wet formed tablet cover help

[JayEhl]

Hi everyone.

I attempted a wet form of a Samsung Tablet with some 3/4 oz leather.  I thought I had it formed pretty well by super soaking it and really working and working the corners and the sides to stretch it over the back.  Although it sits in its 'cup' I can't figure out how to form the lip so that it sits tighter inside it's new home.  I haven't tried to dip it in water again and if I did, do I go back and try to work it back over the lip?  I've attached some pictures to help describe what I've done.  

Thanks in advance!

~JL

Edited August 16, 2020 by JayEhl

[Dwight]

I assume you want to fold the edges over the white portion of the face of the Samsung case . . . or at least enough to hold it in the case.

If it were me . . . I'd find a piece of PVC or similar plastic . . . slightly thinner than the tablet . . . say may 30 or 40 thousandths thinner . . . and I'd cut it a half inch short of the length of the tablet . . . and only 2/3 or 3/4 as wide.

I'd then take a router and round the edges to match that of the Samsung.

THEN . . . very carefully cut the leather so it lays a good 1/4 inch over the tablet . . . and cut the corners so they match up in a nice 45 deg angle at each corner.

THEN . . . very carefully wet the leather (that 1/4 inch plus a tad) . . . with 135 deg water . . . working one edge at a time . . . then the top . . . the other side . . . last the bottom . . . I'd work it over with a flat plastic rod . . . until it went over and stayed over.

I'd work it until I got all 4 sides done . . . then put it under a lamp with a thermometer . . . don't let it get over 140 degrees . . . but heat dry it . . . 

Then all you do is carefully dye and finish . . . and you will have a pretty case.

Use a light dab of glue or contact cement to pull and keep the corners together . . . and then be very careful with it.  You'll have a case like no other.

I started to do that with my Samsung Note 8 . . .  but I am Mr. Fumblefingers . . . and I bit the bullet and bought a bouncy rubber case for it so I didn't have to pop for a new glass face for it.

Post pics when you get it done . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

 

[JayEhl]

Gosh thanks for the quick reply. 

I think I'm picturing a thinner version of the table and getting some water warmed up to the 135 degrees and wet the edges again over said thinner version over the tablet?  I don't have a router but I have a sander that I can get a thin block of wood to match the corner the best.  I can probably a friend who has some great wood tools who can maybe plane a block of wood that thin. Come to think of it he probably has the router.  

Thanks!

[Rahere]

Ivan now do quadrant punches. Also, Dremel do router attachments, both plunge and table.

[JayEhl]

22 hours ago, Rahere said:

Ivan now do quadrant punches. Also, Dremel do router attachments, both plunge and table.

Hi @rahere  I don't think I quite understand what you are saying here.  Could you please clarify?  
 

And if anyone is interested, I completed the wet form and putting some finishing touches and will try to post some pictures here, soon.  

thanks

~JL

[Rahere]

You all have circular and half-round punches, but cutting corners is always a bit of a pain. You can always use a half-round on insides, cutting into the waste, but being a right-tool-for -the-job man, I've looked for quarter-circle punches for some time. They'd work great here.

As far as a router's concerned, I've always found the big table routers used for woodworking overkill. However, just we use dremels for all kind of detail, the same exists here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dremel-Attachment-Precision-Drilling-Trimming/dp/B0009EQ5QA
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dremel-231-Shaper-Router-Table/dp/B0000302Y9

[JayEhl]

Ah, now I understand.   I never knew these existed!  I unsure if I want to invest in something like that although these aren't too terribly expensive.    I have an old Dremel, though so I may consider it.  I am going to clamp it down to my work bench somehow and see if I can attach a burnisher, first.   Thanks for the tip!  

 

[Rahere]

Check around on the Dremel site for the clamp too! As far as the burnishers are concerned, I got mine from Proops in the 1980s, when they were a shop on London's Tottenham Court Road. They're on Etsy these days, still an aladin's cave.