How to make a press for moulding leather pouches and such

[RockyAussie]

58 minutes ago, LumpenDoodle2 said:

I’ve invested in a board called printbyte (I think that is how it is spelt).   All my problems with the item separating are a thing of the past (touch wood).   It’s so good, I bought 2 pieces, so that I just remove the whole bed, and put it aside to cool, and pop on the spare bed.   Once cool, the job just pops off.

Thanks @LumpenDoodle2 that is a good idea and I will get onto that idea asap.

 

1 hour ago, billybopp said:

Three Days of the Condor, 1975, Robert Redford, Faye Runaway.   I think they did a piece on ice and meat bullets on Mythbusters and they sadly didn't work so well in the real world.

Ok then ....I guess the velocity musta vaporised the bullets......how bout one of them ninja star things in ice and fired from a spear gun style slingshot??.

Hey wots this real world stuff about anyway?????

[Double Daddy]

A more recent film (late 90's) to try the "ice projectile" concept was Most Wanted, a complete flop of a film staring Keenen Ivory Wayans and John Voight.

[RockyAussie]

Good news.....I got to try the handcuffs on Friday and they fit both models well. The Armoury person was happy. Now I've got a question. After looking online at anything similar that I can find on wet moulding, every one that I have seen waste large amounts of leather on the curved edge. I have now done a couple of more casts taking more of the edge each time and I still dont seem to be having any problems yet. Does anyone here have similar experience with this method and can tell me just how much more I can get away with??? At present I am wasting about 16MM or 5/8" as can be seen in the below picture.

Following pictures show the handcuffs in the pouch.

[plinkercases]

What kind of leather did you say where using?

[RockyAussie]

4 hours ago, plinkercases said:

What kind of leather did you say where using?

I will point out that this is not a veg tan leather and is a retan of some sort. It would have been a bit easier to mould on an unpainted smooth veg. The thickness of the moulded part is 2.8mm (7oz) at the moment. It is fairly hard and takes some wetting/working to get soft and mellow enough to mould. Here in Australia I get it from East Coast Leather and they call it Alaska. Partly I have chosen it due to price and strength and resistance to shrinkage as would be the case with full veg. There would also be a reduced need for maintenance as far as replenishing oils etc. Brian

[garypl]

Brian, I tend to make one off items so when I mold I leave extra around the edges - probably more than necessary.  See pics of a pouch I just molded.

sounds like you are going about it the right way, but if you cut off too much of the edge you may have problems getting the piece of leather positioned just right so it comes out of the mold even.  Cuff cases look great!

Gary

[gigi]

Great work!

What machine did you use for sewing? You removed the belt tab on the back-side?

[RockyAussie]

3 hours ago, garypl said:

Brian, I tend to make one off items so when I mold I leave extra around the edges - probably more than necessary.  See pics of a pouch I just molded.

sounds like you are going about it the right way, but if you cut off too much of the edge you may have problems getting the piece of leather positioned just right so it comes out of the mold even.  Cuff cases look great!

Gary

Thanks for the answer Gary. At this stage the way the mould I made works so far I have cut back and cut back again and still no creases etc. I have made up a new pattern with offsets at 2mm increments to see how small I can get away with. I was just hoping that someone might have experience working with moulds similar to these that might know likely have far I can go. I need to give a quote and get them to test the prototype as soon as possible so I was hoping to save a little time. I might just jump to a 1/4" off and see what happens. I'll let you know. Brian

3 hours ago, gigi said:

Great work!

What machine did you use for sewing? You removed the belt tab on the back-side?

@gigi The machine I used is a 441 with a new footplate thanks to Uwe. The tab is still there but I have gone to a bit more refinement than previously.

[the deacon]

Hey Brian,

I am curious. Every time I have tried wet moulding a leather case, the open edge of the leather gets pulled out of shape as the mould presses. How do you overcome this?

 

thanks

[RockyAussie]

3 hours ago, the deacon said:

Hey Brian,

I am curious. Every time I have tried wet moulding a leather case, the open edge of the leather gets pulled out of shape as the mould presses. How do you overcome this?

 

thanks

The top open edge is difficult to not get pulled downward toward the bottom where a lot more pressure is being applied so I generally put the outer mould piece down at an angle at the top so that it pulls the sides tight before the bottom comes into play. This is done by hand a fair bit before going into the press. In the mould above the sides are very tight and and I do get a 2mm to 3mm gap in the middle where it has pulled downward. Thankfully that has been allowed for and it all comes out fine at the end.