Matreazza

I had just a single bag with a zipper, but this is what I could find and maybe it could help you: - Skip the zipper with the first two stitches. This will allow the zipper ends to naturally fold inside the purse after turning it with the right side out. If you want to close the ends after, just double the skipped stitches after everything is done. Not the easiest thing to do as one hand will be inside the pouch, but could make a difference. - For the second picture case, I would personally do a transition, to have the last few stitches as basball stitch or any other type of butted stitch. Bending a face to face stitch line in that way doesn't seem right. Applying the point above will also allow the zipper to naturally fold inside. - Another thing, since you have a metal zipper, I would remove any teeth that are unused and move the stoppers right before the zipper bends. In this way you prevent extra tension from the zipper's teeth pressing against eachother. You can see in the link attached that the examples' zippers also have teeth only on the straight segment and not on the bends.

I can speak from my general knowledge about wood. Thus while drying it can crack radialy (from bark to center) due to the gradient in humidity inside it. The side surface dries faster and contracts, while the core remains the same (just like in wet forming) and this will cause the cracking. The best prevention if you want to use it without good drying, would be to oil thoroughly the side surface, I would recommend linseed oil. Give 2-3 coats, one coat per day to allow the oil to penetrate the wood. If the oil won't absorb in the wood well, just wipe it with a cloth and try again in a few weeks. Rings won't help much if the wood is not dry, because by drying it will contract. Only if you want to do some heavy hammering on it they would be necessary, as this can lead to cracks also. But for this I would suggest to use adjustable rings and tighten them periodically. I don't have work experience with any of the trees mentioned by you, but the red alder is a sleek bark tree. If you can get a section where the bark is in good condition, just leave the bark on for at least one year and should prevent cracking of the core, acting as a binding. Maple though may not look as good with the bark on and for it and for others, if you'd like them without bark from beginning, I suggest going for a root section or one with a lot of side branches. The entanglement of the fibers in root and branching areas give the wood enough strength not to crack easily, either from drying or hammering. But this will come at the cost of extra work in shaping. The same things that make them desirable make them harder to work. From strength point of view, madrona would be the best. Being a lot denser and harder than the others should keep the flat surface in good condition longer than the others.

Hi, I don't know if you managed to solve the problem, but from what I've seen in some clipboards, for stiffening is used a sheet of high density cardboard. If it's cut tight to the seams should be quite stiff and not as heavy as chipboard.

Thanks for the welcome all and nice to see familiar language too, LeatherLegion. Wasn't expecting that.

I'm Stefan and living in Romania. I've been stalking the forum for a few months learning, as I've started working with leather recently. I'm not completely foreign to leather, as my grandfather was working too, mainly furs, and I used to help him with simple tasks as a child. After he got sick and couldn't work anymore I stopped also. After around 20 years, I got angry that I couldn't find a wallet fitting my taste, so I bought a piece of leather thinking "How difficult could it be?". And it was very difficult! But thanks to the many information found here and my stubbornness, I managed to create something. Not good looking, but since it still holds after 6 months of daily wear in the back pocket I'm proud of it. Thus I got hooked! Now, here I am introducing myself properly. Hopefully I will be able to return something to a very helpful comunity, either by showing my mistakes or, maybe after a while, maybe sharing knowledge.