Leerwerker

Skipj, I wanted the cover not to be too bulky, as with a slip-on cover, so this one is glued on to the actual hard cover of the Bible itself. I glue the front cover, leave the spine unglued, and then glue the back of the cover. This helps the book open up and the piece of leather that covers the spine can fold back and allow the book to open. JOhan

My son had his birthday recently and I wanted to make him a simple cover for the Bible - any book has a hard time staying intact under a teenager's hand! The tooling went well, but of course the stitching and gluing of the cover to the Bible, was done into the late hours of the night so that it would be ready for him on wake-up...! I used my favourite cross design for the front with some fancy font for the writing and the spelling was very deliberate! I used a wood grain effect in the cross and repeated that on the back of the cover. JOhan

Hi Chuck, I asked the leather chemists once a question about Aluminum stearate in leather conditioners, and here is an extract from their answer to me (so it seems it is bets just to let the leather stay acid): Aluminum stearate is just soap, though most would probably consider it more a grease than a soap. It combines a wax and humectant roll, but just as most leather experts warn against the use of saddle soap, I think you will quickly see that this soap really has little to offer your mix. The biggest issue with soaps and leather is that soaps are made under highly alkaline conditions, and unless that basicity (alkaline pH) is neutralized it can carry terrible consequences to the acid leather. I hope this helps! JOhan

A really super thread is any of the new colors of braided waxed thread carried by Tandy! For hand sewing that is just the best! Hope this helps! JOhan

I use nylon rope for the core. To prevent it from slipping under the braiding, I pull it through a very special beeswax mixture: Take about two cups of beeswax and melt it with 2oz pure Lanolin (from Walgreen in the breastfeeding section) and one heaped teaspoon of powdered rosin (the stuff gymnasts use on their hands - from sport shops). This mixture is so sticky that you have to pour it in its melted state into a bowl of ice water - pull it together under water until it is solid. It is also very good to draw stitching thread through so that your stitching pulls snug and stays that way. I got this from an Internet Leathercrafter many years ago. Hope this helps! JOhan