Leather covered Screw Post album/portfolio

[LOM]

Hello,

I was asked to make a leather-covered album/portfolio - the kind that have the screw posts at the bindings. Does anyone have suggestions on where to get the guts/internal hardware for this and/or a tutorial? I'm thinking if I can get some sewable card board, like a texon, I can perhaps sew the leather right to the portfolio guts? I am hoping it will be firm. Any suggestions welcome! Thank you! (see attached for example)

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by LOM

[fredk]

The posts are long stem Chicago Screws. You can get them at a supplier of Wedding photo album suppliers. Does Calumet still exist in Chicago?

edit; try Calumet at 1111 N Cherry Ave, Chicago, IL 60642, . . . . or maybe not, is it closed now?

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by fredk

[Heartless]

that particular example is just a single layer of heavy weight leather - just guessing, but i would say 10-12 oz, possibly thicker, possibly with a groove cut to make opening easier, there is nothing "inside" the cover. the hardware is just Chicago screws.... for the pages, you can find photo album refills at most craft stores.

If you did want to use thinner leather and a stiffener, you could use something like mat board or similar, but I would not sew it - i would do more like a book cover - glued down.. and that means skiving edges, and such. would need a total of 4 pieces of the stiffener... 2 large for the main covers and 2 thin strips for the binding edge.. with a small gap between them (1/4 in or so) to make opening the album easier.

there are plenty of videos on book binding that could help you with that kind of cover, if you wanted to go that route

[LOM]

@Heartless thank you for the suggestion. I'm leaning toward the stiffener route, so the tips are good. thank you! Any reason you would not try sewing in addition to the gluing? Lol, I'm always worried that gluing alone won't do the trick!

@fredk thank you! Yeah, I was able to find the long Chicago screws  - unfortunately Calumet on Cherry has closed. :*(

[fredk]

Suggestion; two thin layers of leather, 2oz to 3oz, or maybe 4oz, about 1.5mm max,  sandwiched in between put a piece of compressed cardboard, like the cardboard on the 'do not fold' board backed envelopes. Make the cardboard about 1/2 inch on each side smaller than the leather. Glue the leather to the board and to each other. Make sure that 1/2 inch border all round is really well and truly stuck together. Then sew around the perimeter. Add metal corners to the outside corners. Punch holes through the cover pieces, add the Chicago Screws

Sewn and metal corners like on this book cover;

 

Edited June 5, 2023 by fredk

[Heartless]

@LOM- sewing through the cardboard is not really a good idea - it would weaken the board edges and would also allow moisture to get to the board.. not a good thing.. sewing around it as fredk suggests is a better idea if you really want to sew it, and i would have to agree with the leather weight suggested, no more than about 4-5 oz

not sure why you would be so concerned about glue not holding, book binders do it that way all the time - holds fine as long as the leather used is thin (think goat/kid skin).. thick leather would be more problematic

there are a multitude of ways to approach this, with a spine cover, without a spine cover, hidden screws, visible screws... kind of depends on the look you are going for.

if you want something like the image you shared, that is simply heavy weight leather (think saddle skirting) with the chicago screws thru it.. no stiffeners, no fancy stuff - about as simple as it gets. start adding stiffeners, you start complicating things, and the weight of the leather used makes a big difference in the final outcome.