DESIGNING A SIMPLE DIY WALLET (+ MULTITOOL CARD)
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Here is a project I've been working on that I'd like to show you.

It's a minimalist wallet design that is easy to create, along with a multitool card which fits inside. The basic goal was to make the whole thing as useful and small as possible.

THE WALLET

The wallet has a fairly standard minimalist design, with a single piece of elastic fabric which sandwiches the contents together between two 3D printed plates and keeps them held under tension.

The main component required for the base wallet design other than the 3D printed front and back is 1 1/4 inch or 32mm wide flat elastic which is about 20cm or just under 8 inches long. It's often used by textile designers and is very inexpensive.

The elastic itself is sewn onto the rear 3D printed plate, which is easy to do by using the little holes as a guide. Just repeatedly go through the holes with the needle and thread, then tie them off. You then fold the elastic back over itself to hide the stitching at the back, leaving you with a nice simple aesthetic.

Some people might want to carry a key with them, so I made a couple versions of the frontplate as a keyholder, where underneath the elastic is a space for one key. I tested a few blank key designs and carried them for a few weeks. It all worked surprisingly well and everything remained securely in place.

There are tonnes of key shapes out there, so it's probably easiest to add your own to the base design. I found that designing for a specific shape as opposed to a generic one is best as it stops any movement and rattling.

MULTITOOL CARD

I decided to update my multitool, and this time I've crammed a lot more items into the small space. I'm now basically always carrying almost every little type of computer accessory that I might use on a semi-regular basis.

First are the standard micro SD card slots. There are 2 slots, but both can fit 2 cards in if needed. There's also a micro SD to full size SD card adapter and micro SD USB adapter which both can also carry a card each, meaning there's total space for 6 cards.

There are 2 USB OTG adapters included, one for micro USB, and one for USB-C. You can stick these in the end of full size USB-A plugs to attach peripherals to devices.

I've included a SIM ejection tool too. Again there's enough room to carry 2 of these.

I designed a simple charging adapter using a 2mm thick PCB. When inserted into a standard USB-A sized male plug, it removes the data pins, meaning only power can get through. This could be handy at airports or other public places where you need some juice, but don't want to plug your device into an unknown USB power source.

What really takes this multitool to the next level though is it's modularity. Since all these little accessories are half sized USB, they can be doubled up for even more compatibility. The 2 little 3D printed braces simply push and hold the components together, so for example the Micro SD USB adapter also works for micro USB and USB-C, same with the power PCB, allowing you to plug all this stuff into a bunch of different types of devices without needing loads of separate cables.

There are two versions of the multitool design, including a variation which has ridges along the edges, so when it's printed in white, it kinda looks like extra cards inside the wallet.

One extra component that didn't end up making the cut was this tiny USB hub. It's based on the famous FE1.1S USB hub chip, and realized I could sink the components into the 2mm thick PCB to create a super thin hub. You don't even need any extra port components, you can just attach everything directly onto the board.

Although it's cool, after playing with it I realized this design choice of having these exposed components makes it extremely finnicky and unable hold up to long term use. I have some ideas how it could be reworked so maybe that'll be for a future update.

MAKE YOUR OWN

The source file links are in below if you want to make your own.

Another random thing I figured out is the thinnest way to block RFID signals on cards is to cut down those plastic-foil blocking wallets so they are credit card sized. Just put one either side of one or multiple cards and it should work fine. I tested it on my RFID reader and it does the job in a way smaller size then anything else out there.

In theory, the wallet design should work for a range of materials, from your standard PLA and ABS, to SLS. Laser cut plastics might work, as well as laser cut metal sheets, which would provide extra rigity and RFID blocking built in.

Sometimes my prints have had slightly varying accuracy, especially with the multitool component fit with particular print settings and filaments, so I have included the original SVG file for the components so you can tweak and customize depending on your setup.

Alright that's everything, thanks for watching/reading. See ya.

SOURCE FILES

Download the source files HERE

(The component list and the settings/specs for the 3D printing files and PCBs are included in the zip file)

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BY NODE