New project: the factory leather on a plastic case for high-end headphones was damaged. I was asked to recover the case and add a carving. The cover is held to the box by magnets.
It took longer than expected, mainly figuring out the wrap. I settled on wet molding for the bottom half, then building a cover to get at the headphones.
After a few tries using the case as a form, cutting a 2x4 to the same shape worked much better. I could cut a larger piece of leather and mold it around the block. Nails held it. About 12 hours later I re-wet the leather and smoothed a few spots.
Once the nails were out, the plastic case fitted well. The back would be covered by the flap, so that is where extra hide got cut away. I cut at 45 degrees to remove a lot of the extra at the back of the box. I did not take a picture of that step.
The lid needed the logo and the carving. The logo came from a 3D-printed stamp, which worked better than expected. The carving was a swivel knife and backgrounding tools. To finish the lid I layered a cut-to-fit plastic insert, 3 oz leather, and a layer of soft sheep leather. That gives the inside a little pocket for the headphone holder and a lip so the lid will not slide around.
Lessons learned
- Find small nails with smooth shafts. The ridged ones I used came from the back of an IKEA bookshelf. They are great at staying in. Getting ten of them out of leather took pliers.
- The cover tightens up. Allow about 1/8 inch extra. The lid is a little tight on closing. It does lock with the magnets, but a tiny bit more room would be nicer.
See the headphones case project.