31 Pen Pouches

[Rolandranch]

22 hours ago, Wedgetail said:

Lookin good! And moving that fast is excellent too!

If you can't afford a steel rule die and a clicker press (or something else to punch them out with) straight away, then you could start with a laser cut acrylic template.... or just shape one yourself out of thin plywood with a jigsaw and some sand paper. 

It takes almost as long to reset some presses as it does to cut around a simple template shape with a rotary cutter.

I cut a template out of cardboard but I will soon replace it with a laser cut acrylic template. Looking into the die although the clicker might be too much of an upgrade at the moment. Would a die and mallet work alright together or do you have to have a clicker press?

Thanks,

-Ryan

[Rolandranch]

@Tugadude @KingsCountyLeather 

Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate it!

-Ryan

[Wedgetail]

1 hour ago, Rolandranch said:

I cut a template out of cardboard but I will soon replace it with a laser cut acrylic template. Looking into the die although the clicker might be too much of an upgrade at the moment. Would a die and mallet work alright together or do you have to have a clicker press?

Thanks,

-Ryan

Definitely need a press... bashing the die with a mallet will just damage it in short time.

There are a "tonne" of options though (pardon the pun)

Clicker presses are the most efficient, and ready for use. Also the most expensive. And those can be manual  or hydraulic.

Next, maybe a book binding style screw press. But those are pretty slow going.

Other options are a large arbor press, or a shop press (hydraulic or bottle jack style)... both of which you'd need to modify to use, such as putting a wide foot on the post so you don't just damage the die, and to spread the pressure evenly across the die. Also a nice flat plate to press onto that will accept the load.

In other words, if youre only considering it for one thing, it's probably not worth the investment... and if you are not using a clicker press, or arbor press, then it would simply be faster to cut around a hard template.

But if you are clicking out pen sleeves, wallet parts, etc in sufficient volume, thenworth considering.

Of course, you could get a suitably sized laser cutter... but that's another conversation.

[DJole]

2 hours ago, Rolandranch said:

Thanks! Yeah, I think I did something right... either the price or the pouch but either way I'm happy.  For some of the most exotic pens we have, I will make some special pouches with exotic leathers. My brother is currently working on a mammoth tooth pen... too bad I don't have mammoth leather to go with it.  

-Ryan

Well, that would be a REALLY exotic leather. Right up there with some Tyrannosaurus belly. 

[Wyowind]

8 hours ago, Rolandranch said:

Thanks! Yeah, I think I did something right... either the price or the pouch but either way I'm happy.  For some of the most exotic pens we have, I will make some special pouches with exotic leathers. My brother is currently working on a mammoth tooth pen... too bad I don't have mammoth leather to go with it.  

-Ryan

How about hair-on Bison to give that wooly mammoth effect.

[Rolandranch]

14 hours ago, Wedgetail said:

Definitely need a press... bashing the die with a mallet will just damage it in short time.

There are a "tonne" of options though (pardon the pun)

Clicker presses are the most efficient, and ready for use. Also the most expensive. And those can be manual  or hydraulic.

Next, maybe a book binding style screw press. But those are pretty slow going.

Other options are a large arbor press, or a shop press (hydraulic or bottle jack style)... both of which you'd need to modify to use, such as putting a wide foot on the post so you don't just damage the die, and to spread the pressure evenly across the die. Also a nice flat plate to press onto that will accept the load.

In other words, if youre only considering it for one thing, it's probably not worth the investment... and if you are not using a clicker press, or arbor press, then it would simply be faster to cut around a hard template.

But if you are clicking out pen sleeves, wallet parts, etc in sufficient volume, thenworth considering.

Of course, you could get a suitably sized laser cutter... but that's another conversation.

For the past year or so my family has been trying to get a laser engraver for a lot of purposes (leather cutting being one). But they sure aren't cheap.

[Rolandranch]

7 hours ago, Wyowind said:

How about hair-on Bison to give that wooly mammoth effect.

I could probably sell that to someone as woolly mammoth. One customer asked if one of our dragon pens was made with real dragon scales... and he was serious. So my brother suggested that if someone asked what my hair-on leather was, I should tell him/her that it's baby dragon fur.