Hey guys, Thank you for the kind words.
Jerry, I too wonder about that cloth and hole on the original. My guess is that there was a rolled strip of patching in the bag, that came out through the hole on the flap. The red cloth up near the hinge would keep the patch strip up and out of the way when the flap was opened. Just a guess. Yes, I omitted both as I don't think they were original to the bag. I am no expert though....
Frank, the stamp was made by:
John Dobzenski at leatherstampmaker@gmail.com
High Desert CNC Designs
Leatherstampmaker.com
They do a great job. Pretty fast too. Reasonable price for the quality of work....and certainly not "budget priced from China." That is a good thing.
Nate, that stitching you see secures the red cloth strip under the flap on the original. The person that added the red strip followed the original "X" tooling. Since no one for sure knows the use of the red cloth strip, I omitted it. It could always be added later if wanted.
John, there is no welt. The general consensus earlier was that there was no welt on the original. Therefore, I didn't add a welt to this one. This one was glued with contact cement, and stitched tight with some heavy waxed cotton thread. I think with regular use and care it'll last just fine. Modern polymer threads can cut leather, as I learned from Gary Eastman who makes the top WWII flight jackets reproductions. The old cotton thread is much more forgiving.
Bob Hill, the next bag will involve some pigskin you gave me. :-) I hope I do right by it.
Again, thank you for the boost folks. It was a fussy little bag to make, but I am pretty pleased with the result. I hope the new owner is too.
God Bless, and best wishes, Marc
