Consistent Way To Punch Sewing Holes In Leather

[NewYorkerInSydney]

Hi folks,

I use a multi diamond hole punch tool and a chisel tool to make sewing holes. These are the kinds that make many holes at once. I use a mallet to whack the chisel or punch to make the sewing holes. After doing this all day some times for hours and hours I start getting tired I can make mistakes and if Im not careful the holes on the underside of the leather are too close to the edge because I whacked it at an angle and not straight.

Do any of you have a solution for using these tools without having to use a mallet to whack every time so its not noisy and so the holes go in straight every time and not at an angle?

Thanks so much!

Nyis

[Camerius]

I use a wing divider to mark the stitching line first. Then I take my pricking iron, put it on to of the line, and then make sure that the iron is standing straight before I punch it through with a mallet. What you can do is get a piece of metal, have it bent in a vice to 90 degrees, to be sure that it is at a perfect angle to your stitching line when you lean the iron up against it.

As for the noise, I use my granite slab then topped with one of my smaller self healing cutting mats and then my poly punch board. Sometimes I even have a thick piece of scrap leather on top of the poly board to save the points of my pricking irons. All this is killing the noise besides the whacking on the iron. However, there is another solution that is very quiet, and that is getting a set of pricking pliers. These work in the same way as with a pricking iron, just with the teeth set on a set of pliers so you make the holes by squeezing instead of punching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgNaR_Sz6rU

Hope this helps,

C.

Edited May 16, 2014 by Camerius

[Tree Reaper]

For sewing it might be time to consider a sewing machine.

[BDAZ]

You can use an arbor press. This one has a hole drilled in the ram. A 2 Ton will have enough clearance to use your current tools. For hand stitching I always cut a groove and that keeps the pricking iron straight and keeps the stitches below the level of the leather.

Cya!

Bob

[Camerius]

Running a groove when using a diamond shaped pricking iron will be detrimental to what what the stitching (in this case saddle stitching) is to be like. A groove is fine for normal non-slanted stitches, but will kill the effect of the angle of the saddle stitch in making it lay down and look flat.

A sewing machine could be the answer, but will depend on how big the quantity is to be stitched. In if it is just small hobbyist projects or bigger amounts of manufacturing that has to be done. Still worth looking at, I suppose.

C.

[Tree Reaper]

Even a machine without a motor can be hand cranked and made to work just to punch holes without thread.

Having the presser foot is a big plus for holding the material down when extracting the needle.

[DavidL]

You can use an arbor press. This one has a hole drilled in the ram. A 2 Ton will have enough clearance to use your current tools. For hand stitching I always cut a groove and that keeps the pricking iron straight and keeps the stitches below the level of the leather.

Cya!

Bob

whats the brand name, I'm looking for a press w/ a hole already pre cut.

[BDAZ]

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=890-8803&&cm_mmc=Didit-_-SEM-_-GglProd-_-GglProd&003=18299132&010=890-8803&gclid=CO3w8PG2sb4CFYlafgodO0IASA

Cya!

Bob

[DavidL]

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=890-8803&&cm_mmc=Didit-_-SEM-_-GglProd-_-GglProd&003=18299132&010=890-8803&gclid=CO3w8PG2sb4CFYlafgodO0IASA

Cya!

Bob

How larges the hole in the ram? Big enough for a dixon or vergez iron?

[chiefjason]

I use a diamond Awl chucked into my floor drill press. Pull the handle down and it punches right through. Pretty quick once you get used to it. Might not work with the tools you are using now. But changing tools might get you more of what you want.