Professional wallet making tutorial (book)

[Spyros]

By the way I may or may not have been half asleep through one of Philip's videos, but I'm pretty sure he skived a zipper at some point LOL

These Hermes-type leatherworkers are taking skiving to the next level thats for sure.

Edited February 5, 2022 by Spyros

[chuck123wapati]

far to OCD for me lol. Good luck on the book Danne but i truly don't see you getting any huge benefit from it you have already mastered your techniques so you have no need to mimic someone else.  Those wallets Danne makes are some of the best I've ever seen I don't have the want to, patience, eyesight, or customer base to even think twice about making such a thing.

Leather as is so with blacksmithing is centuries old What we have learned has been forgotten and relearned more times than we can count. We humans fool ourselves thinking the old techniques can be improved upon , forget them, turn to more complicated methods then pat our selves on the back when we discover the easier (forgotten) way. Kind of like "sustainable" farming LOL.!

[Danne]

2 hours ago, Spyros said:

Did you end up finding a bell skiver Danne?

No, I have tried multiple times to order a Fratelli AV2 ME (On table without vacuum and two motors) but they keep recommending the version with vacuum even when contacted in fluent Italian.

I really want the FAV, but might have to order a Fortuna instead.

[Danne]

1 hour ago, chuck123wapati said:

far to OCD for me lol. Good luck on the book Danne but i truly don't see you getting any huge benefit from it you have already mastered your techniques so you have no need to mimic someone else.  Those wallets Danne makes are some of the best I've ever seen I don't have the want to, patience, eyesight, or customer base to even think twice about making such a thing.

Leather as is so with blacksmithing is centuries old What we have learned has been forgotten and relearned more times than we can count. We humans fool ourselves thinking the old techniques can be improved upon , forget them, turn to more complicated methods then pat our selves on the back when we discover the easier (forgotten) way. Kind of like "sustainable" farming LOL.!

Thank you for your compliment regarding my work. I will absolutely not mimic someone else. I construct my wallets in a way I like. But I constantly try to improve my construction. And I might pick up some tips and tricks. And also seeing how other construct their wallets can give me ideas how I can improve certain things.

Chestermox products are really nice and really good attention to detail, but as example I personally don’t really like the look of full size pockets, because edges becomes thicker in the middle. So I will never do full size pockets stacked on each other. I think it can be good to take inspiration from other people but not copy someone else.

Edited February 5, 2022 by Danne

[Spyros]

Personally I really like the look of tranche pockets, but I could never understand how is it possible to keep the pocket liners in place long term with just glue and no stitching...

Unless there's some other trick I'm missing?

 

[chuck123wapati]

1 hour ago, Danne said:

T

"I think it can be good to take inspiration from other people but not copy someone else."

I absolutely agree friend. You inspire me with your attention to detail.

Edited February 5, 2022 by chuck123wapati

[Danne]

1 hour ago, Spyros said:

Personally I really like the look of tranche pockets, but I could never understand how is it possible to keep the pocket liners in place long term with just glue and no stitching...

Unless there's some other trick I'm missing?

 

Yes it will also result in a slim wallet. But I agree with you. It feels like the wallet will hold up well for many decades, except the pockets. If you decide to try it have a look at Renia syntic total, I have found that glue to be very strong with most synthetic materials. But I feel a little skeptical to this solutions durability.

[Danne]

1 hour ago, chuck123wapati said:

"I think it can be good to take inspiration from other people but not copy someone else."

I absolutely agree friend. You inspire me with your attention to detail.

Even if you might not like making watch straps. I really recommend doing them. Material cost is low, and it’s certainly the thing that have improved my attention to details most. 

But also I’m a little biased here because I really like making watch straps.

 

[RockyAussie]

11 hours ago, Spyros said:

Unless there's some other trick I'm missing?

A very common repair I got when I had the repair shops was people bringing this type of construction in to have the fabric re glued. Not very successful as often the glue they used ended up going tacky/slimy and trying to remove it was just not worth it. From what I learned there I have never done that method unless it was stitched and that is only on special custom jobs.

16 hours ago, Danne said:

look at the photos I shared from Danel. Download it and zoom in and you can see how well planned all skiving is. And this might seem easy in theory but a lot harder in practice.

For most makers this method of skiving would add way to much to the cost and would not happen easily with a skiving machine. Getting a level looking edge all around is good practice whether it be an finish edged or a folded finish but a better construction method will give you that and take less than a quarter of the time to achieve. If we are making a run of wallets like this one below the average time per piece would be approx 1.5 hours. This uses a clicker press, splitting machine, skiving machine, glueing machine, line up and folding machine, 2 stitching machines and a polishing machine. If made in plainer leathers the time can be a lot quicker than that. This is in no way meant to deter anyone from looking to learn but I do get a bit pissed when I see so many people thinking that if they learn some of these techniques from the masters that they will be able to sell their products and the same outlandish prices that the masters supposedly get.

[Spyros]

1 hour ago, RockyAussie said:

This is in no way meant to deter anyone from looking to learn but I do get a bit pissed when I see so many people thinking that if they learn some of these techniques from the masters that they will be able to sell their products and the same outlandish prices that the masters supposedly get.

Well the prices have nothing to do with any of the above really.  Pricing depends on one thing and one thing only: how much the customer wants to pay, period.   They definitely want to pay for something (anything at all) that says Hermes on it, and some people want to pay for the romantic idea of a lone artisan with a leather apron and a French hat making custom items for them.  (I told you to wear a leather apron Brian, start smoking a pipe and sell your image, you're not listening to me LOL)

Now to get a customer to want to pay an outlandish price, there are a few things one can do, but talking to them about the cost of making things is just not one of them.  They don't care, and they don't understand anyway.