RockyAussie

In the long ago past, I did a lot of my patterning by hand down onto card stock normally something along the lines of a manila folder that gave the advantage of having a fold line down the middle when open up. This worked out that often a piece only needed to be drawn and cut on one side then folded to get the other side the same. Next thing that came along was drawing programs like AutoCAD which I still use today a lot. Along with this an A3 printer gave a huge improvement in the time it took to produce a workable pattern. Being able to go back to a drawing and make subtle changes and corrections without redrawing the whole pattern again was a fantastic improvement. A few tricks with the card stock like applying a coat of spray glue and letting it tack off before using it to cut out the component pieces works good but only until the card stock gets too many knife nicks/slips into the edges. Then the pattern has to be reprinted and cut out again. In the making of this key case you can see this method being used if you like Normally in running a production type leather goods business you have to take a best guess as to when be the time to take these patterns to the knife making stage. This can and often is a fairly large investment and initial sales and interest can prompt a premature investment that can sometimes take years to recoup. In the last few years a few new fangled things have come in handy to help me overcome some of this problem and have in themselves been a very useful production tools to have as well. Both the following have the advantage of being able to work from the same pattern drawings done in the AutoCad program. My big/little laser – It has a large poster board size cutting area and is a small 2.5 watt laser diode. It started off as an A3 Elksmaker bought from Bangood for around $300. It worked well enough and I spent another $600 making it larger and safer with fume extraction, better cooling for longer runs etc. Some more on this can be seen here – Just recently the making up of a jewellery box prototype and a small production run on it has made me rethink on ways that I can now improve on previous methods used in both the pattern cutting and small run testing. The full cost of the knives to be made for this job in the past would have been around $1000. With the strawboard/stiffener pieces I have been able to nest the pieces together and do multiple cuts with a labour time frame that ends up similar to clicking out on the clicking press thus saving around $400 in knives. The actual cutting is slower than the clicker press but while the laser is cutting I am able to keep working on other things. No wasted time and no need to have hard copy patterns to store and use. Cardboard and knives both chew up a lot of storage room. For illustration purposes I will now show how in this jewellery box some of these new techniques are employed. This first pic is just to show the jewellery box This picture shows how the little laser can cut out enough strawboard stiffener pieces to do 5 of the jewellery boxes in one cutting. This is 7 different patterns that would normally be made up into knives in the past. This next pic shows another stiffer board that gets used in the top lid section and here I am cutting enough for 10 boxes in the one cutting. Another knife saved. This pic shows my latest idea of using a 3D pla+ printed pattern/template for the cutting out of components. The pla+ is a little like teflon and gives a hard wearing surface that I have found to be VERY good for this application. Here is one part way through the printing process. This one shows a bit of an array of the patterns about to go into use. At the back is the 3D printed jewellery box parts along with a finish box. The ones with handles on top are for the cutting of pieces. here I am cutting out some of the leather tops/bottoms for the boxes. With a little bit of practice I was able to get the cutting time down to around 30 seconds per piece which is not all that much longer than I allow for clicking them out on the clicker press. Works for cutting the velvet fabric quite well as well and fabric There is one more little thing that I found very useful with this type of template/ pattern system but I will have to post more on that tomorrow as dinner is now ready.

I will look forward to seeing them when you get them done. The bias folder just made me think how easy it would be to print up an adjustable guide for strap folding. Might just have a play with that .....if I ever get the time.

Sounds like you are working it out pretty well. I am still running an old Prusa i3 but with a few good mods to keep out the vibration. I think I prefer the glass plate bed or I should say mirror now as that is what was handy here when I needed to do a quick replacement. So far that's been holding up better than the original. Also sounds like you using a later version of Curra than me. I tried out the latest and still get better results from my old 15.04.2 version. Re the turning the job on the plate it is amazing to see that it often cuts back the time as well as improve the quality. Interesting stuff. I will do a post on some 3D pattern cutting stuff later today which you might like to see. Cheers Brian

Neither of mine ( Albeko and Komoga) have ever tripped off but on a very wide and hard split i have had the splitting stop due to the belts slipping. That is a super rare occurrence but may just help you some here perhaps.

Are you using a heated bed and if so at what temperature? I use pla+ on near everything these days and only ever clean up between prints with IPA isopropyl alcohol. A bit of a squirt from the bottle and a quick wipe over with some toilet paper and she's right to go again. Run your first coat about 1/3 slower than your main speed and very close to the plate. Bed temp on mine is normally set at 65 degrees C. Another little suggestion as I found it helpful is after your stl file is put into Cura, rotate the print on the base 45degrees and you will find that it (generally) travels smoother and gives a better print.

I was speechless to start but I had to say...... you have an incredible gift to share with the world. That is not to say that a LOT of dedicated attention and study is not also more than apparent.

Yes I do. I have one little Kingsley machine that is just about set up permanently for doing them. As they get monogrammed after they are made, I had to print/make a special locating block that allows me to get the pressure down correctly. Here's a couple pics show what I mean -

Thanks my friend. I will have a look and get back to you.

Thanks jimi. Could I trouble you for any links to them? Thanks blue duck, I will let you know how it goes.

Thanks @noobleather I sorta like that colour myself. Wouldn't wear it though if ya know what I mean The customer"s ordered colour is a pale grey leather with the pale pink lining. The grey matches up with the ring boxes I make for her.- https://www.amonie.com.au/products/light-grey-leather

Thanks for that @blue duck. From their website they may be the answer. Have you used their snaps? I would like to see and try a couple of them before ordering in a big heap.

From memory I think it is referred to normally as stitchless construction. I had a play with it awhile back and called it the holy poke method At any rate here's a couple of pictures that might just help a bit. I do not recommend doing the bottom as I did as it makes it very difficult to weave together without stitching inside along the bottom to hold it together. have fun and remember to post some pics when you got it beat.

Thanks @jimi the ones I am chasing have capped ends top and bottom. The ones you mention are not capped on the both ends. Another question....do you have a supplier there for Kenda Farben product? If so do they have the Orly SL edge paints?

I am trying to find a good supplier for the capped style of sigma snaps. The Tandy ones I have tried to use in Australia several times over the last few years don't come together well nor hold together well when done up. I have searched online and can find only other suppliers that appear to have the same looking snap going by their pictures. The problem is that the piece that goes down into the cap has different length slots and this makes the thing twist when pressed down into the cap. If you look around it you can see the holes do not all line up. Does anybody use this style of cap that works as it should and could let me know where to get them from.

Thanks dikman, My customer thankfully was also amazed ...enough to pay and order a stack more anyways. Thanks for the compliment but I believe you are more than worthy myself. Thought about that but I thought...tooo common and the stud will stand the test of time as well I think. Thanks @Scoutmom103 I can only say ....That's what they pay me to do. Thanks mate, I just checked your insta and have to say you got some pretty good looking stuff yourself now days.

Thanks HaloJones ...always trying. If the leather for the job ever gets here I will. So far its gone from NSW past me to Mackay and back down to Brisbane and at present....???? No I do all of the printing here on my old Prusa i3. I have not yet heard of anybody around Rockhampton doing any 3d production yet. I think I may have a go at building something along the line of a larger Ultimaker style printer one of these days if I can find the time. Makes more sense that the bed does not have to shuffle around doing the x and y with all of the weight and inertia etc. Thanks jimi. Will do asap. Mostly it helps to have a patient wife. I forgot to make a mention in the last picture I posted of my big/little laser above pointing out that that it has cut all the strawboard for 5 of these boxes. The little yellow button things are things I printed to hold 9x2mm circular magnets. They make it a lot easier to grab off of the job and collect and distribute around over the metal bed. It would be a large advantage to also have a vacuum bed set up to hold the work but that's just another project waiting to happen. This picture below shows one of the spots where the strawboard gets used to keep things level with the leather and another for covering with leather as in the top and bottom.

This is the latest design I have come up with for the same customer I do the wedding ring boxes for. These are just a few pictures of some steps involved in making this one. I have now got an order for a run which I will take some more detailed pictures as I go along. There is a bit of 3d printing for the shell parts and tray dividers and a bit of laser work for cutting out the strawboard filler pieces and cutting knives still to be made. Note the pouch stud for closure and tab Might make an interesting bag design yet. This pic below shows the base shell just printed with the hole for pouch stud later addition. Here all of the pla parts are shown after printing. Sorry I covered the 2 little dividers before remembering to take the picture. The shell closest on the bottom right is for the tray and note that there is holding slots incorporated for the dividers. Here the tray has been leather covered and velvet base and sides installed. I am here only sliding the dividers in dry. Note there is a small gap in the velvet wall join I need to get better. Showing velvet and foam joined and sliced to make good curves The foam and dividers will be removed and glued in later after final measurements are taken. If you would be interested to see a more complete breakdown on how its made here let me know.

Ohhhh I like this one. I wish I was not 1/2 a world away. Monogramming a tote bag after being made up would be easy with this one. The extra height adjustment also makes it highly versatile.

Thanks for that. I assume that you wanting this drawings to go into a cad drawing program on your computer for printing out further hard copies? I seem to remember you used auto cad in the past. What I have done sometimes is take some pics and then measurements and drop the pic into auto cad and squish the scale up down etc untill it matches my measurements and then draw the lines over the top. I do that only if I am wanting to go on a pattern up a project. Another way that may be of interest goes back to when I made shoes and the orthotics for them. For a relatively low price you can buy these casting foams which are for doing the feet impressions like these in the pic below- They come as you see with a foam either side to do both feet. I think if a gun were pushed down halfway into one side and again for the other side of the gun on the other foam, you would be able to cast either a plaster of paris or resin to get yourself 2 halves of the gun. This half would then be very easy to get you a 2d outline and have the advantage of having a blue gun of sorts when you tape or attach them parts together. A scan of this outline can then also be put into your drawing program and should true to size if done correctly. What do you think?

I hate to admit I am not understanding what above the guard means? Are the pictures above good and the type of thing that you want to be able to do for other guns? Would it matter if there was more detail as when taken from a photo? Is this only for the purpose of arranging the bottom leather piece patterns or ...... I am only wanting to understand if these pictures are what it is that you want to achieve or not and if so, do they need to be done on what size paper if that matters etc. Brian

so so true.

I have to ask why then you do not just take it to an upholstery place and pay them a few bucks to stitch it up for you. Way way cheaper and probably a better outcome. Plywood is not that hard to stitch through as some might think but a decent sized machine would be best.

@YinTx The best thing I can think to say is that you should not try and sew the pieces together untill you can have front and back pieces meeting together without much difference in length, meaning the top should not be hardly any wider than the bottom at this area. It (the top) needs to be wet moulded and dried to shape if going for the flat back look or the pattern would need to go more 50/50 at that area and wet mould the lot, putting in the knife after the stitching. On one off type pieces a trick I worked out years ago is to cut myself a strip of hard veg about 3/4" wide and quite thick depending on the job. From there after the leather is wetted and ready to mould (and initially over size by 3/8 to 1/2") staple down the base to hold position well and then I staple the thick welt down over and around the top piece keeping the staples about 1/4" out. This allows after the piece is dry for me to trim away the excess and loose the staple holes at the same time. This saves making up a full blown wooden or plastic mould and pressing technique. I do have a large board that is put together with the end grain up and it works beautifully for this type of work described. This knife sheath along with most of the ones I have made use this technique. I believe you could do this on the bottom surround edge if you were looking to maximise the flat back look. Best of luck. Brain

Yep its just you .....it looks good as is and nice any minimal in just a good way.