Raw Recruit

[Semo]

Hello, new to the forum. I inherited from my father all his leather working tools, some date to the very early 1960's. So to put it nicely I'm starting from square 1. My question to the forum is about the quality of basic wallet or billfold kits from Tandy Leather. I purchase 4 kits with the idea that I could use them to make patterns. It seems like the measurements are all over the place, by as much as 1/16" . I'm a tool and die guy by trade. Do I need to relax or ???

Thanks Semo

Ps the material that lining is made of seems to be mystery material not lining leather.

[TinkerTailor]

Kits are for campers.... If you are a tool and die guy, patterns should be a piece of cake for you. Make your own patterns from things in real life taken apart. There are a few users on here as well that freely post patterns in pdf format all over this site. Some will even make a pattern for you from a picture if you ask nice.....
Word of warning about wallet patterns, Bills are different lengths around the world, and so are wallets. Don't assume any pattern you find will fit US currency until you try...Put money on the pattern. If it don't fit, you have to either modify the existing or get a new pattern. I dont like patterns with stitch holes because different leathers move in different ways, and casing, tooling, and dying can change the shape of leather, causing the stitch holes to misalign and creating weird warps and stuff in ther final product.. Punching them later eliminates this.

As for leather choice, tons of info here for any given type of project. Just today someone posted a wallet made from austrailian cane toad......

I would suggest researching places you can go to in person to buy leather close to you besides tandy. Tandy is ok, but much nicer leather and prices can be found from the local leather guy in alot of cases. I have found in general, independants are more forthcoming with the tips and info compared to tandy. At tandy i am frequently directed to the courses/books when i ask a question. There are also several leather suppliers who advertise here that seem to be very reputable (disclaimer- i have never ordered from any of them due to my canadian location).

Watch Nigel Armitage's videos on youtube. Armitage Leather. He is on this site.

Watch Ian Atkinsons videos on Youtube as well. Search for Leodis leather.

[Semo]

Tinker,

Thanks for the insight. Patterns are easy no that big of a deal. But you did confirm to me my thoughts on Tandy. But, you did give me a good idea on the different sizes of bills and pull out some various kinds and lay it on the pattern. simple but effective. Thanks for the youtube and ideas on leather supplier.

Mike

PS: you gave me some other ideas, I will take the tandy kits apart and measure the liner parts, I guess I was upset that the dimensions were so variable within the same kit. I also understand what you mean about the leather changing dimensions after being tooled for example.

[NavyVet]

What is really NOT touched upon is when making smaller objects that are tooled is that the leather stretches when hammered. Tandy Leather sells two types of glue for this purpose. These are the steps I take to tool a smaller item.

1. CASE the leather. Lookup casing on YouTube. LOTS of videos.

2. Transfer the image using the craftool stylus or a small round point shaping tool.

3. Carve your image.

4 At this point allow your leather to get nearly dry. Apply the TEMPORARY paste glue around the back edges of your leather and attach to something that will not stretch. I've used thin art foam board, heavy paper or grocery bag, cardboard and you can even use a scrap piece of suede.

5. Now you can re-moisten the surface of the leather for tooling. For many leathercrafters there are 3 levels of moisture to working with leather. CASED for initial cutting. DAMP - (no water moves when rubbed with stylus), for border tooling around your design cuts and PEAR shading. And lastly lightly moistened with sponge, almost original color, for back-grounding, decorative cuts and final touches.

6. When removing the backing. Leave the leather piece flat on your table and pull the backing up. In spots where it is stuck, work around it, use a long blade, box cutter or you can skive that spot.

I know... I've been told TOO MUCH INFORMATION. on more than one occasion. But the devil is in the details.

The SHORT answer is use a backer glued to the leather that will NOT stretch while the leather is being tooled.

Not a day goes by that I don't try to learn SOMETHING about anything. Tim