Bifold w/ coin pouch - Italian Camo & Buttero

[battlemunky]

That looks about flawless. Kudos on near perfection!

[Bob Blea]

That is very clean work, very impressive!

[bvdv]

Not a fan of the camo either but the wallet is marvelous.
Nicely executed.

what is/are Funori seaweed and how do you use/apply it.
Bert

[GrayHallidayJr]

Super nice!

[battlemunky]

So, I was back admiring this....two things came to mind.

1. funori seaweed burnishing--can you please tell us more about this as a burnishing agent. I couldn't find anything online other than using it as a haircare thing 
2. is that button leather wrapped and if so, did you do it and how

Sorry for stalking but this is a really nice piece.

[AltaAndina]

Beautiful burnishing - can you tell me more about your burnishing process? 

Is that by hand? Is the seaweed an extract? What do you use to apply? 

It is so even and consistent. 

@MudBugWill - thank you! 

[Danne]

Very clean work. Your attention to details is really good.

[MudBugWill]

On 2/4/2019 at 7:40 PM, noobleather said:

Wow that wallet is clean and really well put together. All the components look great together.Where in Japan are you going to study?

Anata no saifu wa subarashi desu

ありがとうございます！

I study with Yamashita-san "GO Designer Leathers" in Ebisu. 

[MudBugWill]

Thank you for the kind words everyone!

As for the burnishing:

I think 90% of the work to achieve a nicely burnished edge is done before you even apply anything to it. I make everything oversized and cut flush. I use very thin layers of glue. I use a mini Japanese hand plane to round each edge nicely and sand them smooth. The radius of the edge is important. If the edge is too flat, you are just pushing the leather back against itself and mushrooming it. If it isn't rounded, the burnish will never look right. 

You can make edges like this with any of the usual burnishing agents: Water, Tokonole, CMC, Gum Trag, etc. I use Funori because I enjoy the process of making it and the history.  It is a dried Japanese seaweed that you grind up, soak in water and heat. I think you are just extracting the cellulose or something. Then you strain it and use it as you would any burnishing liquid. It needs to be refrigerated though. It gets pretty rank pretty quickly. It smells like dead sea creatures when it turns haha. Apparently it was used to mount scrolls and is used in art restoration as a delicate glue. 

My method is:

-Glue the edges using contact cement and a glue scraper. The glue must be as thin as possible otherwise the edge will have lines and ridges. 

-Hammer the joint

-Cut flush in one cut if possible. I like to use a ruler and score a light line with a fresh Olfa blade. Then I use my Japanese leather knife and make the cut, using the score line to steer it and keep me on track. 

-I then begin the process of rounding the edge. I like to use the mini plane with as little as the blade out as possible. I begin knocking of the corners working from the leather surface to the center of the edge. I flip and repeat to form a rounded edge. 
Edge bevelers are faster to knock of the initial corner but just make a flat spot and another corner that needs to be sanded and sculpted. I think it is faster to do as much cutting with a plane and as little sanding as possible. I also free-hand bevel with a knife instead of a plane when the situation calls for it, such as on corners and concave curves.

-Then I sand to sculpt and smooth the edge. 

-I apply the Funori and burnish gently with a piece of my old cut-up khaki's. I add beeswax to the canvas as necessary to help with the burnish.

-I sand, run alcohol dye on the edge. let dry, and repeat the Funori, burnish, sanding and dye as needed. 

 

[MudBugWill]

On 2/14/2019 at 7:05 PM, battlemunky said:

So, I was back admiring this....two things came to mind.

1. funori seaweed burnishing--can you please tell us more about this as a burnishing agent. I couldn't find anything online other than using it as a haircare thing 
2. is that button leather wrapped and if so, did you do it and how

Sorry for stalking but this is a really nice piece.

 

On 2/15/2019 at 10:42 AM, AltaAndina said:

Beautiful burnishing - can you tell me more about your burnishing process? 

Is that by hand? Is the seaweed an extract? What do you use to apply? 

It is so even and consistent. 

@MudBugWill - thank you! 

 

On 2/14/2019 at 3:42 AM, bvdv said:

Not a fan of the camo either but the wallet is marvelous.
Nicely executed.

what is/are Funori seaweed and how do you use/apply it.
Bert

 

On 2/4/2019 at 7:40 PM, noobleather said:

Wow that wallet is clean and really well put together. All the components look great together.Where in Japan are you going to study?

Anata no saifu wa subarashi desu

I forgot to quote everyone who had questions. Sorry, I am new to this interface