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.   There is an index of all the previous 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!

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Post - My First Ring Job – Alan

Thank you Alan for sending this post in. I love to see old organisers restored and put back in to use. 

Nearly two years ago, I saw an eBay listing for an intriguing planner binder, a Timberland, that appeared to have good heavy, well-worn leather, but what really caught my eye was that it had ring protectors.  I was able to win the auction at a rather good price and about a week later, it arrived.

It was a bit musty and quite worn, with rust on the ring mechanism.

I removed the rings from the Timberland to clean underneath, and found that there was a lot of rust inside:

I attacked the rust with WD40 and a toothbrush and left the Timberland out in the garage for a few weeks, periodically giving the rust a few minutes of attention.  It did clean up somewhat, but not perfectly.  I also took advantage of having the rings out of the way to clean the leather inside and out with saddle soap and then touch it up with show polish.  I also decided that it made no sense to put the old rings back in:

I had picked up a Filofax Adventurer that was complete trash, and decided to replace the Timberland rings with the Adventurer one, only to discover that they were incompatible:  The Adventurer used rivets and the Timberland used the clip in style of early Filofaxes and still used by firms like Gillio and Van der Spek.  I had an old Lincoln that had seen better days and decided to sacrifice it for the rings.

The rings went in with a snap and a click.  I am very happy with the result:

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.

Restoring my Buckingham?

My Buckingham is my first real Filofax, bought in 2001. It has black, soft smooth leather that I previously thought was indestructible. My Buckingham has done a lot of really hard traveling around the world with me. It was used heavily for nearly a decade.

A couple of years ago I noticed my Buckingham was finally starting to show some signs of wear on the cover. Nothing that anyone else would even notice, really, just a couple of places where the leather was lightly scuffed.  So to preserve its beauty, I put it on the shelf in semi-retirement.

Ironically, it has suffered far worse damage in retirement than it ever did in all those years of heavy use.

Its first major damage happened in transit here to Jakarta. I packed it in my air shipment, which was supposed to arrive a week after we moved but ended up sitting in customs for a month. In the tropical Indonesian heat. And I had very stupidly packed my Buckingham right next to a plastic-covered planner. The plastic melted slightly onto the leather cover of my Buckingham, leaving much of it shiny.  I was very upset about it, and angry at myself for making such a mistake.

So I put it on my shelf with my other Filofaxes, carefully (I thought).  Unfortunately I didn't pay attention to the fact that the back cover was right up against a Domino, and every time I put a book in or out of that shelf the shifting of my Buckingham against the Domino's round strap dug and scuffed the leather right across the back of the binder, much to my heartbreak.

Then to add insult to injury, the front cover of the Buckingham was up against one of my Finsbury Filofaxes. Who knew that the knobbly texture of the Finsbury would imprint itself into the soft leather of the Buckingham??

So first of all I've learned my lesson: this beloved Filofax must be stored in a box, no exception.

Another problem caused by shelving my Buckingham is that during the years it has not been handled on a daily basis the leather has started to look cracky along either side of the spine where the leather creases when the binder is open.  All those years of handling my Filofax every day kept it smooth and supple with the oils from my hands. Now it's really starting to show signs of neglect.

Now I'm faced with the question of what to do to try to restore my beloved Buckingham to some of its former glory. My first solution was of course to take it off the damn shelf and put in on my desk along with all my other in-current-use books, and to handle it as often as possible. Already it's looking better--the Finsbury impressions are coming out, and the cracky areas are smoothing. The shiny plastic residue has mostly rubbed off.

But I still have the horrible scuffs on the back cover. Luckily it is the back, and the front is not nearly as marred. But I would like to try to smooth that out.

I haven't tried the Nivea creme trick, because I'm afraid the mineral oil base would remove some of the leather's dye color. I think probably the best thing to do would be to handle it as much as possible, and the scuffs will smooth out at least a little bit over time.

Which brought me to the realization: Filofaxes, especially the well-made leather ones, are like living things. They must be handled and cared for. They need attention and love. Left on the shelf to languish, they wither and die.

So please, learn from my mistakes!  And if anyone has any ideas for getting scuffs out of soft, smooth leather please let me know!

Restoring a leather Filofax

One of the many things to get 'rediscovered' when we moved house recently was my wife Alison's 1980's Filofax. Alison (the hand of Philofaxy!) last used it about three years ago, it still contains her notes from her MA History studies, it travelled around with her to the British Library, Kent University and many other OU tutorials.

When I set eyes on it, it was looking a little tired and worst for wear. It once again got put on the shelf, until today that is.. I decided to use it as a typical model that someone might have been using for some time, or may be you have bought off of Ebay and you want to bring it back to its original condition or as close to that sort of condition.

As has been commented on before, the late 1980's Filofax organisers are well made and quite tough, just take the usual precautions of only using the tabs at the end of the ring to open the rings, don't just pull them apart, otherwise you strain the mechanism and they won't meet properly in the centre. They last for a lifetime almost and should with care continue to provide service for many years. 

Before I started I wanted to take as many photos as possible of the Filofax organiser to show the true state of the wear and tear on this organiser and also to show the 'before' and 'after' otherwise you might think I just got a new one out of a box in true Blue Peter style 'And here's one we prepared earlier' !!! Not that I would cheat!

Taking the photos was a challenge in itself, black small shiny things are quite hard to photograph, but after a few different attempts I think I did a reasonable job, but like all my photography I learn a bit more each time!

So here is the organiser as it came out of the cupboard. Click on the photos to see a larger version.

The outside had suffered normal wear and tear I suppose over a 20 odd year period, the inside is mainly just dusty. So out came all the pages, being careful to keep them in the same order, not wanting to get in to trouble with 'the boss' !

The first thing I did was to clean the inside with just a slightly damp cloth to remove the worse of the dust and soiling. Then I dried off the inside and outside and left it to dry naturally.  Normally I just use a light silicon polish to maintain the leather on my organisers, but I thought this one needed a bit more treatment of the leather to bring it back to life again and to remove some of the scuff marks.

For this I used a wax shoe polish in black. I used an old soft cloth bunched up the cloth to form a soft pad to coat the outside in wax putting a small amount of wax polish on each time, then gently rubbing it in in a circular motion, taking time to make sure it was well worked in to the leather. The surface now looked dull and matt. I then left the polish on for about 5 minutes to let the wax penetrate the surface scuff marks.

Then using a clean soft cloth I then rubbed off the wax and brought the leather back to a full shine, frequently turning the cloth to make sure I wasn't rubbing the wax back on to the leather. Again taking time to go over the whole surface to ensure no wax was left behind which will only attract dust and dirt.

I was unable to find a suitable press stud cap, which is missing. My own 1980's Winchester has suffered a similar loss. I am going to try sowing some leather over the press stud to cover it like current day Filofax organisers have.  But overall I think you will be able to see the difference. Again click on the photos to see the full size version.

I think the pair of photos that show the before and after best are these two:

Before

After

Now I realise that some of you might like the 'worn' and tired' look, it's a personal taste thing I suppose. But for those of you that like your Filofax looking like new, then as you can see it is possible with a bit of effort and time to get the leather looking like new again.

What next for this organiser... well I think I will have some of the plain ruled paper out of it for starters!
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