Rockster Report post Posted July 2, 2017 Hello all, I'm starting out making wallets. I'm brand new, 100% beginner, so I have some questions. 1.Which tools do you suggest for a beginner? 2.What size/ kind of string should I use? 3.What weight of leather? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks! Rocky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
strathmoredesigns Report post Posted July 2, 2017 You might try starting with something like this and just picking out the materials and tools you'd need for the wallet. http://www.instructables.com/class/Beginning-Leatherworking-Class/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DJole Report post Posted July 2, 2017 Are you looking at learning decorative tooling, specifically? You can make wallets without that kind of tooling, so it's unclear exactly what you are looking for. There will be some overlap in the tool set, but if you aren't interested in learning tooling then there are many tools you don't need to get. If you are just starting, you might find Ian Atkinson's YouTube channel is like having a personal teacher right there in your home. Look here for a list (including wallet making videos):https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=leodis+leather+wallet Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rockster Report post Posted July 2, 2017 20 minutes ago, DJole said: Are you looking at learning decorative tooling, specifically? You can make wallets without that kind of tooling, so it's unclear exactly what you are looking for. There will be some overlap in the tool set, but if you aren't interested in learning tooling then there are many tools you don't need to get. If you are just starting, you might find Ian Atkinson's YouTube channel is like having a personal teacher right there in your home. Look here for a list (including wallet making videos):https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=leodis+leather+wallet I don't intend to do any decorative tooling, just planning on doing very simple things and growing from there. Thanks for the reference and feedback, I'll check him out! 1 hour ago, strathmoredesigns said: You might try starting with something like this and just picking out the materials and tools you'd need for the wallet. http://www.instructables.com/class/Beginning-Leatherworking-Class/ Thanks! I really appreciate the help! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
strathmoredesigns Report post Posted July 2, 2017 Why didn't I think of Ian? I'm making one of his bag build alongs right now! Ian's channel is a great place to start to learn about leather working in general. He sells patterns and detailed instructions on what tools and types of leather you'll need on his Etsy page and then his YouTube channel has videos where you can watch him make the piece and work along with him. Here are a couple of his wallet/wallet-esqe "build alongs": https://www.etsy.com/listing/186830794/build-along-leather-pattern-2-coin-and?ref=shop_home_active_18 https://www.etsy.com/listing/256113947/build-along-leather-pattern-5-compact?ref=shop_home_active_21 On his personal page he also includes a list of beginner tools. You probably won't need all of these if you're just planning to start with a wallet, but you can see exactly which versions of tools Ian recommends. It's helped me a lot. Here's his tool guide: http://ianatkinson.net/leather/toolset.htm There's also always the option of buying a wallet kit from someplace like Tandy or Springfield. A lot of kits come with some of the work done already (cutting, punching) so you can try your hand without having to commit all the way or to all of the tools up front. Leather working is a fun hobby, but between the tools and supplies, it can get expensive fast. https://www.tandyleather.com/en/search/?sSearch=wallet http://springfieldleather.com/search?keywords=wallet If you do decide to invest in the hobby a lot of places (Tandy and Springfield, included) offer pricing memberships/tier levels where you can either qualify for better pricing based on military, first responder, or business owner status or you can pay a membership fee for a better level of pricing. If you think think is something you're going to want to stick with, you should try to get yourself signed up for a better class of pricing ASAP (it was worth it for me to purchase a Gold membership at Tandy the first time I went). Also, you may not have to be the person with the status to get the pricing. I got my Elite pricing at Tandy because my dad was in the military in the 1970s and he still had his discharge papers, so it pays to ask. Anyway, good luck! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zuludog Report post Posted July 3, 2017 Search YouTube for 'making a leather wallet'; there are several videos, but especially good are those by Armitage Leather and Leodis Leather. In fact anything by Ian Atkinson/Leodis and Nigel Armitage is worth watching. Nigel Armitage has a video 'Making a simple handmade Wallet', or some similar wording; that's good There are about 10 pages on leatherwork on YouTube, each with about 20 videos. There must be something useful among that lot! Watch as many as you have the stamina for! Besides that, work through this forum, especially Getting started; (hand) sewing leather; and Tools Get a book on basic leathercraft. It will show you the basics, and they usually have a few projects, probably including a wallet. 'The Leathercraft Handbook' by Valerie Michael is the one most often recommended, or see what you library has Once you start to make a shopping list of tools etc you'll see that it may well be worth joining one of Tandy's discount schemes Finally, a word of caution. Don't be tempted by the 4-in-1 awl sold by Tandy, and others. It's expensive, and not very good. You're better off getting a separate fixed blade saddler's/harness awl and a scratch/round awl. Tandy's Craftool Pro awl is as good as any to start with, especially if you can get it at a discount Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rockster Report post Posted July 4, 2017 On 7/2/2017 at 5:16 PM, strathmoredesigns said: Why didn't I think of Ian? I'm making one of his bag build alongs right now! Ian's channel is a great place to start to learn about leather working in general. He sells patterns and detailed instructions on what tools and types of leather you'll need on his Etsy page and then his YouTube channel has videos where you can watch him make the piece and work along with him. Here are a couple of his wallet/wallet-esqe "build alongs": https://www.etsy.com/listing/186830794/build-along-leather-pattern-2-coin-and?ref=shop_home_active_18 https://www.etsy.com/listing/256113947/build-along-leather-pattern-5-compact?ref=shop_home_active_21 On his personal page he also includes a list of beginner tools. You probably won't need all of these if you're just planning to start with a wallet, but you can see exactly which versions of tools Ian recommends. It's helped me a lot. Here's his tool guide: http://ianatkinson.net/leather/toolset.htm There's also always the option of buying a wallet kit from someplace like Tandy or Springfield. A lot of kits come with some of the work done already (cutting, punching) so you can try your hand without having to commit all the way or to all of the tools up front. Leather working is a fun hobby, but between the tools and supplies, it can get expensive fast. https://www.tandyleather.com/en/search/?sSearch=wallet http://springfieldleather.com/search?keywords=wallet If you do decide to invest in the hobby a lot of places (Tandy and Springfield, included) offer pricing memberships/tier levels where you can either qualify for better pricing based on military, first responder, or business owner status or you can pay a membership fee for a better level of pricing. If you think think is something you're going to want to stick with, you should try to get yourself signed up for a better class of pricing ASAP (it was worth it for me to purchase a Gold membership at Tandy the first time I went). Also, you may not have to be the person with the status to get the pricing. I got my Elite pricing at Tandy because my dad was in the military in the 1970s and he still had his discharge papers, so it pays to ask. Anyway, good luck! Wow, thank you so much! 17 hours ago, zuludog said: Search YouTube for 'making a leather wallet'; there are several videos, but especially good are those by Armitage Leather and Leodis Leather. In fact anything by Ian Atkinson/Leodis and Nigel Armitage is worth watching. Nigel Armitage has a video 'Making a simple handmade Wallet', or some similar wording; that's good There are about 10 pages on leatherwork on YouTube, each with about 20 videos. There must be something useful among that lot! Watch as many as you have the stamina for! Besides that, work through this forum, especially Getting started; (hand) sewing leather; and Tools Get a book on basic leathercraft. It will show you the basics, and they usually have a few projects, probably including a wallet. 'The Leathercraft Handbook' by Valerie Michael is the one most often recommended, or see what you library has Once you start to make a shopping list of tools etc you'll see that it may well be worth joining one of Tandy's discount schemes Finally, a word of caution. Don't be tempted by the 4-in-1 awl sold by Tandy, and others. It's expensive, and not very good. You're better off getting a separate fixed blade saddler's/harness awl and a scratch/round awl. Tandy's Craftool Pro awl is as good as any to start with, especially if you can get it at a discount Many thanks! Useful info and I really appreciate the caliber of people on this forum. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
