Guest post series - 'Filohax' No. 16 - Paul

Thanks very much again to Paul for this sixteenth instalment of his wonderful guest post series.
You can find all of the 'Filohax' posts here.   

Filofax Grosvenor review 

This is a review of a binder that I didn't know existed, and once I did, I didn't even like. I don't usually like gold rings or gold edges on my binders, so I'm not sure why I gave the 'Vintage Filofax Sherwood Black Gold Edge Leather 9KLF Organiser' a second look, I think it must have been that strange serial number - 9KLF. 

 

I checked it out on Filowiki - no entry, which only served to pique my interest further, and it was a search in the Filofax for Philofaxy Fans Facebook group that flagged up Michel L’s 20/12/17 post which named the 9KLF as a ‘Grosvenor'.

 

After looking in the 1990 catalogue, I could see that this model, being a high end model, came with its own protective pouch. (You can see a photo of one of the protective felt pouches in Guest Post – Dust Bags by gmax) And it was also only available in black. The game was on. 

After a bit of back and forth with the vendor, it was obvious this binder had problems - the popper not only looked a mess (it looked like someone had bodged gluing the popper back on), but had virtually lost its fastening capacity. The other black mark against buying it were the rings, fresh air was clearly visible between the top rings. And the 'pouch' was nowhere to be seen, long gone. 

 

A basket case? What spurred me on was knowing it was made of Kid leather, and after owning a Slimline Kid for a quarter of a century, I know how fabulous in the hand kid leather feels and how wonderfully it ages.

 

After asking for and getting a nearly 50% reduction I got it delivered. As soon as I held it, all of my apprehensions faded away. This binder had worked for its living, I knew that from the popper and rings, but it shows in the leather as a characterful lustre with a few dinks, which I always prefer to an unloved perfection. Unfortunately the vendor had picked it up in a charity shop, so didn't know its history.

 

The renovation

 

First of all, I consulted the online advice for repairing weak fastener press studs. I learned a lot from the YouTube video, namely, always ask the collective wisdom of this group first for advice, which I didn't do. So, it said that if the wires in the female part of the press stud couldn't be fixed (it looked like these had rusted and subsequently got too soft to hold the male side) to 'spread' the male part by applying pressure to it in a vice...why the alarm bells were not sounding in my head; I do not know! The result? What had been a very weak closer now had no grip at all, as all that had been achieved was to shorten the available male 'nob'... 

 

Plan B - I did consult the group search and found someone who had employed a cobbler to replace the press stud all together. Learning number 2: Cobblers have no aesthetic qualities at all and are not Leathersmiths. What I should have done is brief him on the exact size, position and colour of popper I wanted. What I got was a popper that a small child will NEVER open! I'm confident that if I ever drop the Grosvenor it will never pop open… He replaced the original Filofax popper with the next size up. Another learning from the exercise is an increased appreciation for the design nuances of the original Filofax designers as their choice of 'smaller is better ' is better. I'm not complaining, as I now have a functioning binder that will be containing credit cards, so I need the security. One improvement however is in the cobbler's choice of colour popper top - brass, which has two benefits over the original.

 

1. It more naturally colour matches the gold edgings.

2. The brass isn't a veneer as the original was, but solid brass...this baby is here to stay! The end result to my mind is a more masculine, functional looking binder than before. 

 

Oh, and did I mention flatability? It almost flops open and hits the desk with a very satisfying 'thwack', stays perfectly flat, 100% flat. Even the strap has perfect flatability (this is more important than you realise - once you've used a Pimlico you'll know what I mean )

 

Next I had to tackle the elephant in the room... the one nearly able to squeeze through the gaps in the top two rings!

 

Again, I sourced rings' wisdom and using a full pack of sticky notes to the good rings, I applied pressure to the top two gappy ones. After a bit of 'it's better/ it's worse' I'm able to turn the pages with no real snagging (I know this will probably upset a lot of people in the group, but we all need to get a grip, if you forgive the pun) when it comes to rings gaps…there are people with real problems in this world, and gaps in rings ain't one - I can use these and that's ok for now. I may get replacement rings as I go forward, I may not but as I don't care about resale value it's up to me. 

 

Day to day use - I have to say that the pocket configuration is an improvement on the classic Winchester, which has been my EDC to date. 

 

It's not just the credit card slots (which for total security would face inwards facing the rings, a la Portland/ Finsbury etc), but the inside front cover pocket is a revelation to me - if you whip open the cover to retrieve something the contents of the two pockets stays securely in the pockets 

 

 

(unlike Winchester pockets, which tend to spray their contents into the rings, if cards it's not a problem, but if coins then it is). The gusseted pocket is easily accessible, and gives great access to even small change, while the second ungusseted pocket is ideal for notes, receipts etc. The inside back cover credit card pockets are perfect - snug but easy to retrieve cards from. And the slip pocket underneath the cards is great for a small selection of inserts, saving the rings for your information, along with another six or so credit/ loyalty cards if the six slots aren't enough.

 

Pen loop - this is the first Filofax that I've been aware of that has its only pen loop on the front cover (experts please?), and its capacity is typical Filofax - fine for a pencil - not a problem as I will be storing my pen within the rings, as is my want!

 

What else is there to say? Size wise it's comparable to the Winchester, but slightly taller and narrower. I'm using it as my EDC / wallet, and although everywhere you look, people are being indoctrinated to carry less and less cash / wallets and doing more with less and less physical items, I'm going the other way…’stuff’ feels better and makes me feel better, and I have a sneaky feeling that the rest will join us sooner or later  

 

Postscript

 

After drafting this blog, I couldn't resist the urge to switch up the rings from the less than perfect 23mm gold rings to my 25mm silver set, which had formerly graced my previous EDC Winchester. So, rather than those languishing in a now storage binder, I've put them back into front line duty and I'm happy that I've got a little more capacity to grow into - as I inevitably always do!

 

 

 

 

 

Filofax 3CL repair/restoration

This 'Vintage' Filofax 3CL organiser was advertised on one of the Facebook groups. It looked a little sad and tired, it had certainly been used since it was bought in 1987. 

Talking to the seller he noticed that the ring mechanism was coming away from the leather at the top and bottom. From the photos I wasn't sure how easy this would be to fix. But we settled on a price and he posted it to me. 

With it in my hands I was then able to see the extent of the wear and tear on the leather and the ring mechanism. I had never attempted a repair of this nature before. 'So in for a penny in for a pound'

First of all gently removed the ring mechanism, using my usual method of removing the top cover, take off the tabs, then remove the ring halves and then gently remove the base plate. The backing plate was held in by a strip of leather which I removed and I was then able to clean up the backing plate and do some work on the leather. 

Without the rings, the leather was able to be treated. I used a liquid beeswax leather balm and using a small paint brush I gave it a liberal coating inside and out. I left it to soak in for about 30 minutes before cleaning it off with a soft cloth. This also removed some of the accumulated patina from the leather. 

I then left the leather to dry out again in a cool, but well ventilated area of our basement.  The leather was now starting to feel supple and more pleasant smelling. 

Then it was time to tackle getting the rings back in again. The backing plate sits in a concaved area in the spine. This seemed to have retained the same shape and the backing plate sat in this area naturally.

To hold it in place, I used a suitable gel-type glue and then pressed it down and then held it with a couple of clothes pegs and left it to set for about 24 hours. I was surprised how secure it seemed. 

To cover it up I had some thin black leather. I cut this into a thin strip and then glued that in to place over the top of the backing plate, being careful to leave cut outs for the tabs. 

Again I left this for 24 hours to set and dry before reassembling the rings. One of the ring pairs was slightly out of alignment, but I was able to encourage it back into shape with some needle nosed pliers. 

I am reasonably pleased with the end result, but I was then wondering how to improve the appearance of the outside leather. It had been worn down through the top layer of the leather.

I gave it another treatment of the leather balm, again leaving it to soak in and then wipe off and polish. But the worn patches were still very obvious. Now some people would be quite happy with that. I wanted to see if I could improve it a little bit more. 

If you look on-line you will find lots of 'leather repair kits' available, all of them promising outstanding results with very fancy prices attached to them! I wanted to try a more 'what do I already have' approach! 

To treat the outside leather I used some black wax shoe polish applied with a stiff brush and left on for about 15 minutes before removing the excess and buffing it with a soft brush and a soft cloth. 

And the net result I think is quite pleasing, it is not 'as new' by any means, but it is certainly much better than it was originally.

Could I improve it further? Yes, instead of gluing in the strip of leather I could use a wider strip of leather and sew it in, but that would involve some delicate surgery to the existing leather stitching. I might make it worse than it already is. I therefore think that my initial approach was the best way. If over time I see that it isn't working, I do at least know how it was assembled and I can take apart and try again. 

I've put it to good use already to hold my French key phrases notes and a guide I also received with the Filofax 3CL. 

The Filofax 3CL Wallet was sold for many years. It is in the 1984 catalogue. It has 3 pockets, hence the 3 in the name and it is made from Montana Calf Leather (CL). The rings are a tiny quarter of an inch (about 13 mm). 

My Mulberry Agenda history and repairs by Anita

As mentioned in my previous post, I am very fortunate as my Mum-in-law's neighbour gave me a Mulberry Agenda. The phone conversation went a bit like this:

• "My neighbour has given me an old Filofax for you and she doesn't want anything for it" - woo hoo! 
• "It was a bit dirty, so I gave it a wash and tried to give it a bit of a clean with furniture polish. Umm, it's changed colour" - uh oh...   

The exterior colour had been the same as the interior, but I think the leather was so dry that it just sucked up all the polish. It still felt very dry and was looking a bit unloved. 

Looking under the secretarial pocket, you can see what the wonderful leather was originally like.

The original owner had purchased it from the Mulberry factory shop in 1990 and had used it for many years. I wonder if it had been banished to a shed as it smelled faintly of woodsmoke, and had some furniture tacks in the pocket (large safety pin in photo for size reference).

I contacted Mulberry to ask if they have any information about this particular model and this was their response:
'Regrettably, our photographic archive does not stretch back that far but I can see that there were textured leathers used around that time in the production of agendas which were labelled as Reed Leather, Cane Leather and Bamboo Leather. This may be one of those leathers but as there are no photographs available, it is impossible to ascertain'.

Due to the A6 paper size, I just couldn't see myself using it and gave it to the lovely Jane. She kindly sent me updates as she had taken it to a boot repair shop to see if they could do anything to help. The outside has been dyed a lovely chocolate brown, has been cleaned properly and conditioned to within an inch of its life.

After realising that A6 paper size might be better for me, I couldn't wait to dive in and start using it once it arrived back in the UK. However, probably due to old age and two lots of international shipping, it had developed a tear in the leather at the spine and was definitely getting worse with use .

After previously getting my A5 Ascot repaired, I thought it was worth a try so popped into town with it. Unfortunately the shop I used before has closed down, and the other two immediately said that they couldn't help. I offered to remove the ring mechanism, but the more traditional shop of the two said that the metal inside the spine would prevent them from putting it on their machine.

I came to the conclusion that I would start to use it anyway, but was disappointed. And then I wondered about if there were other places that might offer leather repairs. I came across an equestrian shop ('saddlers and riding outfitters' as they describe themselves) that I had visited when I was a kid as I used to ride quite a bit and my sister had a pony. The initial response was very different from the shoe repair places as he confidently said, "Oh yes, I'm sure that we can do something with that".

I collected it today and don't think that I could be any more delighted with their repair.

restitching inside

The patch matches the colour and smells wonderful!

 
I know that the patch might not be for some of you that like your binders in perfect condition, but I love that this all just adds to its history and character.

Out for Repairs by Nan

A while back, inspired by the colorful, decorated organizers I've seen in blogs and Facebook groups, I decided to switch from a .05 pen in black or blue ink to bold, .07 pens in a variety of colors. I was happy with my choice of pen (Pentel EnerGel), but the pen loop on my Cuban Filo wasn't. The new pens were a bit too thick for the loop.

Instead of doing the wise thing and using Kent from Oz's method for stretching a pen loop, I just forced the pen in and out, thinking the loop would stretch with wear. Instead, it was the threads attaching the loop to the cover that gave way:

I thought it would be a pretty simple job to have a cobbler reattach the loop and make it bigger. I brought my Filo, and an example of the type of pen I use, to my local show repair shop. I thought they could add some elastic to the loop so it could hold thicker pens, but after some testing they found that the rubber grip on the pen would snag on the elastic. They said they could attach extra leather to the loop and dye it to match, but since they would be stitching it by hand, they couldn't match the original machine stitching. They were also concerned that the job would be expensive, but I assured them more than once that I was willing to pay for quality handwork.

They did the job in just about a week, and it came in $5 under the estimated cost at $25.

The original part of the loop is at left, the added leather at right

The pen fits comfortably

Without the proper equipment, my local cobbler couldn't roll the edge of the leather and stitch through multiple layers, so the raw edge of the leather is dyed to match

All in all, I'm happy with the job. For a small repair like a pen loop, I recommend giving your local artisans some business!

Some TLC and repair for the Ascot by Anita

As mentioned in my previous post about my recently acquired A5 Ascot, the condition was described as well loved by the seller. I do quite like binders that look lived in, but I did wonder if it might appreciate a little TLC before I properly settle in and start using it everyday.

It's not very obvious, but some of the stitching has started to come undone at the bottom of the left hand side below the zip.

I was aware of this at the time of purchase, but didn't consider it enough of a problem to pass up on such a beautiful filo. Initially I considered just leaving it as it is, but I think that it makes sense to fix any issues now before they worsen with use. I don't really have any experience of repairing a Filofax, so asked for some help here and was given some very helpful advice to take it to a cobblers for repair.

I dropped off the Ascot (feeling a little apprehensive, I admit) and it was ready to collect later that day. For the grand sum of £5, he had glued back some of the edge and restitched the rest. He did warn me that the stitching would go all the way through, but would match the thread colour as closely as possible to the leather.

I'm really impressed with the result and it doesn't look too much like Franken-binder! Yes, it may be on the front, but I've never been one for needing my Filofaxes to look pristine, so it's just a bit of added character.

And here's how it looks inside. I've since carefully snipped off the loose ends as they are from the original stitching, and he's done a great job of going over the area there.

Before I left, I picked up some nourishing shoe cream in a colour called bordeaux, which is a pretty good match.

The leather almost sighed in relief when I started to rub in a little of the shoe cream, like a plant that's been without water or hands that need moisturising badly. I took my time to add two coats and left the binder open, before coming back to polish it off later.

The faded areas and scuffs have now gone, the colour is more intense and I am absolutely loving the added shine.

What a day... surgery in the morning, followed by a rejuvenating facial in the afternoon and I think that the Ascot is looking fantastic.