lightningad

great work, Chavez. i keep meaning to make a burnisher to go on the dremel - your edges look great - so thats another project i have to fit in when time allows! What thickness leather did you use for the inner parts?

and their response is always 'develop your own style'. translation: - "we haven't a clue!" and unfortunately neither do I. I need to know this technique also!

Its nice and simple, and loads quickly which is very important these days! A couple of points that struck me - first you have added a Links button that does nothing - if you don't want to give links then better to remove it altogether. The other point that really bugged me was clicking the gallery buttons doesnt take me to a gallery but to another page with another button to get to the gallery - why have that extra step? I think that as people get more used to using the web, they become less tolerant of un-necessary pages. The less clicks you have to go through to reach the intended info, the better. You'll find that your website will become an evolving thing...the more you tinker, the more you will enhance and improve it. I have built one for my wife, and every year we try to improve how it works.. I hate doing it, but the improvements make it all worth while. I'm not sure how you are coding the site, but if like me you hate coding, there are some excellent software applications that allow you concentrate on the creative whilst the coding is taken care of in the background. I can't recommend any pc software, as i use Apples iWeb - not the most up to date software, but its served me well for years!

Very nice job...my next project is to be a journal, so this one really got my attention. adam

IS it possible to wet mold veg-tan leather if it has been dyed using Fiebings dye? I have a project that needs to be dyed, but also needs to be wet molded. I want to dye the leather before assembly, but the wet molding piece really needs to be molded once the leather pieces have been sewn together. adam

Thanks. you're correct - The uter is a single piece of veg tanned leather. I did the design on Adobe Illustrator, then printed it out and used that for the template. The idea was simply because i wanted to find some way to tie in the ancient art of leatherwork and bookmaking with the modern hightech e-reader. Steampunk seemed like the obvious marriage of old and new tech. I quite like the notion of a nuclear powered, cog driven notebook! Tooling was surprisingly easy. The "metal plates" were tooled with a bevel on just one side of each cut line, then on the non-bevelled side i added a rivet mark. This then gives the illusion of the bevelled plate going under and being fastened. All the stamping was achieved with just a few basic tools - a smooth sided beveller, a cross hatched beveller and a backgrounder. Rivet marks were made with a ball stylus. The larger rivets were made with first the handle of a stamp tool, then the smaller circle was a hole punch very lightly tapped so as not to pierce the leather. Just bite the bullet and give it a go! The total cost of the leather for this project is probably around £2-£3 with a similar amount spent on the dyes, so its not like you are going to go bankrupt if its not a total success. Don't worry that you'll make a mistake, as thats how you learn. I made several on this project, but putting them right forced me to adapt the design (for the better) and it taught me stuff thats gonna be invaluable in future.

yeah - give it good rub down first with Fiebing Dye Prep... suppose it could also be less than perfect leather!

no - not noticed any problems with leeching. My only problem seems to be in getting an even covering. I'm considering trying an airbrush on my next one, but as i'm really cack handed with things like that it'll probably still look patchy!

very kind of you, sir.

thanks for the kind comments...i do feel a smug "i made that!" glow whenever i see my wife reading her kindle. i'm now trying to think of ways to expand the look into some of my other project ideas!