1st Wallet.

[DieselTech]

Well guys & gals here is my 1st wallet. Its probably a bit overkill on the leather, but it's what I had on hand. 

The outside basket weave panel is 6/7 OZ, then all the inside panels are 3/4 OZ. It has 8 total card slots. 

It is all saddle stitched with 346 thread. 

What's your guys & gals thoughts. 

Thanks for looking. 

[DieselTech]

Also forgot to add the card slots are lined with some high price plastic fabric material. Lmao I cant think of the name. I'm wanting to say tyvek, but I think I'm wrong on the name. 

[RockRash]

Looks good, you did a great job. 

[bladegrinder]

That looks great!

[Deanr]

I think you did an excellent job on the basket weave, as well as the rest.

[DieselTech]

Thanks everyone. Do you guys & gals think 346 thread is too heavy & should I've used a larger spread stitching chisel? 

Thanks.

[Gezzer]

Looks very good but it might be a tad thick with those weights of leather .Very nice though !

[Tugadude]

What specific chisels did you use?

[chuck123wapati]

that is nice work all the way around, maybe a bit thick but that doesn't matter much it will last for years .

[SUP]

The basket weave is stunning and eye-catching. I feel that if you had used a thinner thread, it would have appeared unbalanced. I think unconsciously you used the correct thickness. Your stitching is neat and even too, so it complements the stamping well.

[Doc Reaper]

Looks great but where's all the money lol

[DieselTech]

  On 12/8/2023 at 5:43 PM, Doc Reaper said:

Looks great but where's all the money lol

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Lmao I've been spending it on leather tools. I started 8 years ago with a amazon basic leather starter kit & trying now to buy some name brand stuff. 

The good stuff is way more expensive.

  On 12/8/2023 at 4:24 PM, SUP said:

The basket weave is stunning and eye-catching. I feel that if you had used a thinner thread, it would have appeared unbalanced. I think unconsciously you used the correct thickness. Your stitching is neat and even too, so it complements the stamping well.

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Thank you, I'm not going to lie, I have good days & bad days when it comes to basket weave stamping. 

[DieselTech]

  On 12/8/2023 at 3:34 PM, chuck123wapati said:

that is nice work all the way around, maybe a bit thick but that doesn't matter much it will last for years .

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Yeah I know it was overkill on the leather selection, but it's all I had & I wanted to make a wallet to show off. 

It's like the duty belts I make, probably way overkill on the leather. But they should last & not stretch or sag. 

[DieselTech]

  On 12/8/2023 at 3:10 PM, Gezzer said:

Looks very good but it might be a tad thick with those weights of leather .Very nice though !

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Thanks I know i was using too thick of leather, but i had a itching to try my hand at making a wallet. 

[DieselTech]

  On 12/8/2023 at 3:12 PM, Tugadude said:

What specific chisels did you use?

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I used these amazon chisels, they have been good chisels & I believe they are spaced at 4mm. They are a diamond chisel. 

I bought a high dollar set from tandy & they bent the 1st time I used them trying to stamp  thru some thick leather. 

[JWheeler331]

Looks good. 

[Tugadude]

  On 12/8/2023 at 7:40 PM, DieselTech said:

I used these amazon chisels, they have been good chisels & I believe they are spaced at 4mm. They are a diamond chisel. 

I bought a high dollar set from tandy & they bent the 1st time I used them trying to stamp  thru some thick leather. 

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I would try a smaller diameter thread and compare the results.  Taste is subjective, but I don’t care for the appearance of “chunky” thread.  Your example is not to the extreme end, but like I said, you might experiment with different thread and judge for yourself.  The stitching itself is coming along and will get better and better so long as you use good technique.  Practice does not produce improved results unless the technique is proper.  I found this video to be a great help.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by Tugadude

[DieselTech]

  On 12/9/2023 at 2:28 PM, Tugadude said:

I would try a smaller diameter thread and compare the results.  Taste is subjective, but I don’t care for the appearance of “chunky” thread.  Your example is not to the extreme end, but like I said, you might experiment with different thread and judge for yourself.  The stitching itself is coming along and will get better and better so long as you use good technique.  Practice does not produce improved results unless the technique is proper.  I found this video to be a great help.

 

 

 

 

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Yeah thanks for the info & video. I'll watch it & see what I pick up. 

Yeah I bought the Al Stohlman on how to saddle stitch & read it a few times, it's got some great info it to. 

[Handstitched]

Yey for basket weave !!!    A challenging but rewarding pattern to do . I've just  did a  BW on a small handbag and put a small cammo + tiny seeder  around the border of the BW. I can't even show you cos I sold it at the weekend. 

Love the colour  

Well done  

HS

[DieselTech]

  On 12/10/2023 at 7:36 AM, Handstitched said:

Yey for basket weave !!!    A challenging but rewarding pattern to do . I've just  did a  BW on a small handbag and put a small cammo + tiny seeder  around the border of the BW. I can't even show you cos I sold it at the weekend. 

Love the colour  

Well done  

HS

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Well dang it! You are supposed to take a couple pics before you sell it. Yeah basket weave is soo nice when its executed perfectly. I have my hit & miss days when tooling the BW. 

Thanks for the kind replies. 

[Handstitched]

  On 12/10/2023 at 2:15 PM, DieselTech said:

Well dang it! You are supposed to take a couple pics before you sell it. Yeah basket weave is soo nice when its executed perfectly. I have my hit & miss days when tooling the BW. 

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Yeh, I know, my bad. I've made some fine stuff ups with basket weave myself.  The 'tri-weave' was my worse ever stuff up. 

HS

[Southerngunner]

Great job on the whole wallet. I struggle with basket weave stamping myself but I will keep trying, maybe someday

[DieselTech]

  On 12/11/2023 at 3:21 PM, Southerngunner said:

Great job on the whole wallet. I struggle with basket weave stamping myself but I will keep trying, maybe someday

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Yeah Southerngunner I bought a couple higher priced basketweave stamps, & they got 4 alignment tabs on them 2 stamps I bought.

It's got a raised tab/locator on each corner of the stamp & as long as you get the 1st line of stamping straight, it goes good stamping/tooling. 

The geometric stamps get me messed up, & I've not perfected them at any level. 

[jrdunn]

  On 12/12/2023 at 9:56 PM, DieselTech said:

Yeah Southerngunner I bought a couple higher priced basketweave stamps, & they got 4 alignment tabs on them 2 stamps I bought.

It's got a raised tab/locator on each corner of the stamp & as long as you get the 1st line of stamping straight, it goes good stamping/tooling. 

The geometric stamps get me messed up, & I've not perfected them at any level. 

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If you don't mind, whose did you get?

[DieselTech]

  On 12/13/2023 at 12:53 AM, jrdunn said:

If you don't mind, whose did you get?

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If you can find them anymore, they are Craftool Pro # X2840 & X2842. These are a solid stainless steel stamp tool, & some of the best Tandy ever offered. 

It is sad that Tandy ever dropped this line up of stamps, because they were deemed too expensive.