Stitch Border

[chapelstone]

What is the minimum boarder I should leave from the edge of the leather to the stitch line and still get a good bevel on the edges? In other words how close to the edge should I get before I mess it up? This is on flat double layers of 5/6oz.

[JLSleather]

At 10-12 oz, I usually am about 1/8" from the edge, but this is for the look and I'm sure you could run closer than that.

[Troy I]

On 9/10 oz, my stitch line is about 3/16.

[zuludog]

A rule of thumb is to make the line of stitching the same distance in from the edge as the thickness of the leather, even if you use multiple thicknesses.

For example, on a knife sheath using 3.5mm leather there will usually be a front, a back, and a welt, ie 3 x 3.5 = 10.5mm, but the stitching would still be 3.5mm in from the edge

When in doubt make the margin a bit on the wider side, you can always trim it down

Using traditional measurements, it is taken that 1oz leather is 1/64'' thick. So 10 oz leather is 10/64'', or 5/32''

But if you round 5/32 to 6/32, that is 3/16, so Troy I has it about right

Chapelstone:-

5 or 6oz leather, call it 6oz. So that's 6/64'' or 3/32''. If you round it up to 4/32'' that's 1/8'' which will give you a bit more room to manouevre, especially as you're bevelling the edges. As I said, you can always trim it back a bit, but you can't add it!

Remember, we're dealing with the skin of a cow here, not precision machining

If you're careful you can get the stitching as close to the edge as you can, or dare, but remember what the stitching is there for; it is to join two pieces of leather together, and there will always be a certain amount of movement, pulling, and so on. So the closer you get to the edge, the higher the chance of the leather tearing at the stitching holes.

It will also depend on the type & quality of the leather; the finer the grain, the closer you can get to the edge

Edited March 31, 2015 by zuludog

[King's X]

I agree with Zuludog as the rule Al Stohlman taught many years ago. I have several stitching groovers preset.....one of them is set up at 3/16" that I kinda use regularly. I usually do not go above 10oz anyways.

Good luck!