Slim Tote

[MonicaJacobson]

Thank you! I used another thin strip of the same leather. Honestly, I think it was too wide, and I think i made the straps themselves too wide as well. I'm not really sure what people usually use. Maybe two strips of leather glued together and then rounded over? I'm not sure. I also made the inside strips a little short, and didn't extend the stitching as far towards the bag as I suspect I should have.

[MonicaJacobson]

Well, I took out a bunch of seams (I cheated and didn't completely unsew it), skived it down and slightly rounded the edges (per above advice), and it looks about as good as this particular one is going to look, probably, unless I buy the heat burnisher Olivier told me to buy. Thanks for all the help!

Ha, now I'm thinking it's too feminine looking. Might try again with the whole masculine thing.

[rosiart]

I think it looks great!

[billybopp]

It looks like skiving did the trick on the corners. The edges don't look bad either. If you wanted to finish them a little more thoroughly, you could experiment with edge coats. Fiebings makes a clear edge coat to which you can add dyes to get just the color that you want. Others have added dye to Tan Kote, I believe with good results. Those may be worth a try, although I have not tried them. I'd certainly experiment on a scrap piece first, tho.

Bill

[MonicaJacobson]

Thank you, Rosie, and Bill.

Bill, I would like to get my chrome tanned edges better, and I am planning to start dying them a slightly darker color so they don't draw so much attention to themselves. Of course, you have to do that before you do Gum Trag, and I keep forgetting until I'm in the middle. Someone else on the forum mentioned Allen Edmonds heel and sole edge dressing for chrome tanned edges, and I think I'm going to give it a try.

I've been leary of edge coats like Tan Kote because I understood that it could peel off. If that's not the case, I might try that, too.

[thefanninator]

Monica,

I just bought some Tandy Professional Edge Paint. It's actually made by Fenice in Italy. If you've seen any of hunio's work on here it's the same kind he uses.

I'm using it on a tote made from chrome tanned Horween. I'll post up my results later.

[thefanninator]

I have to say I'm very pleased with my results so far with the Fenice edge paint. Much better than Angelus in my opinion.

I'm applying it with a dauber with the dauber cut off, so just the wire. I'm applying it to Horween Orion leather.

I did 2 coats. Then I tried melting it with a soldering iron; didn't work. I sanded and applied another coat.

Try it on your chrome tanned tote!

The top piece has paint and the bottom piece is raw.

Edited August 16, 2014 by thefanninator

[MonicaJacobson]

That does look extremely nice. Now, I think your Horween leather is waaaaay better than my (dare I say) stoned oil tandy stuff. At least, the back side is much cleaner, as you shall see.

So, I was talking to my woodworker husband last night, and he recommended that before I buy something, I should try enduro-var. He had it, and he claims it's probably exactly the same as "Edge Kote".

I tried two kinds of leather, one thick, one thin:

On that first one, I sanded the piece on the right, put enduro-var, and then polished it. It does darken it, and it is shiny, but it also leaves light crackles, like lacquer. The left piece is the raw leather.

Second one:

On the left is the piece I sanded first, then put enduro-var on. The middle piece I didn't sand first, but sanded after I sealed it with enduro-var. That one seems to have worked the best. The right piece is just with gum trag.

Then I experimented with the tote...

The enduro-var is on the left, gum trag on the right. The gum trag is lighter, and matte, but looks more cohesive. The enduro-var is harder, darker, and shinier, but has a few light, lacquerey notes.

the top is enduro-var, and the bottom gum trag.

So I don't know. I think I'm going to try the same experiment with plain, good quality, lacquer. I can't decide if it's the finish that's the problem, or just poorer quality leather.

Ha ha, yes, I know I'm just trying to avoid buying Edge Paint - I'd buy it in a second if they had it at Springfield, as I have stuff to order there, but I'm not very excited about making a special trip to Tandy at the moment. I'll probably cave.

[thefanninator]

Mine so far. Ready for the handles to be stitched on.

Horween Orion leather, 9 spi. I used the Light Brown Tandy Pro Edge Paint (Fenice from Italy). Inside the handles I used some cord from Joann's.

Only thing I don't like are the seams inside. They are a little obnoxious. I guess some skiving could help.

Edited August 19, 2014 by thefanninator

[MonicaJacobson]

That looks great, and the edge looks ridiculously great. Some skiving might help, but people don't seem to worry about those seams much when they're on the inside. Someone suggested binding the inside seam earlier on in this thread, and I've seen them with the string out and over the top of the seam, which makes it look more secure, although I'm not really convinced it actually helps. I'll be interested to see how it looks when you're done!

I'm going to try an inside out bag like this in the next month:

I like it because it looks like an old US Army saddlebag.