adrian brown Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 (edited) Having restored a few leather "jug" cases over the last few years, mostly by replacing broken hinge panels and repairing the locks, I thought it would be an interesting project to make one from scratch. So here are a few photos of my second effort (the first was fine, but the stitching came out a bit wonky!) I had a saddler make a new one for me a few years ago, but I was not so happy with the result, since it looked more "saddle like" than "case like". The original construction of these cases uses thinner leather than saddlers use and this was reinforced with glued card panels. I found using hot hide glue gave me the stiffness I was after and I'm quite pleased with the result. I used a flat, rather than the round, stitched carrying strap of the originals, as I find they tend to get in the way when stuffing several concertinas into a back pack and I made the latch up from brass and took the spring from an old ball point pen.It's not a difficult project to do, once I'd got the hang of the stitching and I learnt most of the techniques via youtube tutorials. However, although I had a lot of fun, it took an awful number of hours and it's not something I'd want to do for a living!Adrian Edited August 23, 2015 by aybee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Ghent Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Lovely job... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Oh how nice! I have often thought to make a replacement period type leather covered case for my favourite Wheatstone. This is inspirational Adrian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcoover Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Wow! Beautiful work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Drinkwater Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Wow! your anglo looks really happy in there. Congratulations on a fine piece of leatherwork, Adrian. Maybe you should personalise it by embossing your initials somewhere on it. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrP Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 How timely -- for me, at least. I'm negotiating with a leatherworker right now for a case to fit my Jones anglo, so I have referred him to your case as a model to follow or copy. Thanks a lot; It's really nice, handsome, functional, possessed aof a certain -- what shall I call it? panache? I like it, particularly the side-mounted handle. Side-mounted rather than top-mounted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian brown Posted August 24, 2015 Author Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) Thanks for your comments. Here's a few extra details if anyone fancies having a go. Rather stupidly, I didn't make any photos during the construction, so I'll have to try to describe the basics. The leather is around 3mm thick and the card panels on the inside are 1mm. It's really the hot hide glue that binds these together and gives you an almost plywood stiffness. I learnt the basic stitching techniques from the youtube videos of Armitage Leather - especially the box stitching one. After a few disastrous trial runs, I bought a couple of the good pricking irons that are recommended in the videos and this really helped keep the stitching straight. The 90deg joints were relatively easy to do but the 60deg side joints were a nightmare, due to the oblique needle angle. If I was making another, I'd make up a jig like the one shown in the video to hold the pieces better together. I glued the joints to hold them basically together during the stitching, again with hide glue as any excess is easy to wash off afterwards. The folds for the hexagon were made using a little leather "V"gouge, which looks a bit like a plane, in that you can set the depth of cut. Again I did a trial to see how deep I'd have to go until the leather bent over in a neat crease. Once bent and stitched up, I reinforced the corners with linen tape soaked in hide glue.I dyed the leather using Fiebing's leather dye, (Burgundy, but they have a huge range of colours to choose from) and used brown boot polish with a bit of elbow grease to give it a shine. The needles, thread, copper rivets and dye I found online at a local leather suppliers here, so you can probably pick them up anywhere. The latch was riveted onto the leather with little brass nails, which I annealed beforehand and the inside was faced with velvet, again using my trusty glue pot.I'd be happy to add anything else I've missed, if necessary - as I said, it's not a difficult project, once you've had a bit of practice, but it does take many hours to do...Adrian Edited August 24, 2015 by aybee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Selby Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 That's lovely. What lock is that on it? Where did you get it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian brown Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share Posted August 29, 2015 That's lovely. What lock is that on it? Where did you get it? I made it from up some scrap pieces of brass and used a pen spring inside. I copied the basic design of an original case lock, but used a knob to action the release, rather than the "keyed" lock, which was too fiddly for me... Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMuzy Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Beautiful craftsmanship and, as said before, inspirational. is there any chance of posting more details of the lock? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian brown Posted September 2, 2015 Author Share Posted September 2, 2015 Beautiful craftsmanship and, as said before, inspirational. is there any chance of posting more details of the lock? Thanks Thanks John, I've taken a few photos of a second lock I made at the same time and haven't got round to finishing yet - It's made of a brass disc I cut from 1.2mm sheet and turned the edge round on a lathe. The slot was cut with a piercing saw and a thin square "cage"was hard soldered on the back. Then I made a thicker (c. 2mm) action plate which has a bevel to allow the latch to slide in easily. The action plate is moved with the little brass button that goes through the disc and slides in a rounded slot. I used a spring from an ballpoint pen to keep the action plate "up". Hope this makes things clearer, otherwise send me a P.M and I'll try to describe it better. Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_holden Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Beautiful work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMuzy Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I've taken a few photos of a second lock I made at the same time and haven't got round to finishing yet - It's made of a brass disc I cut from 1.2mm sheet and turned the edge round on a lathe. The slot was cut with a piercing saw and a thin square "cage"was hard soldered on the back. Then I made a thicker (c. 2mm) action plate which has a bevel to allow the latch to slide in easily. The action plate is moved with the little brass button that goes through the disc and slides in a rounded slot. I used a spring from an ballpoint pen to keep the action plate "up". Hope this makes things clearer, otherwise send me a P.M and I'll try to describe it better. Adrian Thanks Adrian - pretty much self explanatory from the photos. A project for winter, I think. regards, john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian brown Posted September 21, 2015 Author Share Posted September 21, 2015 I've taken a few photos of a second lock I made at the same time and haven't got round to finishing yet - It's made of a brass disc I cut from 1.2mm sheet and turned the edge round on a lathe. The slot was cut with a piercing saw and a thin square "cage"was hard soldered on the back. Then I made a thicker (c. 2mm) action plate which has a bevel to allow the latch to slide in easily. The action plate is moved with the little brass button that goes through the disc and slides in a rounded slot. I used a spring from an ballpoint pen to keep the action plate "up". Hope this makes things clearer, otherwise send me a P.M and I'll try to describe it better. Adrian Thanks Adrian - pretty much self explanatory from the photos. A project for winter, I think. regards, john Well, good luck John - send me a PM if you need any further info and I'll try to help. Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now