The History of Cue Cases?

PRED said:

Not without marring the leather. I wanted to add softening the leather at the seam, stretching it, and quickly gluing it in place might yield desired results, but doubtful.

IMO removing the leather is not a viable option because of the riveted lock. There is no way to remove the lock and replace it with a NOS lock over new leather. You might be satisfied with new leather and not replacing the lock if the top has a super tight fit. That still leaves visible holes in the top from the lock. With all of that you still have to be able to replicate the finished ends with the new leather, another monumental task.

If the seam separation is uniform then gluing a strip of leather in the gap might be your best move, then refinish the leather to mask the inserted strip. Fellinis have a flat land about 1.5" wide on the front and back. You can cut a strip wide enough to make it easier to replace the one separated seam with two new tight seams. Take care to match up the width with the finished ends and their angle cuts for a clean look.

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Thanks. Have you ever seen the results of someone trying the technique you describe?

runscott said:

Thanks. Have you ever seen the results of someone trying the technique you describe?

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No, I have not. I would add matching the thickness and grain of the original leather would be critical in your success using that technique.

I have observed both glue and caulk used in an attempt to fill the gap, with horrendous results.

Hi John, what is your opinion of the Talisman Case

PRED said:

That iconic lock has no equal

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My "It's George" case, circa 1990, has that style lock.

Tooled Fellini

I intended to just clean the abrasions and spot-dye with light brown, as a restoration; however, I made an early mistake and forced to go 'all the way'. It turned out good but I would have done black instead of dark brown if I had known I was doing a complete re-dye (sans tooled areas).

ebay auction

I elected not to repair the seam gap but the cap gap and unglued areas were too extreme. I removed the center leather piece and glued a thin piece of leather over it and around the edges, then sanded until it fit. I might dye it a matching brown later, but it looks pretty good like this.

Turned out nice. I saw that sale and considered it.

By the way, you can fill those gouges and cuts and they will be imperceptible.

Here is one product site with instructional videos. https://www.rubnrestore.com/

Those gouges mid way down the front of the case could be made to go away completely.

You can buy leather filler rather cheap. You can sand it, texture it to match, and dye it.

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Thanks for the information. I didn't think it was worth what I had to pay, but I had a repair vision and just needed to try it. It could have been a really bad gamble.

Definitely was worth the effort.

It's a nice case. :thumbup:

I need to get pics of my suede case to post....

I am going to play hookie and get on my Harley. I had enough of work. Had pneumonia and kept working. I am done with it.

I'll go get some pics now.

I would love to describe the detail of this restoration but it would bore everyone to death. Suffice to say it was a solid 4 hour effort plus a lot of planning. I have a recipe for spot-dying that I screwed up. Now me and my dog are sitting in the sun having a beer.

Get well!

Before:

Lots of scuffs, dark black stains, matted nap.







After:





It came out great. Liner is like new so no worries there. I keep my Palmer First Catalog Model 9 with two original shafts in this case.

I would still love to know where these cases came from, who made them.

Beautiful accomplishment! Looks brand new and apropos for your awesome vintage Palmer.

I am still betting early Schon. The tell is in the dimensions. One thing we know about these tube cases is they were made by extrusion. That requires a couple of dies and a minimum quantity run. The variable is what, if any, locking mechanism was employed. The way the ends are finished and the size tells me Schon.

runscott said:

I would love to describe the detail of this restoration but it would bore everyone to death. Suffice to say it was a solid 4 hour effort plus a lot of planning. I have a recipe for spot-dying that I screwed up. Now me and my dog are sitting in the sun having a beer.

Get well!

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Beautiful case that is just fine as is. It has the super rare brass plated diary lock, don't see them often. Is there any sign of Ann Gore's initials on the lower front close to the tooling?

PRED said:

Beautiful case that is just fine as is. It has the super rare brass plated diary lock, don't see them often. Is there any sign of Ann Gore's initials on the lower front close to the tooling?

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Thanks. Nothing but the tooling.

PRED said:

Beautiful accomplishment! Looks brand new and apropos for your awesome vintage Palmer.

I am still betting early Schon. The tell is in the dimensions. One thing we know about these tube cases is they were made by extrusion. That requires a couple of dies and a minimum quantity run. The variable is what, if any, locking mechanism was employed. The way the ends are finished and the size tells me Schon.

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Thanks. I think it pairs great with my Palmer even though it is from a different era.

Schon? Interesting thought. I don't think so. But I do not know.

The latch is very unique. If you go back in the thread you can see pics of another close up. https://forums.azbilliards.com/showpost.php?p=6068733&postcount=116

It is a simple button to push. Inside the lid the hole that the latch engages is reinforced with a metal grommet. Very well done I think. I have seen mine and two others. They seem to be quite rare.

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Chopdoc said:

Thanks. I think it pairs great with my Palmer even though it is from a different era.

Schon? Interesting thought. I don't think so. But I do not know.

The latch is very unique. If you go back in the thread you can see pics of another close up. https://forums.azbilliards.com/showpost.php?p=6068733&postcount=116

It is a simple button to push. Inside the lid the hole that the latch engages is reinforced with a metal grommet. Very well done I think. I have seen mine and two others. They seem to be quite rare.

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The latch is not the answer though. There are thousands of different latches but the extruded tubes are rare because of the methods of production. The answer is in the dimensions of the case.

Chopdoc said:

Before:

After:

It came out great. Liner is like new so no worries there. I keep my Palmer First Catalog Model 9 with two original shafts in this case.

I would still love to know where these cases came from, who made them.

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I can't help with your case's origin, but would you mind sharing how you got the pressed-in suede dents out? I have a Centennial that has some of those, but I'm hesitant to mess with it.

PRED said:

The latch is not the answer though. There are thousands of different latches but the extruded tubes are rare because of the methods of production. The answer is in the dimensions of the case.

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I understand.

The latch groups them to the same maker I think.

The tube dimensions can help ID the maker, of course.

In this case, if we can ID the maker I am pretty certain that any further cases found with this latch will be from the same maker. The most obvious identifying feature in this case is that latch.

I have not measured it yet. But I don't think it is Schon case dimensions.

This case, by the way, is a little short. Maybe a half inch shorter than Fellini...though I have not measured.

Many of these type cases vary more in length than some would suppose, even sometimes from the same maker.

I don't have a Schon case but I have in this style: McDermott, Fellini, Engles, Viking, Kelli, It's George, and more, as well as a couple unknowns.

Most of mine have the "diary lock", which I prefer.

There have been more of these cases made in this style than many suspect. Yes, setting up the extrusion costs a bit up front.

I am looking for cases with the diary lock from:
Joss
It's George Joss
Gore
Centennial
Thomas
Schon
Viking Model CS-200 (genuine Python)
Viking Model CS-100 in Ostrich or Lizard

Also GTF and Kopy Kat, but obviously no diary lock.

I also look for any other interesting cases of this style.


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runscott said:

I can't help with your case's origin, but would you mind sharing how you got the pressed-in suede dents out? I have a Centennial that has some of those, but I'm hesitant to mess with it.

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The standard advice would be to use a suede brush and suede cleaner.

But I hacked it with stuff I already had on hand..

You can dampen with water. You can dampen with vinegar. There are other solvents obviously.

I used vinegar. I also didn't use an actual suede brush. I used vinegar and three brushes.

Brush 1, for the toughest matting was a brass bristle brush like this:



Brush 2, a slightly stiff plastic bristle fingernail brush like this:



Brush 3, a similar fingernail brush with softer bristles for the finish.

Finish brushing in one direction only to get the appearance as consistent as possible with the nap all laying in the same direction.

Mine had severe matting on the ends and very black stains along one side. All of it came out. You mentioned "dents". There were some actual small dents like where the case might have been banged up against the sharp edge of a counter or something. Even those came out completely. Case looks darn good IMHO.

I have not seen your case but I bet you can make it look great. The evidence is how severe my case was and how nice it came out.
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