Questions, but also I little wallet I made : )

[Hairic]

Hey everyone, I have been absent of late, as I have been focusing my small business on my wood working, however I plan to build a decent little leather shop after I get my wood shop finished ( drywall and new lights and power) anyways I want to delve into leather as I truly enjoy it and I have allot to learn, when I started I purchased a cheap chinese tool set and honestly been rolling with it ever since, I do want/ need to upgrade my tools and shop if I ever want to produce anything worth selling, which is a goal of mine, So a few questions, What do you all recommend, as far as tools go, I will eventually get a sewing machine, have not decided on which yet, but leaning towards a long arm, however my edge bevellers and skiving knives and hole punches... basically all the hand tools needed, I need to get better versions of, I am ok on tooling, as I did buy a decent set of them just need to get better with.  I'm looking for brands and sizes, I get that I can just purchase every size of punches and bevellers and such and will eventually but for now Just looking for basic recommendations, on what you all would go with, call it a 1000 dollar budget on hand tools alone, I don't know if that enough or not but that's what I'm willing to do for now, as I still need to get machines, sewing, skiving, presses things of that sort.  I have been doing leather for a hobby of and on for a few years but I would like to add it to my line up in my small business. Also would like to know thoughts on preferred leathers to use, and where to buy.  Any ways thanks for the read and here is my little wallet I made today using a laser to outline my cuts, lol, I say outline cause I do not know what I'm doing with the laser on leather, I have only used it to engrave wood so far.

 

[Bert03241]

I cut most of my leather with the laser, does a decent job when you get the power setting right so you don't char the edges to badly, but not a big deal if you do since all edges will get sanded down anyway.I love designing sheaths and holsters in corel then cutting them out with the laser. Everything fits better and less sanding to finish.

[JayEhl]

Hi,  Don't know where you live but for vendors:  if you have time and if you're able, attend a trade show for leather crafters.  Lots of vendors all in one place with hands on experience to check out their wares.  I kick myself for not being able to attend the one in Waco last fall.   Also,  I would subscribe to the leathercrafter journal /magazine.  Super helpful that.  And, if you just look at the top of this board, there are several sponsors for this site you should also check out.  

[Tugadude]

That wallet is one chunky monkey.  Everyone has their own idea of what thickness a wallet should be, but by the time you load that thing up with the full capacity of cards and notes, it is going to be really, really thick.  

If you do want to make it thinner, many, myself included, use a 4 oz. or so on the exterior and thinner leather on the inside.  And then in addition to that, the edges can be skived to bring the edges down to size.  I do that particularly on the card pockets and also use the "T" cut to eliminate bulk.  You can find a bunch of tutorials on how to do that here and on youtube.  

But if the thickness is something you don't mind, just carry on!  Not everybody agrees.

[Hairic]

6 hours ago, Tugadude said:

That wallet is one chunky monkey.  Everyone has their own idea of what thickness a wallet should be, but by the time you load that thing up with the full capacity of cards and notes, it is going to be really, really thick.  

If you do want to make it thinner, many, myself included, use a 4 oz. or so on the exterior and thinner leather on the inside.  And then in addition to that, the edges can be skived to bring the edges down to size.  I do that particularly on the card pockets and also use the "T" cut to eliminate bulk.  You can find a bunch of tutorials on how to do that here and on youtube.  

But if the thickness is something you don't mind, just carry on!  Not everybody agrees.

For sure it is a bit bulky but honestly not as bad as I thought it would, be, granted I only cary 4 total cards and some cash most the time. I am pretty limited on leather at the moment so I did get thicker leather hoping to skive it down, but got lazy and didn't do it, on that particular wallet the v cut would not work as it really only has the two spots for cards and then the inside pockets for cash or whatever, I do appreciate the advise.  I made 3 more for gifts or to sell so we will see lol.  Have not stitched them yet so Ill post pics when I am finished on them.

 

8 hours ago, JayEhl said:

Hi,  Don't know where you live but for vendors:  if you have time and if you're able, attend a trade show for leather crafters.  Lots of vendors all in one place with hands on experience to check out their wares.  I kick myself for not being able to attend the one in Waco last fall.   Also,  I would subscribe to the leathercrafter journal /magazine.  Super helpful that.  And, if you just look at the top of this board, there are several sponsors for this site you should also check out.  

Live in southwest kansas, About 3 hours from any decent city that would hold anything like that, not much time to get out these days.  And I didn't even see the sponsors on top so thank you for pointing that out.

[Hairic]

21 hours ago, Bert03241 said:

I cut most of my leather with the laser, does a decent job when you get the power setting right so you don't char the edges to badly, but not a big deal if you do since all edges will get sanded down anyway. I love designing sheaths and holsters in corel then cutting them out with the laser. Everything fits better and less sanding to finish.

The laser is becoming super handy, however my laser didn't want to cut through that leather, I'm sure it would have with another pass or two so I just used it as an outline and finished with a blade, However some veg tan that I used it on cut really well, think it was 5 oz, the smell is horrid lol, so I do it in another part of the shop now 

[Gulrok]

20 minutes ago, Hairic said:

The laser is becoming super handy, however my laser didn't want to cut through that leather, I'm sure it would have with another pass or two so I just used it as an outline and finished with a blade, However some veg tan that I used it on cut really well, think it was 5 oz, the smell is horrid lol, so I do it in another part of the shop now 

What laser do you have? 

It may come down to speed and settings?


( I have a 150w laser that I use to cut bags all the time ). 

[Hairic]

11 minutes ago, Gulrok said:

What laser do you have? 

It may come down to speed and settings?


( I have a 150w laser that I use to cut bags all the time ). 

Its just the sculprun pro 6, I bought it on a whim for lasering my logo in my wood projects, and then tore my shop apart to redo the inside lol, so its now in my little leather "shop".  I ran it at 1000 speed, and 95 power, its 60w according to amazon.  Really it hasn't been bad , It cut through that vegtan with one pass just didnt like this stuff as much https://www.weaverleathersupply.com/catalog/item-detail/13504-35-12-232/premium-chrome-pull-up-leather/pr_58008.  Im still trying to find the perfect leather to work with so bought that just to try it.

[Gulrok]

2 minutes ago, Hairic said:

Its just the sculprun pro 6, I bought it on a whim for lasering my logo in my wood projects, and then tore my shop apart to redo the inside lol, so its now in my little leather "shop".  I ran it at 1000 speed, and 95 power, its 60w according to amazon.  Really it hasn't been bad , It cut through that vegtan with one pass just didnt like this stuff as much https://www.weaverleathersupply.com/catalog/item-detail/13504-35-12-232/premium-chrome-pull-up-leather/pr_58008.  Im still trying to find the perfect leather to work with so bought that just to try it.

https://www.cyclonefpv.com/products/sculpfun-s6-pro-laser-engraving-machine

This laser? Correct? I'll comment after you confirm or send the link to the proper laser. 
 

[Hairic]

Just now, Gulrok said:

https://www.cyclonefpv.com/products/sculpfun-s6-pro-laser-engraving-machine

This laser? Correct? I'll comment after you confirm or send the link to the proper laser. 
 

Yes sir !

 

[Gulrok]

4 minutes ago, Hairic said:

Yes sir !

 

So the capacity of its extremely light duty, its purely an engraving laser.

I'm not saying there isn't a possibility for you to cut at all - maybe enough passes could..., but if you decide to cut with a laser later on you'd want a CO2 laser. 

The power output of this laser is 5.5-6W. 

[Hairic]

13 minutes ago, Gulrok said:

So the capacity of its extremely light duty, its purely an engraving laser.

I'm not saying there isn't a possibility for you to cut at all - maybe enough passes could..., but if you decide to cut with a laser later on you'd want a CO2 laser. 

The power output of this laser is 5.5-6W. 

Oh for sure after I bought this one and kind of learned the software and things, I use Lightburn I decided someday I will have to invest in a larger and more able laser, This one does really well for the applications I needed it for, as I would literally just set it on a wood panel I needed engraved, again just my logo, and let it rip, as Most of my wood business is cabinets and larger panels I needed something that was easy to move and wasn't limited on the size, plus cheap, I got it on a deal for 250 at the time.  That 5 0z vegtan cut extremely nice actually with once pass at 1000 @ 95.  Not saying this laser is the best but I also cut through 1/4 inch maple with 4 passes just to see what it could do, charring was kind of rough though lol.  IF you don't mind me asking what laser are you using?

[Gulrok]

4 minutes ago, Hairic said:

Oh for sure after I bought this one and kind of learned the software and things, I use Lightburn I decided someday I will have to invest in a larger and more able laser, This one does really well for the applications I needed it for, as I would literally just set it on a wood panel I needed engraved, again just my logo, and let it rip, as Most of my wood business is cabinets and larger panels I needed something that was easy to move and wasn't limited on the size, plus cheap, I got it on a deal for 250 at the time.  That 5 0z vegtan cut extremely nice actually with once pass at 1000 @ 95.  Not saying this laser is the best but I also cut through 1/4 inch maple with 4 passes just to see what it could do, charring was kind of rough though lol.  IF you don't mind me asking what laser are you using?

https://omtechlaser.com/products/150w-co2-laser-engraver-cutter-usb-gb16-us

I needed the large bed size for laser cutting bags. 

[Hairic]

1 minute ago, Gulrok said:

https://omtechlaser.com/products/150w-co2-laser-engraver-cutter-usb-gb16-us

I needed the large bed size for laser cutting bags. 

Oh dang, lol yeah now thats a laser hahah.  you only use it for leather?

 

[Gulrok]

1 minute ago, Hairic said:

Oh dang, lol yeah now thats a laser hahah.  you only use it for leather?

 

Well... not only for leather.

I regularly cut 3/4 or 1/2" plywood for boxes and use a box joint. Here's a photo of the first one we did.  We've improved it since. 


Been playing around with making custom drawers and boxes for our shop and other shops as we grow. People love custom crates and bins. 

 

[Hairic]

Just now, Gulrok said:

Well... not only for leather.

I regularly cut 3/4 or 1/2" plywood for boxes and use a box joint. Here's a photo of the first one we did.  We've improved it since. 


Been playing around with making custom drawers and boxes for our shop and other shops as we grow. People love custom crates and bins. 

 

Oh wow yeah that's impressive.  just curious on the time that little box took to cut?

 

[Gulrok]

1 hour ago, Hairic said:

Oh wow yeah that's impressive.  just curious on the time that little box took to cut?

 

2 or 3 minutes? Maybe. 

[Bert03241]

If your mostly going to engrave and cut leather you really don't want anything over 80 watts in a co2. Over 80 watts dialing down the power to engrave becomes more difficult, especially engraving leather. you don't need a lot of power. and an 80 watt will cut most all your leather that you would be using.I have a 60 watt and and it does every thing I need with leather and cut 1/4" plywood no problem

[Gulrok]

1 hour ago, Bert03241 said:

If your mostly going to engrave and cut leather you really don't want anything over 80 watts in a co2. Over 80 watts dialing down the power to engrave becomes more difficult, especially engraving leather. you don't need a lot of power. and an 80 watt will cut most all your leather that you would be using.I have a 60 watt and and it does every thing I need with leather and cut 1/4" plywood no problem

I can engrave at 10.8% power. I've successfully engraved as thin as 2 oz without any problem.

[AzShooter]

Very functional and it fits your needs so it's a great wallet.  I like the edges as well.  

[Hairic]

On 2/8/2022 at 9:44 PM, AzShooter said:

Very functional and it fits your needs so it's a great wallet.  I like the edges as well.  

Thanks you sir, Really trying to get better at edges, wanting to try the edge paint but have no idea how well it holds up.

[AzShooter]

12 hours ago, Hairic said:

Thanks you sir, Really trying to get better at edges, wanting to try the edge paint but have no idea how well it holds up.

I have holsters that I made 30 years ago and the edge paint still looks perfect on them.  You should have no problems.  I think the paint adds to the quality but it's not needed on all projects.  I do use in on my wallets as well though.