Liner Holes Never Match Leather In Kit

[Bigfoote]

I'm new to this craft, just trying some Tandy kits. The holes in the lining in the kits never matches the holes in the leather. I have been careful to make sure I am not stretching the leather when tooling. Is there something I am doing wrong? Anyone have a solution? Thanks.

[Cyberthrasher]

Do you like working with leather? If so, scratch the kit and use it as a pattern to cut some real leather.

I've never assembled any of the kits myself, so I'm not sure if that's by design.

[electrathon]

The two not lining up is the result of very, very low quality control. Also, the leather used in the kits is some of the worst of the worst (sad). The best recomendation is use the liner for your project. Replace the outside leather with quality leather. Cut your new outside a little too big, glue it togeather and then trim it to size.

[Chief31794]

The liner is usually smaller than the shell (In particular wallets), the instructions say to glue the liner then lace it or sew it, forget that, when I make wallets, I don't use the kits but I cut the liner short by 2X the thickness of the leather back on the folded edge, other words in wallets the longer length, since there is no bend from top to bottom, I make those exact. Then I tie thread cut offs (from my hand sewing, I actually save them for this), one in each corner and also one on any pieces that need to be positioned off the corner. I then lace or sew up to the hole before the thread then cut the thread, take it out and continue sewing or lacing.

Hope that helps some,

Chief

[electrathon]

Some of the kits are so bad that the sides interiors and exteriors do not even have the same amount of holes.

[Jax]

Ive not had that problem so far......maybe its just luck??? Or because Ive been doing older kits.

[cowboy bowhunter]

The liner is usually smaller than the shell (In particular wallets), the instructions say to glue the liner then lace it or sew it, forget that, when I make wallets, I don't use the kits but I cut the liner short by 2X the thickness of the leather back on the folded edge, other words in wallets the longer length, since there is no bend from top to bottom, I make those exact. Then I tie thread cut offs (from my hand sewing, I actually save them for this), one in each corner and also one on any pieces that need to be positioned off the corner. I then lace or sew up to the hole before the thread then cut the thread, take it out and continue sewing or lacing.

Hope that helps some,

Chief

So the outside you tool on is a little longer then the liner where you put the credit cards?

[electrathon]

Ive not had that problem so far......maybe its just luck??? Or because Ive been doing older kits.

The old kits were great. There was good quality control and had good leather in them. Not really sure when the change happened, I have not been into leather for that long. My Dad has been doing leather since the 1950's and he says the old kits were very good in quality.

Same with lace. In the old days most of the lace was good in quality. Now days most of the lace Tandy sells is horid. You need to be very carefull with what you are buying, most of it is virtually unusable if you care about quality (We are paying more money in most cases to make things ourselves that it would cost to buy them. If we do not care about quality if seems sort of insane to waste the time to do the work).

[Chief31794]

So the outside you tool on is a little longer then the liner where you put the credit cards?

Yes, that makes it where the wallet doesn't open flat, more like 90% but it also makes it where the inners or liners don't bunch up when you close the wallet. There was a thread out here about how to calculate how much longer it should be based on the weight of the leather, but I wouldn't know where to find it, somebody provided a formula for calculating the additional length needed for one or two folds, some wallets get by this by having floating inners with the middle cut out and covering that area with a piece that is less that the length of the wallet.

Chief

[Northmount]

So the outside you tool on is a little longer then the liner where you put the credit cards?

Sure. If your don't use a shorter liner, it will bunch up in the fold. And for the typical billfold, the more cash a person stuffs the bill section with, the liner bunches up even more. The liner needs to be shorter in the direction perpendicular to the fold line.

To accommodate the difference in length, a one piece liner should not be stitched or laced to the back in the fold area. If the liner hasn't been trimmed back in the fold area at the bottom, then cut a notch in it about 1/4 x 3/4". Match the ends up, glue in place, punch the holes and lace it up. This will force a natural fold in the wallet (won't lay open flat, so don't attempt to display it that way). Some liners are an expandable type that accommodate the difference in length flat versus folded. The centre piece of the liner fits into slots cut into the two end pieces and "floats" between them. Again, this floating centre piece is not stitched or laced to the back.

Tom

I see Chief answered at the same time, so you got it from 2 directions!

Edited February 18, 2013 by northmount

[Chief31794]

The old kits were great. There was good quality control and had good leather in them. Not really sure when the change happened, I have not been into leather for that long. My Dad has been doing leather since the 1950's and he says the old kits were very good in quality.

Same with lace. In the old days most of the lace was good in quality. Now days most of the lace Tandy sells is horid. You need to be very carefull with what you are buying, most of it is virtually unusable if you care about quality (We are paying more money in most cases to make things ourselves that it would cost to buy them. If we do not care about quality if seems sort of insane to waste the time to do the work).

Totally agree, Tandy Kits are bad and too expensive and the lace is pitiful, I would throw the lace in the kit out if have already bought the kit and purchase some quality lace. Bad lace will break your heart!!! Kits will too eventually. I don't like to make inners, so I buy mine from Springfield Leather Company, mostly Chaylor Fenelli, but some of their pigskin for less expensive wallets as well. My price for a tandy wallet kit is as much as $22.00, I can make a better wallet for less money using Springfield's 6 pocket inner (~ $7.00), less than $3.50 for the leather (HO at $7.69 per SQ Ft), and about a $1.00 for the lace, $.50 for incidentals), that puts my cost of materials at about $12.00 for a better quality wallet than the tandy kit at $22.00.

Just My Opinion,

Chief

Chief

[Jax]

The old kits were great. There was good quality control and had good leather in them. Not really sure when the change happened, I have not been into leather for that long. My Dad has been doing leather since the 1950's and he says the old kits were very good in quality.

Same with lace. In the old days most of the lace was good in quality. Now days most of the lace Tandy sells is horid. You need to be very carefull with what you are buying, most of it is virtually unusable if you care about quality (We are paying more money in most cases to make things ourselves that it would cost to buy them. If we do not care about quality if seems sort of insane to waste the time to do the work).

Don't mention lace...I bought a spool of 1/8" "superior" calf lace from Tandy the stuff is awful, its uneven in width & thickness, it breaks really easily & the flesh side seems to swell & go really fluffy. I use parafin wax on it but it doesnt help at all

[electrathon]

Don't mention lace...I bought a spool of 1/8" "superior" calf lace from Tandy the stuff is awful, its uneven in width & thickness, it breaks really easily & the flesh side seems to swell & go really fluffy. I use parafin wax on it but it doesnt help at all

Kangeroo lace is what you want. Tandy sold it for a while, it is on close out now. Even now though it still costs about twice what you can get it from elsewhere. Y-Knot-Lace is great. Good strong lace for less than crappy lace.

[Bigfoote]

Wow thanks for all the replies, didn't know everyone hated the Tandy stuff. It is a little pricey, and I was thinking of using my own liner. Should I glue the liner on the back of the leather or leave it free and just stitch it on? Thanks everyone, I thought maybe I had done something wrong, but seems others have had the same problem.

I live in Northern Canada and find a lot of suppliers don't ship up here. Can anyone suggest a supplier for me?

[electrathon]

Wow thanks for all the replies, didn't know everyone hated the Tandy stuff. It is a little pricey, and I was thinking of using my own liner. Should I glue the liner on the back of the leather or leave it free and just stitch it on? Thanks everyone, I thought maybe I had done something wrong, but seems others have had the same problem.

It is a lot sad for me really. I have a strong emotional attachment to Tandy. I have many childhood memories of my Dad and I looking through that Tandy catalog togeather. I want to buy from them. I have to be very carefull about what I buy though. Tandy is the Harbor Freight of the leather busness. Very high volume, reasonable prices (IF you watch the sales closely). If you are looking for quality though, you need to look elsewhere. As a craft store, almost everyone starts leather work at Tandy. Most however, migrate elsewhere as they learn more.

[cowboy bowhunter]

Yes, that makes it where the wallet doesn't open flat, more like 90% but it also makes it where the inners or liners don't bunch up when you close the wallet. There was a thread out here about how to calculate how much longer it should be based on the weight of the leather, but I wouldn't know where to find it, somebody provided a formula for calculating the additional length needed for one or two folds, some wallets get by this by having floating inners with the middle cut out and covering that area with a piece that is less that the length of the wallet.

Chief

Sure. If your don't use a shorter liner, it will bunch up in the fold. And for the typical billfold, the more cash a person stuffs the bill section with, the liner bunches up even more. The liner needs to be shorter in the direction perpendicular to the fold line.

To accommodate the difference in length, a one piece liner should not be stitched or laced to the back in the fold area. If the liner hasn't been trimmed back in the fold area at the bottom, then cut a notch in it about 1/4 x 3/4". Match the ends up, glue in place, punch the holes and lace it up. This will force a natural fold in the wallet (won't lay open flat, so don't attempt to display it that way). Some liners are an expandable type that accommodate the difference in length flat versus folded. The centre piece of the liner fits into slots cut into the two end pieces and "floats" between them. Again, this floating centre piece is not stitched or laced to the back.

Tom

I see Chief answered at the same time, so you got it from 2 directions!

Thank you both that really helps.