New case reline

[alan123shooting]

As requested a blow by blow account of a case refurb. 

I received a call from a guy at first who required a handle restitched as one side had come away, however on closer inspection there was insufficient room to sew the handle back on, so he decided as the baize was very moth eaten to have the case relined, and a general overhaul. 

The case outside is in good condition has a nice patina, importantly the hinge is strong and in good condition  the leather should be fed to maintain the outside  . The handle however, the leather is very dry and has started to tear so a new handle is needed but the bosses are serviceable but will be fed, to stop them drying out, 

I use Urad shoe balm followed by Aussie leather conditioner, both available from evelbay. Urad is about £12 and the Aussie balm is about £15 great stuff works really well on tired dry leather.

Edited September 12, 2019 by alan123shooting
Spelling

[alan123shooting]

N The inside of the case, bit of a state but repairable. It has nice  an original: Cogswell trade  label. The job is to remove the label  

To remove a label there are number of ways, but importantly take your time. The glue used if original is pearl glue, which is an animal glue which in it raw state is like small pearls hence the name. This mixed at  3-1 water to glue and heated in a Bain  Marie. This glue becomes soft when heated or wet. A leather trade label can be removed by covering with brown paper,  running a warm iron over the label this soften the  glue and with a decorators filling knife or any flat bladed implement start at one edge carefully  ease  the label away from the baize work across under the label to remove.  However with paper and card. If the card is thick use the leather label method but thin paper labels.

cut though the baize with a sharp blade around the label ease the filling knife under the baize and ease the label and baize off as one . Trim off the excess baize  off with a straight edge and sharp knife and put it in a safe place so it is not damaged as to replace an original trade label with another one can prove very expensive if you can find one. Once the label out you now need to strip all the old baize off the inside and all the partitioning. 

Take photos of the inside so you know what it should look like before you start ripping it out, so you have reference as to what goes where. Also take any important information measurements such as barrel, stock lengths before you start. The next  post will be how to strip out the inside of the case 

Edited September 12, 2019 by alan123shooting
Added

[ditchman]

i am liking this 

very different for a change....

[Old Boggy]

Looking forward to this. It's going to be very interesting and something that I've always wanted to do. Maybe one day.

Thanks for posting thus far Alan.

OB

[alan123shooting]

Tools required for previous post also what pearl glue looks like

[alan123shooting]

Label pre trimming

The label post trimming 

[ditchman]

are you going to take the old baize off with a eye scalpal ?................fiddley task that....love the old label

[alan123shooting]

I will be using hot water all will be revealed later 

[alan123shooting]

Ok gents part 2 of the refurb the strip out.  Tools required,  2inch paint brush 1/2 inch brush, sharp knife, filling scraper, coarse grade wire wool, washing  up bowl and a pair of pliers

As I explained the baize is stuck using pearl glue, to remove the baize you need to melt the glue. Boil a kettle of empty in to the washing up bowl, if you are doing this in the kitchen, use bin liners and news paper to protect the work area. 

With the  small brush paint the hot water along the joints and the base  of the partitioning; this  will melt the glue. Once the joints loosen run blade down the joint, and the scraper under the base take your time and be patient when totally loose remove and drop into the bowl and let it soak, repeat with all the different sections. As they soak the baize will come away from the wood, with the long sections stand them in the bowl and with the 2 inch brush,  paint the water over the baize until it peels away then rub the wire wool over the parts Tovar’s remove any stubborn glue. The remaining baize left in the case dampen with the large brush until the  baize can be removed, as before use the wire wool and scraper to remove any remaining glue.

 

 

When dry ,number the parts starting top left 

[alan123shooting]

Check no pieces are missing by re-assembling. At this stage you need to check the stitching of the handle bosses  and strap sliders as the reverse stitching is exposed, try moving these if they are loose then the stitching needs to be replaced; as you can guarantee the stitching will fail after you have relined the case. 

Most gun case stitching fails because it is allow to become dry, so keep your leather fed and don’t let the stitching dry out and it will give you a life time of service. 

So the next job to do is replace the handle so watch this space 

[alan123shooting]

Sorry about the delay but I’ve been dealing with other stuff, so here we go. In true Blue Peter style here’s one I made earlier. I had made this for another case but did not need it, but I will run through how to make one

 

Edited September 19, 2019 by alan123shooting

[alan123shooting]

Here are the tools and supplies you need to make a handle starting from top left to right 

A stitching clam,

 and strip of leather 3mm thick, 25mm wide and three times the length of the Handel you need 

so a seven inch handle requires 21 inch strip

2 brass 25mm  D rings, linen thread, beeswax, 2  saddlers needles, edge coat, impact adhesive 120 grit sand paper

edge beveler, hand crease, scratch awl , stitch marking tool ( pricking Iron) strap cutter, Stanley knife, clicker knife  pliers, saddlers awl, steel rule.

Everything is available on eBay but a good supplier is Le Prevo leather 

 

Edited September 19, 2019 by alan123shooting

[alan123shooting]

With that small kit you can  make a few things of leather for gun cases. So with the strip of leather you need to take the edges stronger so need to remove a small amount off the corner of the edge or create a bevelled edge 

Edited September 19, 2019 by alan123shooting

[alan123shooting]

The edge beveler has groove running up the centre and a very sharp point place the beveler at a 45 angle and run up the edge of the strip it will remove a small sliver of leather to produce a bevelled edge. 

 

Edited September 19, 2019 by alan123shooting

[alan123shooting]

on strap etc. You will see a line down each edge. This is done with the edge crease this done not just for decoration,  it add extra strength to the edge. With a pair of dividers set the distance you want the line from the edge normally a 2-3 mm run a line along both edges. 

Warm the edge crease over flame so it hand hot, place the rule just on the line and run the crease up the scribed line. If the crease is warm enough it will glide over the leather and leave a creased line which will be if it’s light leather a darker shade 

Warming crease

Warming crease 

 

Edited September 19, 2019 by alan123shooting

[alan123shooting]

Creased line 

 

Edited September 19, 2019 by alan123shooting

[ditchman]

facinating..............

[kenholland]

your going to waste mate , you should be on the repair shop.

[Old farrier]

This is a seriously good and informative post 👍

very envious of the craftsmanship and skill in this job😊

looking forward to the next instalment

all the best 

of 

 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Keep up the great work, very interesting.

[alan123shooting]

Thank you gents for your kind input,  I will continue this evening 

[alan123shooting]

Ok , now you have done the crease line you need to skive the ends of leather which means thinning the leather so the ends blend into leather that it is being attached to his is done with a very sharp knife at about 20- 25 mm from the end and cut at an angle towards the end with a handle one end is the finished side the other underside

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Makes sense, nice to see it happening though, thank you.

[alan123shooting]

Ok the stitches  now need to marked on the leather. 

The length of leather is 21 inches long the handle length is 7 inches so the stitched length is six inches long this gives a loop size each end of 1/2 inch. So  mark lightly  half way with pencil then mark 3inches either side, then with dividers set to 4mm  lightly scribe a  line each side of the six inch section 

Edited September 20, 2019 by alan123shooting

[alan123shooting]

Then with stitch pricking iron  place it on the line starting at one end  with hammer lightly tap the iron do not hit to hard the aim is to mark the stitch not punch through the leather, do this both sides 

Edited September 20, 2019 by alan123shooting