Laptop briefcase

[Spyros]

I made this one for myself

Obviously not my design, but various design details and material options from bags I've seen around and always wanted to combine. 

 

 

It's 16 inches wide The exterior is Sedgwick bridle, the lining is buffalo calf.

I hand carved the handle out of wood and dressed it with leather.

All the materials are from buckleguy except the Amy Roke cotton/linen thread.

 

[Akers]

Very nice!

[rleather]

A beautiful piece of work!

[billybopp]

Well done!

- Bill

[Spyros]

thanks guys :}

Edited October 2, 2021 by Spyros

[BoxerMel]

Nice job!!

[johnnydb]

I especially love the fact that you lined it...

Lining adds a really nice touch...so much better than raw leather on the inside. 

[Bruce H]

Whoa...Awesome!!! Well Done!!!

[battlemunky]

Looks classy af!

[Spyros]

Thanks again

Anything you guys would do differently?  Any recommendations?  

(or any questions if anyone wants to do something similar?)

[Spyros]

2 hours ago, johnnydb said:

I especially love the fact that you lined it...

Lining adds a really nice touch...so much better than raw leather on the inside. 

I agree, it is a royal pain though.   You might already know this, but here's what I found works really work with this type of bridle and most leathers I've tried (not all of them though, so try it on an offcut first):

Mix 3 parts neatsfoot oil with 1 part fiebings dye, and stir really well for a couple of minutes until you get a good consistent mixture.  Do 2-3 coats of that on the flesh side with a dauber, let it soak in and dry for an hour or so, and then do an coat with fiebings tan kote, as evenly as possible.  

And if the flesh side is furry you can press it down with a piece of smooth glass.

The tan kote looks and feels like some sort of resin so you'd think it would make the flesh side of the leather hard to the touch, but surprisingly it actually makes it pretty soft and pleasant to the touch once fully dried.  

That's the next best thing to lining the interior IMO.  That's what I did on the newspaper pocket on the back because I slide my hand in there (usually to fish my phone out) and I want it to feel nice.  And it looks great too.

[johnnydb]

7 hours ago, Spyros said:

I agree, it is a royal pain though.   You might already know this, but here's what I found works really work with this type of bridle and most leathers I've tried (not all of them though, so try it on an offcut first):

Mix 3 parts neatsfoot oil with 1 part fiebings dye, and stir really well for a couple of minutes until you get a good consistent mixture.  Do 2-3 coats of that on the flesh side with a dauber, let it soak in and dry for an hour or so, and then do an coat with fiebings tan kote, as evenly as possible.  

And if the flesh side is furry you can press it down with a piece of smooth glass.

The tan kote looks and feels like some sort of resin so you'd think it would make the flesh side of the leather hard to the touch, but surprisingly it actually makes it pretty soft and pleasant to the touch once fully dried.  

That's the next best thing to lining the interior IMO.  That's what I did on the newspaper pocket on the back because I slide my hand in there (usually to fish my phone out) and I want it to feel nice.  And it looks great too.

Where is the "like" button on this forum?... because I really like that idea and have a study piece I'm working on that would be perfect to try this out on. 

 

I'm kinda a weirdo in that I make small study pieces before I go to the expense and trouble of trying to make a large project.  All of my projects are more industrious in nature.... meaning that they will get used a lot.  Like my shoulder tool bag...it's made by me for me. I know where every tool is without even looking...and I have a lot of tools. But that's it's purpose...used it constantly for the past 6 years on every construction site I've worked. (Electrician)  and where the bag is currently filthy dirty...it's still in pristine condition if I'd just clean it up. Which is the whole reason I started doing this stuff...I knew what I wanted but the closest thing I found wasn't good but horribly expensive at the same time. So I made what I wanted and have been thrilled with it since. 

 

Since that time I've done several things... usually for my wife and others. But now instead of diving straight into a large project I'll practice with pencil cups or little notepad covers or bracelets. I'll work out the kinks and appearances with those things until I'm ready to do a large journal or make-up bag.  The lining of my projects is always a thing to me. My tool bag isn't lined but screwdrivers, pliers, and saw blades would eat it up anyway.  But other projects definitely need a lining IMHO. Especially things like notebooks and briefcases. 

[FGBR]

Very nice work!

[LatigoAmigo]

On 9/30/2021 at 8:06 PM, Spyros said:

various design details and material options from bags I've seen around and always wanted to combine

Good work on the craftsmanship. But what is with the rivets on the back? They stand out quite a bit, and really gave me pause. I'm not sure if they add much to the overall design. If they were necessary, maybe they could have been smaller and black. Otherwise very nice.

[Spyros]

 

2 hours ago, LatigoAmigo said:

Good work on the craftsmanship. But what is with the rivets on the back? They stand out quite a bit, and really gave me pause. I'm not sure if they add much to the overall design. If they were necessary, maybe they could have been smaller and black. Otherwise very nice.

Yeah to be honest I had the same reaction when I first saw it.  A friend saw a satchel like that at Mascon Leather's website and asked me to build him a bag with that feature, and at first I thought it was a little bit ridiculous as well.  Excessive and unnecessary.   

But then I made it for him and somehow it all worked aesthetically.

This type of friefcase can easily look too formal and classic, like a lawyer's briefcase sort of thing, and if you don't want that to be the case you need a strong visual element in the other direction.   Hard to explain, but in the end I like it and most people like it   

Edited October 3, 2021 by Spyros

[AzShooter]

Most excellent job.  You did a lot of work and whomever uses it should be proud to show it off.

 

[Spyros]

11 minutes ago, AzShooter said:

Most excellent job.  You did a lot of work and whomever uses it should be proud to show it off.

 

Thanks  

I've made two of those in total, one for me and one for my best friend, and believe it or not this one was actually the easy and fast one to make. 

For the other one my friend chose Horween Dublin leather, which I couldn't find anywhere, except for small panels at buckleguy.  So I had to buy 4-5 of those and stitch them together.   

He also wanted real hand peened saddle rivets everywhere, and there were about 50 of those   

Looked good in the end though.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2021 by Spyros

[YinTx]

I have a few sides of Horween Dublin, would not have thought to make a case like that out of it, I'll have to give it a go, yours came out really nice!  What weight was it and what did you line it with?

YinTx

[Spyros]

1 hour ago, YinTx said:

I have a few sides of Horween Dublin, would not have thought to make a case like that out of it, I'll have to give it a go, yours came out really nice!  What weight was it and what did you line it with?

YinTx

It was light, about 4oz.  And I lined it with buffalo calf which was even thinner, about 3oz.

[AzShooter]

Spectacular  work. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[Scoutmom103]

If you need more Horween leather you might try this company   The Tannery Row    Horween | The Tannery Row | Leather Distributor.     I just did a quick check and they do ship to Austral.    They were set up by Horween to sell Leather to smaller end user.     

 

 

[Jimbob]

Wow, heavy duty stuff...nicely done...I love making brief cases....but that's a lot of work!

Very classic look!!

[Ozarksleathersmith]

On 9/30/2021 at 10:06 PM, Spyros said:

I made this one for myself

Obviously not my design, but various design details and material options from bags I've seen around and always wanted to combine. 

 

 

It's 16 inches wide The exterior is Sedgwick bridle, the lining is buffalo calf.

I hand carved the handle out of wood and dressed it with leather.

All the materials are from buckleguy except the Amy Roke cotton/linen thread.

 

Not bad for a copy. And to your response to a previous quote"I really like using darker handles and straps out of bridle to create a two-tone effect for my bags" don't see any darker handles here. Looks OK though.

[Ozarksleathersmith]

Not bad for a copy. And to quote your response to a previous post "I really like using darker handles and straps out of bridle to create a two-tone effect for my bags" don't see any darker handles here. Looks OK though.

[AzShooter]

Most excellent!