Takedown fly rod/reel case

[GrampaJoel]

I made this takedown fly rod/reel case for a friend.

I made my own pattern, and the case is completely hand stitched.   
It’s been awhile since I made something completely hand stitched.
I forgot how much work big items are to get perfect.

5-6oz Wicket/Craig harness leather.
Tobacco colored leather.

I used orange pumpkin colored Ritza waxed poly thread.

It was a lot of stitching by hand. Some ok, some not so ok.

I’ll certainly make some changes to my pattern next time.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by GrampaJoel

[HandyDave]

Really nice lookin work. Is that waterproof ripstop fabric for the liner? 

[GrampaJoel]

37 minutes ago, HandyDave said:

Really nice lookin work. Is that waterproof ripstop fabric for the liner? 

Yes ,,

it’s 70D, waterproof ripstop nylon,  with a thin saddle seat foam padding between the ripstop and the leather.

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by GrampaJoel

[HandyDave]

I recognized the fabric cause i tryed some by customer request on a soft sided shotgun case couple years back and have been using it since in all sorts of bags and gun cases. It comes in tons of colors and is great stuff. Alot tougher then other fabrics usually used for lining as well. And again the fly rod&reel case looks great.

[TonyV]

Very nice!  

That's more valuable than my bestest fly rod!

 

[DwightT]

Beautiful work. I like how you did the base with the recessed bottom. Can you describe how you do that? Do you cut a dart in the rim?

    /dwight

[Bert03241]

Very nice work

[GrampaJoel]

1 hour ago, DwightT said:

Beautiful work. I like how you did the base with the recessed bottom. Can you describe how you do that? Do you cut a dart in the rim?

    /dwight

Hi Dwight.

I’m not sure which part you are referring to.
If you can describe it more ,perhaps I will understand.

And I would be happy to share my methods.

Joel

46 minutes ago, Bert03241 said:

Very nice work

Thank you. 

[GrampaJoel]

2 hours ago, TonyV said:

Very nice!  

That's more valuable than my bestest fly rod!

 

Well the parts ie. The leather, thread, ripstop fabric, findings, and such alone  came to more than any take down fly rod and reel I’ve ever seen.                   Let alone the creation time.
But it was made for a very special long time family friend as a thank you for custom rods he has made for me.

[Loren W]

This is awesome, are you willing to share your pattern?

 

[chuck123wapati]

WOW that is an awesome case!!! 

[TomE]

Handsome piece of work, and so nicely constructed.  The colors, the shape, the details of the handle and zipper closure.  It's all first rate.  

[DwightT]

10 hours ago, GrampaJoel said:

Hi Dwight.

I’m not sure which part you are referring to.
If you can describe it more ,perhaps I will understand.

And I would be happy to share my methods.

Joel

Thank you. 

Hi Joel -

I'm looking at the recessed base disk in this photo:

16 hours ago, GrampaJoel said:

 

In the dice cups and bottle totes that I've been doing I've been using a flush box joint:

It works, but I think that having a recessed bottom like yours would be better, plus I would be able to do a better job of finishing the edges.

Thanks

    /dwight

[GrampaJoel]

4 hours ago, DwightT said:

Hi Joel -

I'm looking at the recessed base disk in this photo:

In the dice cups and bottle totes that I've been doing I've been using a flush box joint:

It works, but I think that having a recessed bottom like yours would be better, plus I would be able to do a better job of finishing the edges.

Thanks

    /dwight

Dwight I first measured the diameter of the internal tube. Then the outside of the leather covering the tube. I decided how much recess I wanted and cut a circle to accommodate the measurements.  I used a circle cutter to cut the end cap round. I used the internal tube as a wet mold for the end cap. And trimmed when the sewing was finished. I skiver the internal cap a little to make it more flexible.

Joel

Edited November 22, 2022 by GrampaJoel

[GrampaJoel]

13 hours ago, Loren W said:

This is awesome, are you willing to share your pattern?

 

Sure.
It’s basically just a big taco that fits a tube at one end and is flat at the other. The pattern resembles a ‘T’ shape.

Everything else was trial and error fitting.

[GrampaJoel]

6 hours ago, TomE said:

Handsome piece of work, and so nicely constructed.  The colors, the shape, the details of the handle and zipper closure.  It's all first rate.  

Thank you very much. To be honest it has flaws. 
The leather was so waxy it was hard to get contact cement to reliably hold.  Even after scraping.
The leather stretched in places not expected, and threw my stitching lines off. This might have been less noticeable had I chosen a dark thread instead of the contrasting orange.

the thread was so waxy that it picked up handling dirt.

I managed to pull off the project, ok, but it isn’t a true showpiece.

the next one will certainly be made from different leather.

6 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

WOW that is an awesome case!!! 

Thank you for the compliment Chuck.

Joel

Edited November 22, 2022 by GrampaJoel

[TomE]

46 minutes ago, GrampaJoel said:

the next one will certainly be made from different leather.

I’ve had good luck with HO bridle leather. Nice finish, not too waxy, and uniformly good substance. 

[Goldshot Ron]

Joel,

I was wondering just the other day if you had finished that case.  It looks really good.  It shows that you took a lot of time in your design and pattern work.  Great job.

Ron

[spacedog]

Wow! That is very nicely done. Just excellent work.

[Gezzer]

Very NICE !!!

[GrampaJoel]

7 hours ago, Goldshot Ron said:

Joel,

I was wondering just the other day if you had finished that case.  It looks really good.  It shows that you took a lot of time in your design and pattern work.  Great job.

Ron

Hey Ron,,How’s it going? Built any saddles lately?

yeah little league fall baseball got in the way for awhile. Little grandson sitting and picking up from school,,,fun stuff like that.

Sometimes it’s great to be an old Grampa.

plus there were some unexpected events.

but the case finally  got done, and is now in North Carolina.

the next case will certainly be built differently.

 

4 hours ago, Gezzer said:

Very NICE !!!

Thank you!

6 hours ago, spacedog said:

Wow! That is very nicely done. Just excellent work.

Thank you!

[DwightT]

On 11/22/2022 at 11:06 AM, GrampaJoel said:

Dwight I first measured the diameter of the internal tube. Then the outside of the leather covering the tube. I decided how much recess I wanted and cut a circle to accommodate the measurements.  I used a circle cutter to cut the end cap round. I used the internal tube as a wet mold for the end cap. And trimmed when the sewing was finished. I skiver the internal cap a little to make it more flexible.

Thanks.  Seems so simple that now I feel like an idiot for asking (but the only foolish question is the one that isn't asked).  I was thinking that you would have to have cut a dart in the inner rim to get it to fit properly.  I didn't even think about wet molding.  Haven't done any yet, so it just didn't come to mind.  I'll be trying that in the next day or two on the next cup that I do.

Thanks again.

    /dwight

[GrampaJoel]

12 hours ago, DwightT said:

Thanks.  Seems so simple that now I feel like an idiot for asking (but the only foolish question is the one that isn't asked).  I was thinking that you would have to have cut a dart in the inner rim to get it to fit properly.  I didn't even think about wet molding.  Haven't done any yet, so it just didn't come to mind.  I'll be trying that in the next day or two on the next cup that I do.

Thanks again.

    /dwight

Dwight

skiving the edges of the formed piece helps the forming.

the outside was just glued and sewn. Around the formed piece.

it was easier and less time consuming than it is to write about or to try and explain.

But, if you have any more questions I’m happy to share my process and explain it the best I can.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EACH OF YOU!

Joel

[DwightT]

I finished a dice cup today using your technique (mostly) for the base.  I'll need some more practice,  but I have to say that I like the process and the results much more than the flush base that I was doing.  I started by cutting a circle that had a radius that was about 3/8" longer than the circle that I would have used for a flush fit.  After skiving and wetting,  I did some initial shaping over the Campbell soup can that I was using as a mandrel. I then inserted it into the tube, smoothed the fit and stitched it in. Next I cut off the excess (about 1/8"), and finished the edge as normal.  As I said,  I think it looks a lot better than what I was getting before.

    /dwight

[toxo]

On 11/21/2022 at 9:34 PM, GrampaJoel said:

I made this takedown fly rod/reel case for a friend.

I made my own pattern, and the case is completely hand stitched.   
It’s been awhile since I made something completely hand stitched.
I forgot how much work big items are to get perfect.

5-6oz Wicket/Craig harness leather.
Tobacco colored leather.

I used orange pumpkin colored Ritza waxed poly thread.

It was a lot of stitching by hand. Some ok, some not so ok.

I’ll certainly make some changes to my pattern next time.

Excellent practical project and very well executed, well done.