Flush cut wallet parts (techniques)

[Danne]

Hi, I would like to discuss construction techniques in this thread, or cutting techniques.

I start with explaining how I do for example a card pocket section, it can be for a card case or a wallet. Since the thinnest leather I use is 0.5mm I often make the lining to the finished dimension and trim from the back side after top layer and card pockets are glued in place. This solution work good, but when I have a splitting solution I plan to construct my wallets a little different and using thinner weights for the lining, so I will have to learn how to "flush cut" parts. 

Here is an example I saved from someones Instagram.

I can think of a lot of different solutions to do this. Like using a template glued to some thicker card paper, use a L-square ruler. But none ot these solutions will give me a perfect result. And i'm certain there are better solutions. (And no I can't use cutting dies since I focus mostly on custom work and a lot of different dimensions.)

The only solution I can come up with is to draw cut guidelines on the lining, and after assembled use them to trim. (See my drawings) this solution also have it's flaws. You will not be able to for example use a roller press tool (those in steel or rubber) because even if you start in the middle you will distort the leather and loose the dimensions on lining (unless it's stiff leather and/or a little thicker)

 

Let us discuss more ideas. Ideas that will results in very close to perfect dimensions.

 

 

Edited September 10, 2020 by Danne

[mason1800]

@Danne I usually make all the parts 1/2 inch wider than required. After all pieces are glued, I mark 1/8 inch on each side top and bottom and use a Skiving  knife to cut right down the side of a stainless steel ruler. 

I have also used a larger blade punches, the type to punch card slots for single pieces leather. 

[mason1800]

@Danne As for the top i cut the straight edge after i glue the cash pocket and the bottom after i glue the outer piece of the wallet. 

 

My plans are to start making my patterns with 2 to 3 trimming lines, one for the lining of the pockets and backing. one for the top of pockets when they are attached to the cash pocket and the third for when i attach the outer leather. Meaning true size for the bottom and two sides. 

[Danne]

1 minute ago, mason1800 said:

@Danne I usually make all the parts 1/2 inch wider than required. After all pieces are glued, I mark 1/8 inch on each side top and bottom and use a Skiving  knife to cut right down the side of a stainless steel ruler. 

I have also used a larger blade punches, the type to punch card slots for single pieces leather. 

But let's say you would have four card pockets, then you wouldn't have a straight edge to mark from, because of the build up it would be less width on the bottom pockets. I think I will have to just do some practice pieces. I have since I started this craft always planned everything very well before I start a project, but sometimes it can be good to just try things.

 

[mason1800]

the more pockets you layer, the less width towards the bottom. Now for every pocket, mine are usually 1mm  thick lining and leather,  the amount of reduced width is about 0.20 of an inch for 5 pockets.  

When you line up to cut you sides, you would use the cutting mat lines. Level the top straight on the mat lines... adjust the leather to 1/8 or 1/4 inch from the side. Lay your steel ruler on top of leather piece and align the ruler to the lines on the mat. this should give you a straight edge. unless of course the top of the pockets are not lined up correctly against the cutting mat lines.  

[Rahere]

I keep a small cutting mat and toughened glass underlay for these uses, together with a small steel square rather than a ruler. The mat lines are the measure-twice.

[Danne]

8 hours ago, mason1800 said:

the more pockets you layer, the less width towards the bottom. Now for every pocket, mine are usually 1mm  thick lining and leather,  the amount of reduced width is about 0.20 of an inch for 5 pockets.  

When you line up to cut you sides, you would use the cutting mat lines. Level the top straight on the mat lines... adjust the leather to 1/8 or 1/4 inch from the side. Lay your steel ruler on top of leather piece and align the ruler to the lines on the mat. this should give you a straight edge. unless of course the top of the pockets are not lined up correctly against the cutting mat lines.  

Yes, I get how you mean here, but I don't feel this give a good enough result. Like 0.5-1mm difference would ruin my "card pocket section" in some situations, for example on a card case with pockets on both sides. 0.5-1mm difference could of course be sanded when assembled, but then my stitching doesn't line up perfectly. But this can also be because your technique with this is better than how I think I would do it if I tried.

[mason1800]

On 9/10/2020 at 7:25 PM, Rahere said:

I keep a small cutting mat and toughened glass underlay for these uses, together with a small steel square rather than a ruler. The mat lines are the measure-twice.

@rahere Same here, except my pockets tend to bulge as the center has the bulk of the leather. Which is why I dont use the square. The steel ruler actually curves along with the leather. 

@Danne when you say "stitching doesn't line up" what are you comparing it to?? the edge or the backside? (Meaning one side is closer to the edge than the other?)

[Danne]

1 hour ago, mason1800 said:

@rahere Same here, except my pockets tend to bulge as the center has the bulk of the leather. Which is why I dont use the square. The steel ruler actually curves along with the leather. 

@Danne when you say "stitching doesn't line up" what are you comparing it to?? the edge or the backside? (Meaning one side is closer to the edge than the other?)

Oh I forgot to mention, I plan to start to x-stitch (punch with the same iron from both sides before assemble)

[Rahere]

You can't cross-stitch with a sloping tooth in that way, though. You get X s

[Danne]

9 minutes ago, Rahere said:

You can't cross-stitch with a sloping tooth in that way, though. You get X s

I don't really understand what you mean? You punch the holes on both parts before assemble, and stitch them without casting the thread.

Edited September 12, 2020 by Danne

[billybopp]

3 hours ago, Danne said:

Oh I forgot to mention, I plan to start to x-stitch (punch with the same iron from both sides before assemble)

It is not a traditional technique, but this method does work, and can make front and back stitches look more similar than punching through at a single go.  However, you need to make the holes separately before assembly and consequently you need to use extreme care to be sure that the holes in both pieces will line up when assembled.  It's not easy!  The traditional way is to assemble and usually glue your pieces together and then make your holes after all at one go.  The upside of going that way is that it is generally easier and the downside is that stitches often look very different front and back (usually with the back looking much straighter, front much more slanted).

- Bill

[Danne]

9 minutes ago, billybopp said:

It is not a traditional technique, but this method does work, and can make front and back stitches look more similar than punching through at a single go.  However, you need to make the holes separately before assembly and consequently you need to use extreme care to be sure that the holes in both pieces will line up when assembled.  It's not easy!  The traditional way is to assemble and usually glue your pieces together and then make your holes after all at one go.  The upside of going that way is that it is generally easier and the downside is that stitches often look very different front and back (usually with the back looking much straighter, front much more slanted).

- Bill

Yes, that's the reason I started this thread, to discuss techniques for flush cutting with really good precision.

It depends on the weight of leather, stiffness, thickness of thread, and also tension angles. Let's say I have a black exterior and red interior, if I stitch with black thread I use different tensions angles (To get a nice slant on the back side, but it little less slant on the front) if I stitch with red thread I will use other tension angles so I get a better slant on the front and a more "overlapping" stitch at the back. (In this example I stitch from the exterior side)

[billybopp]

15 minutes ago, Danne said:

Yes, that's the reason I started this thread, to discuss techniques for flush cutting with really good precision.

It depends on the weight of leather, stiffness, thickness of thread, and also tension angles. Let's say I have a black exterior and red interior, if I stitch with black thread I use different tensions angles (To get a nice slant on the back side, but it little less slant on the front) if I stitch with red thread I will use other tension angles so I get a better slant on the front and a more "overlapping" stitch at the back. (In this example I stitch from the exterior side)

It all depends on the look you're going for, and the effort you want to put into it.  For something smaller like a wallet where all the stitching is readily visible it makes sense.  Smaller projects generally have less stitching to worry about as well.  Something really big would likely be overkill.   With thousands of stitches, it could potentially lead to a little trip to a hospital in a straight jacket, or to a doctor's office for carpal tunnel syndrome.  LOL!

And yeah, to be sure the leather you are using is a big factor too.  

- Bill

[RockyAussie]

The most common method I use is to draw out the pattern generally 2.5mm oversize along with the finish cut sizes to be done. This then gets printed out on light card which then gets a light spray of contact glue applied to it. Once dry I then can place the card pieces onto a cutting board to cut them out. The advantages are that the contact glue helps to stop the card from moving around on the leather as you go on to cut it. having the rest of the drawing on top makes sure that you can see the alignment is where it should be as you go onto the second cutting steps. Some of this can be seen in this earlier post I did awhile back -

Nowdays I often get my laser to draw the pattern on top of card (green lines) and cut out the design all in the one operation and sometimes I elect to 3D print the shapes out If I need to do multiples without going so far as getting clicker knives made up. Some of this can be seen in this earlier post - 

 

Brian

[Danne]

7 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

The most common method I use is to draw out the pattern generally 2.5mm oversize along with the finish cut sizes to be done. This then gets printed out on light card which then gets a light spray of contact glue applied to it. Once dry I then can place the card pieces onto a cutting board to cut them out. The advantages are that the contact glue helps to stop the card from moving around on the leather as you go on to cut it. having the rest of the drawing on top makes sure that you can see the alignment is where it should be as you go onto the second cutting steps. Some of this can be seen in this earlier post I did awhile back -

Nowdays I often get my laser to draw the pattern on top of card (green lines) and cut out the design all in the one operation and sometimes I elect to 3D print the shapes out If I need to do multiples without going so far as getting clicker knives made up. Some of this can be seen in this earlier post - 

 

Brian

Thank you for your input here. We all tend to do things different, but sometimes it's worth a lot to listen to how other do things, and not get stuck with a way to do something, when there can be better solutions. I really like your handles on your templates.

[mason1800]

On 9/12/2020 at 2:03 AM, Danne said:

Oh I forgot to mention, I plan to start to x-stitch (punch with the same iron from both sides before assemble)

these are the steps I take for card wallets. check this youtube channel. This guy has really good info on the process and steps to make small leather goods. 

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by mason1800

[mason1800]

Just to add to this. I also use 2-3 needles to line up the two side while putting the sides together. that way the stitching holes line up perfectly. 

[Danne]

39 minutes ago, mason1800 said:

Just to add to this. I also use 2-3 needles to line up the two side while putting the sides together. that way the stitching holes line up perfectly. 

Thank you for the clip. That way don't really work for me, since I overlap my pockets. I have done some tests and it's hard to make two close to identical pieces and it also have to match up close to perfect for the stitch lengths to match up. When it's just two edges it's no problem, then I can trim the rest against the exterior edge after glued in place. Like this one.

The "top piece" under the card pockets are skived under the card pocket edges outer corners to reduce bulk.  (See the red arrow)

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by Danne

[JHLeatherwood]

On 9/14/2020 at 6:31 PM, Danne said:

 

I'm REALLY new at this - what did you do to the tops of the pocket cutouts to get the perfectly uniform lip?

[Danne]

18 minutes ago, JHLeatherwood said:

I'm REALLY new at this - what did you do to the tops of the pocket cutouts to get the perfectly uniform lip?

I'm not really sure what you mean. The pockets are cut into shape, then they are creased (decorative line you make with a manual creaser or an electric creaser/Fileteuse) after this they are painted.

Here you see some photos from a similar wallet I made but with horizontal card pockets: 

And here you have a tutorial I wrote on how to paint edges: (Always do test pieces with new leather, for example step four is not suitable for all types of leathers and creasing irons.)

 

[JHLeatherwood]

3 hours ago, Danne said:

I'm not really sure what you mean. The pockets are cut into shape, then they are creased (decorative line you make with a manual creaser or an electric creaser/Fileteuse) after this they are painted.

Here you see some photos from a similar wallet I made but with horizontal card pockets: 

 

Snipped some stuff - but THANK YOU! This is exactly the answer I needed. The creaser was the missing piece for me. (And yes, I DID say that I'm really new at this!)

I learn something every time I come here. 

James

 

[Danne]

43 minutes ago, JHLeatherwood said:

Snipped some stuff - but THANK YOU! This is exactly the answer I needed. The creaser was the missing piece for me. (And yes, I DID say that I'm really new at this!)

I learn something every time I come here. 

James

 

Practice a lot on scrap pieces when it comes to edge painting, then you can experiment and find a way that works for you. Try different grits of sandpaper. And the most important part with edge paint that have relatively low viscosity (Which I think is the best edge paints in terms of durability, just amateur thoughts because i'm self taught) is to make sure every layer is sanded flat before your next layer, or you will just keep painting layer after layer with paint and never get rid of the imperfections in the edge. And also if you don't have a fileteuse (helps to smooth the edge after the first coat.) then it's even more important that you make sure you have a decent edge to start with, but not burnished, you want something for the paint to adhere too. Just ask if you have any questions, we are a lot of people here who are willing to help each other.

[MG513]

On 9/14/2020 at 6:31 PM, Danne said:

Thank you for the clip. That way don't really work for me, since I overlap my pockets. I have done some tests and it's hard to make two close to identical pieces and it also have to match up close to perfect for the stitch lengths to match up. When it's just two edges it's no problem, then I can trim the rest against the exterior edge after glued in place. Like this one.

The "top piece" under the card pockets are skived under the card pocket edges outer corners to reduce bulk.  (See the red arrow)

 

Would love to see your method on how to do a turned edge like this when it isn’t a straight across pocket!

 

edit: now I see that this particular pocket was not rolled, but none the less will still love to see your process for a roller edge! Nice work

Edited February 14, 2021 by MG513
Saw other posts

[Danne]

7 hours ago, MG513 said:

Would love to see your method on how to do a turned edge like this when it isn’t a straight across pocket!

 

edit: now I see that this particular pocket was not rolled, but none the less will still love to see your process for a roller edge! Nice work

I haven't done turned edges, except just tried the technique. I would do the pockets like this. And the bottom pocket fully folded all the way. And what I did was basically to skive the folded part at the transition. You can have a look at eatsleeplay on Instagram, he have some photos of fully lined folded pockets, which also seems like a nice solution. Even though i see this as a good solution, because it keeps the bulk of the pockets down. (I used leather around 0.5mm here. No problem to go thinner, especially not with a leather like goat that have very good tear strength.