stock they carry were pretty "uniform" too, i.e. that all stuff is available in somewhat similar style (color tone, design etc.). I don't want the result of using them looking like a hobo picked apart 4 different bags and made his own. And then, others like Tandy carry some stuff, but I am not very impressed with the quality of their buckles and rivets etc. So please give me your best recommendations, where do you buy your premium stuff? I have been helped more than enough almost every time I have consulted you guys here, and I hope for a miracle once again. :D

Yeah no problem really, most people here are Americans so it's not easy to see I'm from not around. I've never used PMC, but I might sooner or later. I am in a phase of putting together a small business, so I have to think cautiously about where I put my money right now, and make the right priorities. Let me know about the website when it's up again, sounds interesting for sure. I've done some money clips, and you are right that you'll have to first heat it before bending it (preferably in a jig), and then strike it with a raw hide mallet or plastic mallet, you can also put it in a hmmm... tumbler(?) meant for polishing rocks, along with these small stainless steel balls etc. - and it will harden it up too. But then, after a year or so of use, the "strength" might very well die out, and you'll need to tamper it over again. Because of that, I wouldn't try using snaps etc. out of silver only. Opening and closing a wallet several times a day, would kill the "vigor" of the silver in quite a short time I guess. I am using a silver money clip I made right now, as a prototype, to see if I dare try selling them.