Rahere

Possibly make a hard slip-on cover from hand-shaped thermoset plastic (goes by different names, Shapelock for example, becomes malleable around 60C in hot water)?

It's an oil principally from cow hooves.

Look up DieselpunkRo's patterne on Etsy. They're cheap, and probably include what you're looking for.

Don't over-run the corner, you can always hand-work the angle. To avoid over-running, over-stamp the last repeat (if if the punch makes 5 twists and you only want 4, back it up so the last twist of the previous punch is covered again. If you're using a clamped-down steel rule to align, then it'll be invisible

Your fabric's skating around. Might be worth using masking tape and pins around the edges, and/or sprayfix. Enhancing that last, you might even rough-cut the leather, mount the lining, and die-cut them both together.If there's areas you dont't want the fabric glued, mask with cooking parchment.

You don't want anything too gloss, as you don't want your leathers skating under you on a corner.

Get in quick - Napa's on the fireline.

First trick, from knife sheath makers. Leave about an inch sewing allowance on the cutting edge, and use some 3mm back hide in a fillet to protect the stitching from the edge. Second trick, use an oil-retentive leather to protect the blade. Third trick, use a 2" plumbing washer on each side of the rivet at the point. Don't forget a pocket for the whetstone. Mine's in North London.

I go for water stones - use around an 800 for the edge, 1500-2000 for the polish. It depends on how attentive you are to the edge, if you let them go blunt as hell, then yes, diamond roughing out may be a precursor. I sharpen more often.

Another approach: Tenbroeke Railway Engineering have a viable UV-C light killer, for large area purge. Clear the gym, switch the lights on.

Just on tip on contact cement - use Renia Colle de Cologne, the stuff used to put soles on. We've had a headache in rubber for some time, chlorinated material won't glue, because the chlorine fills the holes in the polymer tangles normal rubber cement keys into. That stuff manages it. It's expensive, but lasts.

Ivan now do quadrant punches. Also, Dremel do router attachments, both plunge and table.

Look at Japanese waterstones for sharpening - you can get ridiculously fine grits. They were developed to spare scarce carbon steel edges, and are half of the secret of samurai blades. Just dunk the stone in water, no oil, and look after the paste building on the surface. Once you've ground the pitch, these are a lot less likely to muss witg it than oilstones are. An 800 grade for roughing out, 1500-2000 for polish - no need for rouge.

Just don't use steel on steel - you'll mushroom the shaft of the punch. Water and patience. In reality, the bigger punches are usually suited for machines - I use a Big Green Machine for rivets, eyelets and snappers, and they're pretty good as impressions.

Classically, you'd use a pillar bed industrial machine - one where the gubbins aren't surrounded by a flat platform, so you've a LOT more space for material. Traditionally, these were filled with sawdust, which strained the sewing and made a mess. If hand-sewing, it's definitely awl work. Reminds me of one of the Victorian battleships, where the rivetters mate rivetted himself in.

A wood router, with the leather clamped between boards. Probably more precisely a dremel router attachment with the point bit. I quietly presume you already have one for edge-finishing. For anyone who doesn't, Proops Brothers on Etsy sell the polisher heads, and tons more.

It's becoming commonplace to use a laser cutter on leather, working off a CAD design. They're often accessible in Hackerspace club workshops.

It's actually just a mediaeval pouch, which mated with ideas from military cartouche bags to become white in the days of Victorian Rob-Royism. Hairy grey goat, or black leather, or whatever.

I've fretted over this for some time, because leather is not without its issues. As skin, it contains high water-content flesh, yet repels rain. It is renewed from within, by the blood supply. When we cure it, we remove the bio-degradable material, replacing it with bacterial and fungus-resistant products such as tannins. These are mostly vegetal, producing a workable leather, at the expense of porosity, opening the door to biological attack, or chrome-based, producing thinner, therefore flexible, strong leathers. Other methods exist, including the use of organic plastics, and hybrids such as latigo. Historically, in addition to wood, hardening methods existed, summarised here: https://medium.com/@jasontimmermans/a-comparative-study-of-leather-hardening-techniques-16-methods-tested-and-novel-approaches-8574e571f619. Also, wood, metal and stone could be used. However, some cop-outs also happened. From my growing interest in shoemaking, I've become increasingly interested in the use of skived materials, where essential centre strength in thickness is camouflaged by thinner edges, and this may be what you're looking at here. Historically, two classes of writing material attracted covers once the production became comfortable enough to become standardised page rectangles, namely papyrus and vellum. Paper was a side-effect of mechanised weaving, as waste and worn-out textiles were initially used, until a method using wood-pulp was invented in 1847. The first recorded use of the term cardboard is 1848. When we look at the oldest books, we find thin wooden boards as stiffeners, often coated in leather, which interfaced better with a linen spine the signatures were sewn to. Later, as cardboard became more normal, this replaced the board, and cloth the leather. To me, the use of other materials accelerates wear on the softer, and should therefore be avoided. But please note, these are only a grab-bag of ideas, not determined suggestions, as there's a number of traditions to work in, and I'm not out to force your hand, but open the door to wider thinking. At the same time, I suggested a purist approach: Therefore, we might revert, being leather workers, to turning the sides after skiving them, or to edge-finishing them. We might consider a softer lining, too.

Given veg tanned hide is so malleable, I've got a vacuum former, so I'm very tempted to cut a pair of cup cores in pine, rout the edges and use them.