How Do I Make A Perfect Wallet Hand Stitched, Hand Cut And Hand Skived

[DavidL]

the tools and equipment i have are:

vergez blanchard pricking iron 9spi 4 teeth

2 awls around 2.5mm and 3.8mm

fil au chinois thread 532 .57mm thick

standard knife and safety skiver

garment leather about 2oz for practice

1.) in this video at 2:40 you can see the thread and stitch holes. the thread I presume is fil au chinois 632(.51mm) or 832(.42mm) and 9 or 10 spi.

2.) what thread size is more aesthetically pleasing for 9spi .51mm or .42mm for those who work in small spi.

3.) What distance is the stitch line drawn from the edge of leather, I have tried 6mm but it is far from the edge and looks odd and any closer to the edge on garment leather makes it hard to get an impression on garment leather.

4.)Thickness of the outside and inside pieces at 4/5 ounces for outside and 2 ounces for interior be suitable? (max thickness would be 4/5 ounce plus two 2 ounce pieces)

5.)My last question is when he cuts the excess leather with his Japanese and english skiver is that necessary or can the pieces be cut to size?

[misha01]

That's a very nice video. Thanks for sharing it.

1 - I'm not sure. Maybe someone else can help with that.

2 - I don't know off hand. If you have samples of both, I would maybe make a run of each in some scrap leather with your 9spi iron and see how they look. Then use the one you like most.

3 - I was told to generally have the distance of the stitch line to be about the same as the thickness of the leather. So if your leather is 6mm thick, then have the stitch line 6mm from the edge. If I remember correctly, that was in Al Stohlman's book The Art of Hand Stitching, or something like that.

4 - It's a matter of preference again. In the video he is using an alligator leather, right? What thickness do those come in? Some wallet's are intentionally made a little more beefy. This is a judgement call the craftsman makes.

5 - So in this video he has the inside a little longer, glues it to the outside, then cuts off the excess with a paring knife.

http://www.fineleatherworking.com/leather-tools/high-speed-steel-paring-knife

You could try to cut them both to exact lengths first, however you are going to find it far more difficult to glue the two pieces together exactly right. It's much easier to trim off the excess afterwards as he did. You will find that your edges are much cleaner that way.

Hopefully someone else can help you out with those couple of things I wasn't so sure on.

Best of luck making your version and be sure to post pictures afterwards!

[DavidL]

Thanks for the reply excellent tips!

[gotafly]

Is the edge finishing iron available in the United States?

Thanks in advance

Michael

[DavidL]

Is the edge finishing iron available in the United States?

Thanks in advance

Michael

mando.fr is the only site i know that sells the iron. I believe it is the same one shown in the video