Oh the pain!

[tazzmann]

One night last week I was out in my garage pounding on some leather. My son came out and asked what I was doing. He watched, transfixed, as I cut out a deer head and tooled it into relief. He asked if he could make something, so I said "Sure. What would you like to make?" His reply was "I want a leather wallet."

Cool, I thought. Well, I didn't have any more wallet inserts, so I thought that this would be a good time to take a trip down to Tandy. My son went with me and gaped as we walked into the front door. I told him to take a breath and when he did, I asked him what he thought of the smell. He said it smelled "goooooooood". He passes his first test.

We walked around through the store and could not find any pre-made, un-punched wallet insides like I used to be able to get. As we were walking around, my son noticed a wallet kit and said that he really wanted it. I looked at the kit and my stomach started to turn somewhat. The kit said "Intermediate" on it, but I thought that since I have been doing leather work for a while now, I should be able to help him past any bumps he might come across.

We bought the kit and several other items that I needed and proceeded home. We went out to the shop and sat down at the bench. I gave my son some scrap leather and my swivel knife and showed him the basics of how to use it and let him practice. While he was doing that, I tore open the wallet package and began to look at the components and the instructions.

First thing I noticed was that the inside backing was larger than the back. hmmmmm. Then I counted the holes on each side.... yup... different. hmmmmmm. Ok, how about the side of the "secret money flap"....different yet again....hmmmmmm. Ok, now I am thinking this is why I have never bought a kit and we need to take this back.

My son wanted to try it anyway. His theory was that if it was NOT a kit and something was messed up, how would he need to fix it. Sounds good, I thought......In theory....

I laid out the pattern my son wanted to do and let him start carving. He did about 90% of the carving, which made me proud...Did I mention he was 7? The leather didn't want to case like the stuff I normally bought and I never could get just the right amount of moisture to make nice clean cuts like I usually do.

After the carving, I decided that since he was 7, it didn't really matter if it looked like a quality wallet. So, we started the tooling. Again, he did about 90% of it. So, again, I was happy. And, once again, I had a time trying to get the leather cased right, so we had to do some parts over again.

Then came the part I didn't think he would want any part of.... dying and painting. I was wrong. After the leather dried completely (overnight) we went back and started the painting process. I gave him some acrylic paints and a brush and said to go for it. For 7, I think he did a heck of a job. So far this kit seems to be working ok.

Once the paint was dry and the Super Sheen applied, I went to help him glue the inside backing to the back. Still too long and not the correct amount of holes, I trimmed off one side and re-punched the holes. I lined up and did this with the rest of the pieces that we one or TWO holes too many.

We got everything glued into place and then we started lacing. He got about 1/4 of the wallet done and then had enough of lacing. So I took over.

As I was going around the wallet, I noticed that the holes were getting cockeyed from each other. I had to insert my needle at a 45 degree angle to the right to get from hole to hole. Concerned that I missed a hole, I went back and looked. Nope, didn't miss any. I then took out my calipers and started measuring distance between holes.... yup they were off. . Did I glue it on upside down? Nope, same problem on the other side. Apparently the pieces are not stamped as a set, so the holes drifted as they went down the line.... grrrrrrrr

How did I fix this? Well, every so often I would have to go through the same hole twice to bring the holes back into alignment.

Eventually I finished the lacing (he came over and did it himself for a few minutes every now and then) and called it good. He is happy with the way it turned out and that is all that matters. But the moral of this story is that I will NEVER buy a kit again!

P.S. I will post pics of the finished project when I get home tonight.

[TwinOaks]

Congrats on being the proud parent of a leatherworker.junior!!!

just like anything that's massed produced, I'm sure the kit was an accident. In the future, just open the package in the store. If it's off, you can remedy things in just a few moments. If there's more than one that's out of tune, then the manager needs to know so that others don't have the experience you did. Thanks for sharing this, as I'm gonna put my words to practice.

[JRedding]

It really doesn't matter if that kit was the worst one ever, I can tell you got your moneys worth from the way you described working with your boy, if a little leatherwork is something you can do with your kids that makes it twice as much fun.

[Pip]

I can totally understand your dissapointment at your kit, thankfully you have a good kid there and sounds like he has patience to boot. It could have prooved to be the end of his enthusiam. Well done fotr keeping it together and congrats on seeing it through, when I bet there were times you were tempted to go back to the shop and insert said kit where sun don't shine in the customer complaints department.

The journey was a good one and an important lesson has been learned, leatherwork is fun but not always easy or Straightforward. my nephews would never have stuck at it, and declared it broken at the first sign of trouble and gone and sulked about it.

[tazzmann]

Thanks guys! I am not one for quitting. I may put something down for a while, go curse in the backyard, have a smoke (or drink) and then come back to it later when I am not so angry, but I never give up. Thankfully, my son has inherited this trait. He is an extremely bright kid with lots of enthusiasm for what daddy does. This makes me smile every day.

He is using his wallet now and loves it. As soon as I can replace the battery in my camera (it wouldn't take a charge) I will post some pics. I REALLY want you guys to see what he created mostly by himself. I know you guys would appreciate it.

Mike

[SCOUTER]

Hey Tazz,

I feel your pain! Sometimes your first introduction to a hobby can make or break you. I have been trying to introduce all hobbies to the Boy Scouts for years and I have learned from experience that the two gloden rules are KISS (Keep it simple &$&^#) and the first project must end in sucess! Your "Kit" was just one of a thousand of thrown together packages that can really screw someone up! With the Scouts, they usually do a KEY FOB and a Bracelet to start. Then the comb case and wallet follow. If it comes out good they will be back for more.

A funny story- PINEWOOD DERBY- A simple contest held by Cub Scouts. The idea is to carve a "car" out of a block of pine and attach plastic wheels. Car is then entered in a soap-box style gravity race. Awards are given to fastest car and best looking. Well, my friend supervised his son while he built and painted the car from start to finish. He let his son do all the work, paint and all. Needless to say the car looked like something an 8 year old did. Well after the last coat of red paint the car had more fingerprints and brush marks then you could imagine. The boy was not very happy. The night before the big race the father resanded and repainted the car with his Binks spraygun and Candy Apple Red paint. The car looked awesome! When the scout woke up the father said "You see it just had to dry!". The good news is that the scout likes to model now, The bad news is that the PINEWOOD derby has become a contest where half the scouts make their car and half the parents make their son's car.

You did it the right way by working with your son... Years from now that will be a cherished memory of your time together!

[abn]

Tazz,

Your story brings back memories. My first wallet was a kit, a tri-fold to be exact, and I struggled with all the same issues you mentioned, and in the end, the darned thing wouldn't fold. Well, it would, but it folded so poorly it felt like you had a big old brick in your back pocket! I was fairly disappointed and trashed it. The good news is that the kit taught me some basics about wallet dimensions so I was able to design and build my own the next time.

Please do post pics of your son's wallet... We'd love to see his first project!

Alex

[tazzmann]

Hey Scouter,

My son is also in scouts (a tiger) and has his first pinewood derby car race on Feb 9th. Since there are only 3 in his den he will be going to district even if he loses. tee hee. He designed the car and I cut it out for him and he did the sanding and will be doing the painting this week. The good thing is that he doesn't care if his car looks like $%#^%! He just has fun doing it. Don't get me wrong, he does get frustrated to no end when something doesn't come out EXACTLY the way he wants, but each time I ask him how he/we could have done things differently to make it come out better. As a result, he is starting to not get frustrated quite so much and looks at alternatives if something doesn't go exactly as planned.

I usually design my own wallets and thought I would "try" the kit, thinking it MIGHT be easier than doing it all by hand. Well, lesson learned. We also sat and talked about the wallet when it was done and what we could have done to avoid problems. He came up with some pretty good suggestions, so I know at least some of what I have been saying to him has been sinking in. :D

My wife supposedly bought a replacement battery for the camera today, so I might be able to get some pictures up tonight or tomorrow.

[tazzmann]

ok, finally remembered that my camera has a memory card. Here are the promised pics. Don't laugh, remember he is 7 and you could hurt his feelings easily! :D I guess i didn't take any "finished" photos. i will do that when the new battery is charged and post them here. Now, I AM a proud daddy, but I think he did great for his first project. What do ya think?

Edited January 29, 2008 by tazzmann

[tazzmann]

i thought i would go ahead and throw this in as well... Here is a pic of me and him at one of his pack meetings during the Halloween season...

[SCOUTER]

Tazz, Great job on the wallet! He did some really nice carving! A little antique finish and some hi-lighter and you could have carried it!!!

Good luck with your PineWood derby! I have to tell you that they are FUN! If you ever get a chance to attend a "regional" event GO! Just for the fun of it! You will see kids having a blast and you will also see some over zealous parents who spent many hours on the car and look way too serious!

Good Stuff!

[Beaverslayer]

Tazz, you give your son a BIG pat on the back and a HIGH FIVE as well. He's done a wonderful job on the wallet, very nice indeed. Let him know we're very pleased that he shared this with us, and to keep up the great work. He's a future leather artist in the making.

Ken

[Spider]

Tazz, tell little batman that he is rockin and makin some stuff that people would only wish they could. My son is gonna be 3 in July and he sits with me when I do leather and pounds at the Stamps on a piece I give him. This helps me get my stuff done and him entertained and bonding with me.

Great going Tazz and little Tazz.

[unicornwoman]

Congrats to you both!

On the kit, I vaguely recall doing a Tandy kit where you have to skip some holes and leave them unlaced on the lining? Was that why it didn't all line up? Pardon me if it is a dumb question. I haven't done a wallet in a while.

[tazzmann]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I read them to him this morning and he beamed as he stuffed the wallet in his back pocket! :D

unicornwoman (my daughter would fight you for that name), I didn't see any instructions that said to skip holes, so not sure what that was all about. hhmmmmmm.... skip holes.....why make it any more confusing by adding extra holes?

[howardb]

Laugh?? Cry perhaps. I'm a bit jealous as he's better than I am. Certainly better than I was when I started out! FINE work for a beginner of any age. 7 makes it that much more impressive.

I'm "so far so good" on Tandy kits. Other than the manhole sized punchings, everything has fit well. The deeeluxe check writer kit looked like the little bits lined up whilst I was dry fitting things together.

GREAT story working with your son. Mine is into music, and we can share some back & forth on old bands, but he can actually play instruments, while I can't carry a tune in a bucket.

(Scouter - mine's a Star at 13. Hoping he goes for Eagle...)

Edited January 29, 2008 by howardb

[gnwy]

Man that kid has got talent, I have never been much of a carver myself, and USED to say that any I did looked like something a 7 year old would do. Never did I think that it would be an insult to 7 year olds such as yours. Im glad that you have the chance to spend time with your son, it will pay dividends down the road. I have two boys, 21 and 17 that are kind of distant, which is all my own fault. When they where young I was too busy working long hours, getting a business going to spend much time with them, and now that I have the time, they are not too hip on spending much time with the old man. Hopefully I can be closer, and spend more time with any Grand kids that come down the line.

[indypbear]

Mike,

Tell your Tiger Cub "Good Job" from an old Eagle Scout. I didn't start my leatherwork until 1956 and I was getting on my mothers last nerve. She bought me a Lucky 7 starter kit and the rest is history as they say. I never was your son's level of good at 14. I'm wishing he was a little older so I could meet him at the 2010 National Jamboree (100th Anniv.). Now he can teach it to his fellow Tiger Cubs.

You're a great Dad! You keep up the good work also. We're ALL proud of both of you.

Indy

[Pip]

So much has been said and I agree totally.

My njickname over here as some preople joke is batman, as i rescue bats.... so from one batman to another, here is my namesake Pip (pipistrelle) and its only a pup, no fur yet. A baby bat is not something you get to see everyday, neither is such a great wallet created by a seven year old well done.

[tazzmann]

Thanks again guys for the kind words. He is really getting into leather and I have been piecing him together some tools from TLF so that he doesn't have to use daddy's. He is currently working on a dog collar for our dog "Max". He is getting requests from the kids at school and cub scouts to make them wallets! LOL I told him he needed some more practice before he started making money at this.

I will get a post up when he gets the dog collar done. Then maybe he will give me a break so I can post up a pic of the bike bag I just did. It was my first time doing flames and skulls, so interested in what you guys think.

[indypbear]

Thanks again guys for the kind words. He is really getting into leather and I have been piecing him together some tools from TLF so that he doesn't have to use daddy's. He is currently working on a dog collar for our dog "Max". He is getting requests from the kids at school and cub scouts to make them wallets! LOL I told him he needed some more practice before he started making money at this.

I will get a post up when he gets the dog collar done. Then maybe he will give me a break so I can post up a pic of the bike bag I just did. It was my first time doing flames and skulls, so interested in what you guys think.

Mike,

I don't think he'll have any problems making wallets for kids at schoola nd he'll only get better. With your help, it appears he is so far past the basics. He should also be able to start teaching his Cub Scout buddies basics for the Craftsman badge in Webelos. I know they're older but that would give him status with the older guys. That's what Cub Scouts is all about anyway crafts and group social skills.

little Tiger dude!

YIS/V,

John aka Indy

[tazzmann]

Yeah, I think he is doing good. He just had his Blue and Gold ceremony and he helped me punch out some coasters with the different logos on them (Tiger, Bear, Wolf, etc...) which the boys got to take home. They were all really impressed and asked him LOTS of questions. He gave answers in typical 7 year old speak ("I hit it with a round metal thing and it made that shape. You'll have to ask my dad what it is called.") LOL

Now my daughter is starting to get interested in leather. Not sure when I am going to have time to do MY leather work! LOL I think I might need a bigger shop!

[indypbear]

Yeah, I think he is doing good. He just had his Blue and Gold ceremony and he helped me punch out some coasters with the different logos on them (Tiger, Bear, Wolf, etc...) which the boys got to take home. They were all really impressed and asked him LOTS of questions. He gave answers in typical 7 year old speak ("I hit it with a round metal thing and it made that shape. You'll have to ask my dad what it is called.") LOL

Now my daughter is starting to get interested in leather. Not sure when I am going to have time to do MY leather work! LOL I think I might need a bigger shop!

That's great! Sounds like the start of a new TLF (Tully Leather Factory)

Indy

[tazzmann]

That's great! Sounds like the start of a new TLF (Tully Leather Factory)

Indy

Should have seen that coming!