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clivel

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About clivel

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  1. A free pattern for a discbound leather notebook cover can be found here free disk bound leather portfolio pdf pattern scroll down to the bottom of the page to download the pattern. This makes use of the cheapest Staples cover, which consists of two sheets of plastic, these are folded back on each other and are then slid into a pocket, this gives two advantages. Firstly, one does not have to cut the multiple holes required for the disks, and secondly one does not have those huge, butt ugly discs sticking out the back of the notebook spine. Clive
  2. If you are in Canada it is probably more cost effective to try and buy locally. You don't mention where you are, but in the Vancouver area I regularly use Lonsdale Leather or the Tandy in Surrey where the staff are really helpful. Both do mail order, probably far cheaper than shipping from the US, but if you are elsewhere in Canada it would be a good idea to scout out local shops. Firstly I prefer to support local with my dollar rather than the likes of Amazon and secondly the staff and even other customers are a fantastic resource. Clive
  3. Going back 40 odd years to my student days, when I spent a few months working in a tannery, my recollection is that nubuck was the result of a mechanical process that buffs the grain side of the leather. I don't recall that any special tanning process was used, but I think they mostly used chrome tanned. The buffing machine consisted of a metal wheel about the size of a car tyre with a smooth surface. One of my jobs was to refresh the surface of the wheel. It was coated with an appropriate glue, and then slowly rotated by hand while emery powder was sprinkled on it forming an even coating. For nubuck, a fine grade of emery would have been used. Once dry, the wheel was rotated at high speed vertically at 90 degrees to the operator. There was a wooden platten in front of the wheel controlled by a pedal which pressed the leather draped over the platten against the wheel. If your trunk is 150 years old, then it most certainly cannot be nubuck, which to the best of my knowledge originated in the 20th century. More likely it is 'split', the bottom layer of leather after the tanned hide is split. This is rougher than either nubuck or suede. Suede is simply buffed split. Clive
  4. Another South African here, originally from Pretoria I moved to Cape Town after finishing varsity and then a few years later moved to Vancouver Canada where I still reside. When I was a student I had a weekend/holiday job at a tannery called Mountain View Tannery on the outskirts of Pretoria. Unfortunately at the time my mind was focused on girls not leather. My job mainly involved machinery maintenance, but looking back I wish I had taken more interest in the leather and its production as well. As for biltong, I make my own I made a biltong box a few years ago out of a plastic tote, some dowels a 25w incandescent light bulb to warm and dry the air. And a small fan - it is the air movement that dries the meat. First picture is with the lid off, the second with it filled with the marinated meat. Paper towel on the bottom catches the dripping marinade. The only problem with it is that my family eats it faster than I can make it ! And all my Canadian friends who have tried it agree, that jerky is but a poor imitation. Clive
  5. Thanks Sheilajeanne, The link to the bonus pattern was really helpful, although it only shows the flap this is a good starting point for creating a pattern. I had considered buying the kit, but as I want to stitch the bag rather than lace it, the kit would only serve as an expensive pattern, especially as this is likely a one off. Clive
  6. I realise that this is a very old thread, but I am planning on making a little bag for my granddaughter, something along the lines of the Tandy Dasher. So I was hoping that someone might have a pattern available for something similar. Unfortunately this link posted by Phatdaddy is no longer active. Thanks, Clive
  7. jdm0515, After seeing my portfolio an acquaintance has talked me into making him the identical portfolio but only in a different colour. I will keep the points you suggest in mind. Thanks for the advice, Clive
  8. My newly completed letter sized portfolio. For the most part I am very happy with how it turned out, but the one problem I have been having is finishing off the edges. I used "LePage low odour contact cement" to assemble the portfolio prior to stitching, but I am having problems finishing the edges where the glue has bled. The procedure I followed is sand the edges, dampen and burnish with a wooden burnisher, sand again, damp and burnish again. I then dye the edges, and once the dye has dried, I follow with Tokonole burnished with a piece of canvas. The edges turn out exactly how I would like them except for the parts where glue has been exposed leaving rubbery rough patches. I am sure I am not the only one who has experienced this problem, what do other do to prevent if from happening? Any advice would be appreciated, Thanks, Clive
  9. If you search for leather on eBay India in the tools category you will find lots of Indian suppliers.
  10. Hi Keith, If you have access to Al Stohlman's "The Art of Making Leather Cases" Volume 2, he gives instruction for making a manicure case on page 106. HIs books, despite the dated look of many of the projects, are a mine of useful project ideas and sound construction techniques. Clive
  11. First step would be to remove the background, there are a number of tutorials on the web, for example this one: How to remove the background from an image using the Gimp There are often multiple different ways to accomplish the same thing, so it may be worth your while to search Youtube for other tutorials. Once you have gone through the exercise of removing the background, you should be familiar with layers, so after having removed the background, the next step is to add a transparent layer for the new background. Once you have added the layer, then move it below the layer containing the object, it can then either be filled with a solid colour, or with another image. Once that is done, in order to create the reflection, it is necessary to duplicate the layer containing the object. Flip the duplicated layer vertically for the reflection. Select a rectangle around the flipped object and drag it into position below the object. While it is selected, use the "Blend Tool" to apply a graduated transparency mask. Clive
  12. Being in Canada I have more or less given up on Amazon.ca, even with the exchange rates and shipping it is almost always significantly cheaper to order from Amazon.com. And if you spend more than US$25 on books, shipping is free. In this case however with your Elite membership, Tandy would be your best bet. Clive
  13. Thanks for the great advice Mattsbagger and bland. I think that I'll stick with belly until I have more experience. Clive
  14. I completed my first project a few weeks ago, a small wallet I could slip into my front pocket. I am fairly pleased with how it turned out, although the stitching did go a little funny in a few places. As this was mainly to be a learning experience I used the cheapest leather I could find at a local store - veg tan bellies. For the outside I used 1.6mm and 1.2mm for the inner card holder sleeves. I dyed the leather with fiebing's light brown diluted 5 to 1 with rubbing alcohol, rubbed in using a piece of an old t-shirt. It took a couple of coats to get the depth of colour I wanted. I then followed up by polishing with a few coats of a wax/oil mixture. To me the finish looks quite good, even though the leather was described as low quality by the store clerk, and other than the rather furry flesh side, I am not too sure why he it is low quality. Which brings me to a question, I am ready for my next project, a more complicated wallet for a family member, bearing in mind that I am not going to tool it, what reason would there be for me not to continue with the belly and if not, what leather should I try instead. Thanks, Clive
  15. Thanks everyone for the great advice - plenty of options to experiment with over the weekend. I am using the diamond style chisels. Clive
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