Introduction : Minimalist Wallet

by imakethings in Living > Organizing

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Introduction : Minimalist Wallet

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After a point in time you got to get rid of your fat wallet( at least in the physical sense !) . i got drawn towards wallets after reading up https://www.kickstarter.com/stories/wallets The kickstarter website had some brilliant wallet ideas and i decided to make one of my own , this wallet is based on one of the designs on kickstarter

Minimalist Wallet

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Select any aluminium sheet in between 1.5 mm to 2 mm , 3 mm would be an overkill for the wallet though ! my aluminium sheet was about 1.7 mm . Take a bank card or railway card as a reference and sketch a rough shape a mm spread on each side , slightly more would do as it could be later filed off , make sure to make a ridge (would be shown in further steps ) so that the elastic band would stay

Step 2 : Making the Plates

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So this will be a two plate aluminium wallet , the plate design isn't exact but should be based around your credit card size. use a super fine blade with the hacksaw to make your intricate shapes and cuts . clamp down the aluminium plate and cut it with the fine blade hacksaw.Cut two such closely identical plates .The plates should be then clamped together and filed and sanded to be almost similar (at least to the eye !).

Step 3 : the Plates

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The plates as shown should be clamped and sanded (unless you laser cut them ). the two cutouts at the top and bottom are used to push up your card and cash easily .

Step 4 : Getting the Band Ready

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You must use the elastic band of the width of the ridge you made in earlier steps or vice a versa , just ensure you match up the ridge as closely so that the band dosn't slip off , take a piece of band and wrap it around the plates such that its neither too tight or loose , so that you are easily able to slide in you cards an money . This step might require some trial n error , this step is kinda like adjusting tension on a bicycle chain (ones who have done it will understand ! ). make sure you get the perfect tension according to the number of card you intend to carry .

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keep in mind to make this edge to help the elastic band stay in place

Step 6 : the Result

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After you really make the efforts to make yourself the wallet , go ahead and stuff in your cards n cash , the wallet would be much better an option then that fat leather wallets , minimalist wallets have shown considerable improvements in improving posture and backaches ! enjoy your wallet !

Step 7 : Personalizing

Etch Metal with a Battery!

Personalizing this wallet is quite easy , few options would be to spray paint it either completely or by using stencils , another way to personalize the wallet is by adding your name by etching it on the metal . The above video by Household hacker is pretty much easy for everyone to attempt ! have fun building !