Wallet pocket thicknesses.

Hello, everyone, finally I got used to bell skiving machine and now its possible for me to make 0,3 mm thicknes of leather even for hard veg tan leather, I believe for chrome leather or softer one it would be easier. Cant wait to make slim wallet:) wihout bulky edges:) Here is the result I got:)

I used to use a large and thick leather wallet. Yes, its large capacity is very useful. But on the other hand it must be carried in the back pocket. In this respect I had some diffulties. It was uncomfortable to sit on it, at some point my spine health issues started to occur. Beside once my wallet was stolen because i carried it in my back pocket. I came acroos an article that gives detailed information about cons of thick and large wallets. They do not promote any brand just give tips. You can check that blog: http://www.minimalistslimleatherwalletsformen.com/?p=91

Hello,

I will tell you what I personally do and why:

1- T Slots without a top folded edge:

I never ever ever go below 1mm on the top and i skive down the part that is hidden down by the pocket in front of it down to 0.5. The reason for never below 1mm is because, as you have guessed, the leather because flimsy below that.

2- T Slots with a top folded edge:

My favorite way to do this is to get 0.5mm leather, feather skive the top 3 to 4mm, and fold the edge. This way, I get a 1mm leather on top, and 0.5mm on the bottom of the T Slot effortlessly.

With this style of work, depending on the leather and project, I can change a few things to change the feel and behavior of the pocket.

I can add a non stretch tape below the fold, so that my pocket never ever stretches. In this case, 2 things to take into consideration:

• If you are burnishing (not edge painting), you will need to have the strip cut long enough so that it gets pricked and stitched in, but not long enough that it will show on the edge; it requires a bit of forethought and precise measuring, but nothing really hard.

• This means the top of your pocket will never ever stretch. Which in turns means that you will need to build and glue your wallet with the cards in it. Or else, depending on the design, one or all the slots will not be able to accommodate their indented cards.

And I can vary the type of glue I use to add stiffness, or not, to the top of the pocket at the fold.

As a side note, I always build my wallets with the cards inside and glue and mold the pockets to the cards.

For veg without any reinforcement, I'd probably use around 0.8mm. But as with anything, I would always create a rough prototype first so that I can test suitability and also perform a destruction test (for the slots and key parts, not the entire wallet).