How to make leather trunk/ suitcase corners?

[Texasrocker]

Hello, I am a newbie here, and have no leather working experience. I restore vintage tube type electronics and have completed the electronics restoration of a 1936 Gibson guitar amplifier and have it working great again. The original cabinet is a small suitcase style that holds the small chassis and speaker with a removable rear cover attached by suitcase type latches. The original leather corners are rotted and I would like to replace all 4 of them on the bottom corners (2 on front) of the cabinet and (2 on rear) cover. I have searched the internet to no avail to locate 4 of these old vintage style leather trunk corners protectors. I understand that some types of leather can be stretched and formed after wetting it first. I am thinking if I purchase the correct type of leather that can be shaped, I could use triangular pieces and stretch them around the end corner of a 4"x4" piece of wood after rounding the corner off the wood to make a form, tack the leather into the wood until dry, then cut to fit using the original leather corners as a guide. If this is something a newbie could do? Also, I would need to dye the new corners a dark brown color after they are made. The original leather is approx. 1/16th inch thick. I just need to know what type leather works for this purpose that can be wet-formed and stretched and I could give it a try making them. ( I tried to include a pic but too many mb's for this forum) Any tips you leather Pros can share to make these old style leather trunk corners would be highly appreciated!! Thanks much for reading my long post.

Randal

 

 

Edited July 10, 2016 by Texasrocker

[RockyAussie]

I not sure how to link but this may help if it works. Veg tan embossing leather should do the trick.presuming you don't have a vacuum set up maybe see if you can find a metal pressed end to use as a receiving piece and sand your wood 1/16" smaller to suit and find a way to leave in a press overnight.

https://huberbreese.com/products/gibson-1936-eh-150-guitar-amplifier-vintage

[RockyAussie]

Forgot your a newbie Texasrocker and I just thought I should have said if you did find a suitable steel luggage end protector,1 the screw holes would probably need to be ground down as the holes would not line up with the existing screws I think and 2 you would need to cover the metal in glad wrap to stop the metal making the leather black stain/rusting the leather. Very easy to cast with the right equipment but may be a bit hard to pull into shape with tacks as you said but give it a go.

[Texasrocker]

Thanks very much for your replies and suggestions RockyAussie! The amp photo you shared is very similar to the one I have except the cabinet I have here has rounded sides at the top of cabinet and no leather corners on top side. The one I have is a 1936 Gibson amp model EH-100 w/ 12" speaker.The 4 leather bottom leather corners I need are exactly identical to your photo! I found some veg tanned leather for sale on ebay that is 3-4 oz (thickness is listed as 3/64" - 1/16th") and seller says it is easy to wet form. The price seems to be much less than compared to Tandy's leather prices, but I am a newbie at this so not sure on leather quality or prices. The 3-4 oz veg tanned leather seems to be about the same thickness of the originals that I measured here (1/16th inch thick). I will use your suggestions to make the molds. I do have some regular metal type speaker cabinet corners here that I could wrap in clear seran wrap to keep from rusting the leather. Since as you stated, it would be hard to stretch the leather with a modern type metal corner protector, I may build a 1/4 wood box corner type top mold a bit larger to press and stretch the leather around the 4"x4" wood corner mold better to make it easier to stretch and use drywall screws to hold the molds together past the leathers edges once leather is stretched between the molds. Does this idea sound okay? Another question I have is drying time to leave the leather in the molds? It is hot in Texas this time of year ( 95-100 F) during the afternoons, could I just set the molds out in the sun to dry with the leather stretched inside them and how many hours should I let the leather dry before taking out of the molds? Thanks again for your suggestions and expertise!! It is very much appreciated!!

Randal

Edited July 10, 2016 by Texasrocker

[RockyAussie]

I am not an expert on wet molding but for what it is worth I would soak the leather in warm to hot water with a little detergent for 10 mins to 1/4 hr and then pull around in my hands to feel if the stretch/suppleness feels good. I generally leave  overnight to dry and it is often still a bit mellow in the morning. I like to get projects out of the mold before fully dry as i can then slicker any defect marks etc out. Be careful as you can lose your shaping if you rub around when still to wet.The screw idea may work but at any rate I would guess you would need about 15 to 20 kilo pressure on that thickness. A big vice may do. Best to look at previous forums for ideas. Best of luck Brian

[Texasrocker]

Thanks again RockyAussie! I have decided to give it a go to see if I can make the leather trunk type protector corners. I will use all your suggestions. I ordered enough 3-4 oz veg tanned leather that I can try again if my first attempts doesn't work out. I suppose with enough practice, I will have success once I get my molds set up correctly and learn how to soften and smooth the leather properly. I have a few old screw-type pipe wood clamps I can use to apply the pressure to the wood molds to stretch and flatten the leather as you suggested. I really appreciate you responding to my newbie questions here, and if I am successful I will post a photo link here to see the new leather corners on my photobucket account and give you credit for helping me. I will also search around the forums as you suggested for more info. Best Regards always Brian!!

Randal