Recovering a Leica M

[trittium]

I am looking to recover my M3 with scrap leather. I was wondering if anyone has experience doing so. I am concerned about how to cut the leather to properly fit around the timer and preview level. Any suggestions would be very helpful. Thanks

[NB23]

Ask www.aki-asahi.com (http://www.aki-asahi.com) to cut you an M3 leather of your choice. Perfect fit, cheap...

[trittium]

I really want to do it myself, I am probably going to attempt this tomorrow.

[terrafirmanada]

It would be good to have a pattern to follow. The aki-asahi kits are cheap, and a good fit in my experience (one m2 and one m3).

[john neal]

I was advised to "size" the leather with PVA glue, layered in cling-film and set aside for 24 hours to dry, before attempting to cut and fit. This really does stabilise thin leather (mine was from a bookbinder), but it loses a lot of it's character.

If you can get thin double-sided adhesive (ask Greyhoundman) I would say that putting this on the leather before cutting would provide the same level of support, but would not stiffen the outer surface.

As suggested above, some form of pattern to work to would be a good idea - I cut mine from old wallpaper, then transferred the dimensions to the leather.

[NL2377]

Use punches to knock out the circular areas... you can pick them up at lowes or Home depot pretty cheap, or you could probably get away w/ using the metal barrel of a pen or something of the sort, if its the right diameter.

[trittium]

Thanks John and nick those are excellant tips

[trittium]

I finished it. The total cost was $5 and 3 1/2 hours of labor. Overall, it looks good. I bought a leather purse from a thrift shop, to canabalize for $2.50 and a appoxy for $2.50. I cut out the front features using an exacto knife. The color is a beautiful dark brown.

[like2fiddle]

Nice job Matt!