Three Emperors (sold)

I know it should have been kings but this case is for Emperor sized pens.

I usually make plain cases that are very strong for some time I have thought about making a case with some sort of design on it.

I love to make things but sometimes I struggle to be creative in this case the chance to buy a pair of hand made shoes at cost price meant I just had to look at my feet.

I cannot just steal some ones design but I can take inspiration from it. First I worked out a basic shape.

I made some holes in the card to transfer the key points onto a piece of leather.

The curves came from a thread spool.

I have tried to explain what I did next but I think the picture will explain it better.

I carved these lines into the leather, well it seemed like a good idea at the time. And then added some antique leather dye.

I did not like this any better so I got another piece of leather and started again.

I started in the same way but this time I punched holes around the edge and then punched a second set on an inner line.

A little burnishing and some antique dye and we have something I am a little more happy with.

This design needs to be on a large case a very large case. Here is my current largest case.

Emperor pens are 185 mm long and around 28 mm in diameter this mould is for much smaller pens.

I laminated 4 pieces of marine plywood together to create a block thick enough to make a mould.

Before I can create the final shape I need to form the kydex inner section so I now need a mould for that. They will be individual arches of kydex wrapped in suede.

After making the mould I started to form the kydex over it.

Having moulded the kydex to the required shape I wrapped it in electric blue suede.

After cutting the desired shape and some sanding I drilled location holes to assist in placing the two pieces together.

This is my first test pressing with kydex. The first thing I noticed was the dowels were actually too close to the inner part of the mould. they needed to be at least the height of the mould away from the edge of the mould.

I moved the holes and dowels further out from the edge of the mould.

I decided to make the lower curved section end two thirds of the way up the case (I may rethink this later)

From this point it was time to consider the outer cover which is made from 3 mm veg tanned shoulder. Which was soaked in cold water for around 30 minutes.

After a few hours of working the leather it had begun to take the required shape.

I cut a strap from the same leather and brought the other components together. I have made a template from grey board to allow me to make mistakes safely I think this one is a little too pointy at the moment.

https://flic.kr/p/XTAHxf

At this point I am unsure of how to continue my original plan was to make a light tan brogue effect case. but I have always wanted to make a supersized case for multiple pens.

Time to stop messing around I have decided to go with my original plan.

After punching the holes in the front panel I applied diluted Antique leather dye. I diluted the dye to give more control over the colour.

In the picture above the back panel has been turned around to show the colour match.

Time for a trial fit of the inner Kydex section.

I was not totally happy with the colour of the back /front flap panel. I almost dyed the whole thing black but decided to carry on with my original plan. If it does not sell there is space in the box under my desk with the other rejects. 🙂

I decided to add more antique dye and carry on.

Here is the back /front flap piece with its kydex panel and the suede lining.

As you can see the strap has a little detail stitching in blue.

I made a template for the front flap from card. And glued the front and rear sections together.

The next step is to mark out the stitching hole and begin the stitching process.

Unfortunately When I started stitching I managed to get a knot in the thread. When trying to remove the knot I managed to snap the thread. regular readers will know I do not like to have joints in my thread especially in the first 5 cm so I pulled out the stitching and started again.

I decided to continue with the blue thread although it might be a little to fine for this size case.

Edge trimming is next.

I have started the edge trimming process with the top flap as I needed to check that the flap would fit through the strap.

Now that the case has been trimmed to size I can sand them ready for the edge kote.

First coat applied and lightly sanded ready for a second coat. This is a flexible product that seals the edges of the leather unfortunately it has a glossy finish. I plan on sanding the finished edges with a 4000 grit sandpaper to take the shine off it.

The edge kote is almost fully dry now time for a final polish and this case is ready for shipping.

#pencase #Fountainpencase #Leather #leathercase #custompencase