Hal,

  Very nice pictures. Shouldn't be to hard to duplicate one either...... if..... I knew how to sew leather like that. 

PETE

Maybe we can get Louis Vuitton to make a special run of them for us...    Now THAT would be classy and our significant others would understand why we wanted it!

Froggie

Very nice, Thanks for the detailed photos,

You can make leather boxes. It's not too hard but is time consuming.

Look for Al Stohlman's "Art of Making Leather Cases Vol 1 & 2

He has all the stitches & methods required.  If you did  not insist on completly authentic Leather outside with thin wood for the inside would not be so hard.

Boats

Pete

Friend of mine made one for a real nice Italian Double shotgun. It looks great. He even made a canvas dust cover stenclled with 'Benelli" to keep it from getting scratched up 

He used thin hardwood plywood and glued canvas to the outside. Then the Leather was glued and sewn on. The Canvas dust cover goes over all about like a slipcover on a sofa

On the corners. If you soak leather good it will mold to almost any shape. Most people make a male/female mold and press the corners into shape. Generaly the large piece of leather is flat and glued and the corner /edge covers are molded and applied & sewn after.

I have made a lot of small leather boxes but never tried one the size of that Creedmore case. Methods are still the same though.

The stitches look hard but they are laid out with a scribing tool and holes are marked with a stitching wheel. Then It's just pierceing with a awl and stitching through the pre-punched holes. Not much more difficult than lacing rawhide through punched holes. Just smaller 

Have often thought of a shooting box of leather.  I keep one set of my iron sights in a Alligator leather box. It's just an old ladies pocketbook cut up for the leather stock and sewn to a molded cowhide box.

Would like to have a measured drawing of the Creedmore box with some details sketched, particulary that hinge

Boats

Pete.

I could scale it off from a projected image using one of the cartridges as a index to make my scale.  You just move the projector back and forth until the cartridge image fits a real one. The rest is a trace job.

You only need wet molding for a complex shape.  For that Case I would only mold the corner pieces.  They look to me like those Brass end caps you can buy ready made for boxes etc.  The flat sides and  "L" shaped edges I would not mold.  The mold is simple just the male part needs to be exact, The Female part is just an outline mold indexing on the edges.  you also let the edges run over and trim down to final size once dry.

I put them in a big bench vice and squezee into shape. And you only need one mold for all 8 corners. One per day. I let them sit overnight.  Fitted corners add a nice touch and are more durable.

The Hinge as you say looks light duty considering the weight of cartridges etc. I just used that type sewn leather hinge on some Fly boxes, But they were shirt pocket size and Flys don't weigh much. The good thing about it is they lay open flat and don't want to close on you. I have fly's top and bottom and they lay open like a book in the palm of your hand.

For a range box I would use a metal hinge.

Looking at my wooden open top bench box and all the gear I use for Schuetzen I bet it weights 20 plus pounds.  You need a sturdy box for that.

I would guess the first one would have  30-40 hours in it. But you could make a run of them in much less time per box.  During the time that one was made I bet there were a number of casemakers in large cities building all sort of fitted boxes.

It's nice to think about but doubt I will be putting the time in it. Shooting season will be here soon.

Boats

Boats,

  I wasn't worried to much about scaling it to size. You would probably use your own cartridge you want to make the case for as a guide for the width of the compartments.

Quote:


  That's why I was thinking that it would be just as easy, and look more like Hal's pictures to cut the pieces to fit and then sew the edges. But sewing the edges still confuses me. Cases made that way that I've looked at don't show the thread coming thru to the inside, so it appears as tho the thread has to go thru at a 45 degree angle. But I'm not sure of this.

  I agree on your thinking of the hinge. I'd probably go with a solid brass piano hinge. The lock looks very similar to some you can get from Rocklers.

  Have to laugh at your 20# box for Schuetzen shooting. At least that much. I made up a tool box similar to what Gerstner puts out and it weighs that much, easy, when loaded! I've lately been going to those plastic tool boxes you can buy for a coupla bucks and then set one up for each of my "working" guns. When I want to impress people I get out the wooden one! 

  I agree this project probably won't get done this year. I still have to finish the box to carry the wind flags in that GWarden and I bought a while back. Seems like it's getting so I'll have to buy a trailer just to haul all the "stuff" to the range. 

PETE

Hi Boats and Pete.
Here is some help. Got these notes from Leo. 
Closed- 12.3/4 X 8 X 4.3/8 tall. 

Inside compartments:
all 1.5" high Long one (one each side) is 11 1/2 X 2 1/2
Four small per side - 2 5/8 X 3 7/8
Lids and dividers:
Sm lids with leather pulls 2 7/8 X 4 1/2
big dividers 7 1/2 X 12
Two heights of box- 2 1/8 tall, bottom 2 1/4 tall
Box is made from pressed cardboard covered in garment quality and thickness leather. Metal reinforced retainer is steel while other stess areas are backed by brass. 
Hope this helps!
Hal-P.