Need a new wallet | DIY Magic Wallet | DIY Cork Wallets
This £1.79 card wallet has the Magic X compartment for notes with two pockets on each outer cover for credit cards.
A magic X wallet that includes a coin purse but at £66.94 on eBay makes the less posh alternative a bargain.
Not a great deal cheaper, sporting an ID card holder, the £51.02 Garzini.
Then trying to be everything and only going back to the bulky wallet the Magic Wallet with Coin Pocket Von Manage Winner 4444 Black Leather Wallet for €37,90
Alexej Nagel had a kickstarter campaign *https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1693742244/victoria-wallet ) and produced and sold perhaps the best version of this design. Unfortunately there are no stocks left.
All the commercial solutions are larger than the width and length of a credit
card. The large size, that strap in unfolded bank notes, uses elastics
straps and can hold a large amount of notes. How would a credit size Magic
wallet work out?
I obtained a pair of plates that are in fact slightly shorter than a credit card
at 84x54 mm, The metal gives RFID and physical protection of the credit
cards.
I cut three lengths of elastic with a wide one placed in the middle and two narrow strip off set 12.5mm from the top and bottom of the aluminium sheets. Each strip is three times the width of the plates. This allows the strips to be glued the full width of each plate. I found these pieces of elastic in mother's 1970s sewing basket. I have used Gorilla glue to bond the elastic to the aluminium plates. This side of the plates is un polished and not protected. The polished side is protected by a white sheet. Enough glue is required to cover the elastic, but should not be enough to leak beyond that area. Try and avoid getting glue on the elastic that straps in the credit cards and bank notes.
Remove any lumps of glue.
The Magic X feature only works on inserts than can bend - like bank notes or till recipts. So simply slip the cards under the straps. To grab a card they can be partly fanned out, a card selected and then pushed back into place. Below shows two cards placed on either side. When closed any variation in the tension of the elastic twist the plates out of alignment
The advantage that is gained with this design is that it will hold a lot of cards or just one. The Swisscard inserted is the thickness of 5 cards. The SD memory card holder is even thicker, yet the Magic X wallet expands to accommodate them. The second photograph shows the cards stacked with just a simple strip of elastic holding them in place but offering no protection. This stack of 15 cards and two credit card tools all fit into the Magic X wallet.
Regardless of wallet design this pack is thick.
Now to remove the protective white covers from the polished side and to add self adhesive velvet on the out side. The velvet is not hard wearing and the adhesive used does not bind strongly enough and I would expect it to peel off before too long if carried in a pocket. It does cover the elastic and demonstrates the finish.
Shown here with just four cards but two very thick tool cards. It remains very compact.
Compared to the Mala double zip wallet it is tiny but holds everything from the card side of the wallet.
Folded notes can be slipped in and held by the Magic X mechanism, as long as not too many notes are added at the same time.
The next design could include different material front and back of each rigid plate, sown close edge all around and using the stitches to hold the elastic in place. It is not necessary to hold the cards on the outside although a metal frame ID holder fixed to one side could be useful and only require it to be two millimetres wider. Instead of a metal plate another rigid material could be used. Surplus bag/rucksack material might be very suitable.
Last updated 19th February 2019