My take on the Valet Tray

[YinTx]

I think I may do the next one with suede on the inside.  Thoughts?  I covered the insert with keys, because, well, it's terrible.

 

YinTx

[Thor]

Not sure what you actually did there Yin. Just a suggestion as usually - I would make the inner part from thinner leather than the outer to reduce or even avoid those wrinkles. Also I don't know if you glued the whole surface or just some. You definitely want to glue your edges better and tap with a hammer or just better. Don't know if you did that or not, but there's sign of some inappropriate gluing. If you would use a soldering iron and melt that edge paint into that groove you could get rid of that and then apply another layer of edge paint.

Other than that it looks good as always. So my comments are really picky and just this little extra, if you know what I mean.

[YinTx]

Man, Thor.  And I was really proud of those glass like edges. I was more bemoaning the difficult stitching job... Here's a close up, a bit out of focus, but hey, did it with cell phone.  I'm all for improving myself.. but...How can I do this better?  I'm not sure I see the poor glue job that needs to be hammered down?  And should I glue the entire surface of the leather, or just the outline?  I did the entire surface on this one...

YinTx

[Thor]

Yes, glue the entire surface. This happens to me too in two cases. First when I'm not waiting long enough with putting the pieces together and second when I'm waiting too long. Unfortunately it varies with glue and leather so you'll have to find that out yourself. Also did you sand your edges? I stopped doing that. Just have my tools really sharp and burnish them. Sanding can cause this effect to and especially if it wasn't glued well enough. It's one of those been there done that experiences.

Hell, I'd be the last to complain about your hand stitching. I'll never be as good as you on that.

Here's another tip I learned from George. If you're just staining your edges (don't know if it's the same for painting) you can use glue water to seal the edges. No upstanding fibers not big trouble burnishing and the edges remain nice for a long time.

[TheModifier]

Whats "glue water"? Is there a recipe for it? New to the craft and want to learn. :D 

[YinTx]

Thor,

I'm still missing it.  What happens when you wait to long or not long enough?  What is it you see wrong with the edges?

YinTx

[Bigfoote]

Looks great to me. I can see a small glue line in the lower right on the first picture, but I'd be pretty happy with those edges. One thing I found by trial and error, try using some tiger thread, it is awesome, makes your stitching lay really flat, and you can hide your overstitching better. I'd probably go with the 1.0 size for that project. Garry

[YinTx]

Garry,

Ah, thats not a glue line, its the reflection on the edge.  Wonder if thats what you are seeing, Thor?

I have Tiger thread, and use it, but for this particular project, I wanted the warm look of a beige linen thread, and I used a rather thick 332 thread as well.

YinTx

 

[Thor]

3 hours ago, YinTx said:

Garry,

Ah, thats not a glue line, its the reflection on the edge.  Wonder if thats what you are seeing, Thor?

I have Tiger thread, and use it, but for this particular project, I wanted the warm look of a beige linen thread, and I used a rather thick 332 thread as well.

YinTx

 

A reflection? Well could be. Not gonna pick on you anyways, cause you stuff is pretty good. As you know if I'm bugging you it's just things most will never notice and even more will never achieve.

[Bigfoote]

It's always hard to get that linen thread to do what you want it to.  Your stitching is great by the way.

[YinTx]

Thor,

I truly appreciate your input, there is certainly a lot I do not know about leatherworking so I am all about improving my skills and techniques.  I was just really unsure what you saw that needed improvement on the edges.  In this case, they really are pretty decent, there is no de-lamination that would need to be hammered or re-glued. One more photo for good measure:  you can see the wet look edges, and the awful wrinkles!  Tandy leather is I think the culprit here... I'll use suede on the next one.

YinTx