Macca

832 is very small for 10 SPI in all honesty

cheap hot foil stamping machine would do that, get them on ebay, just don't put foil in to get a normal impression, they take custom stamps

its done afterwards, same technique that produces printed leather

black stitching on the right is 0.6 tiger thread at 10 SPI, I think that is a little too full looking for a watch strap, white thread is 832 Lin Cable, which is too thin, I'd go for 532 or 632 depending on the look you are after.

We don't have cowboys over here, so no need for that chunky, grooved stitching you folks go for Wonder what those guys would make of the 16 or 17 SPI tack that is done over here

as above, if its in good condition it is worth something, anything worn or damaged & its next to useless. Cant see it going for more than a new Blanchard 14 SPI though, maybe someone would pay more but just seems daft to me. Also one iron on its own is not that useable, 1 1/2 @ 14 SPI iron is quite difficult to use for curves/corners If you had a 2 prong to go with it, then you are talking some money

New blanchards are **** Get an old one, or one from Bruce

IT WAS MORE YOUR SECOND LINE

lol Joe !

There's sharp & there's SHARP !!!

Great stuff, glad your happy with them !

What sizes did you go for in the end ?

I like to roll the knife while pushing through the leather, means no dragging/distorting the leather (especially on soft leather), properly sharpened it cuts so easily compared to a stanley knife, very little effort required.

Indeed Bruce, its close to impossible to find vintage pricking irons in good condition over here, you might find the odd one but 99.99% of them are busted/worn/damaged in some way. I got lucky with an ebay purchase recently, seller inherited a bunch of Dixon leather tools, 50 years old at least, didn't really know what they were so were listed as a job lot. they had been oiled & stored in wax paper so perfect condition, as good as the day they were made, zero signs of use on them I was happy that day !

a vintage iron with perfect teeth will be better, marginally, down to better steel. You have to be very lucky to find a good set of vintage irons though, they are easily damaged/worn. Ive never seen a decent set up using a soldering iron with creasing bits. Guess for the money its alright for doing a few lines but soldering irons (even those with temp control) are really not designed to have a lump of brass on the end so the temp control doesn't respond that well.

Just a general word of warning. I see lots of posts (not just this thread) about buying VB & other expensive tools as cheap/mid price aren't any good. VB, Dixons etc are not what they used to be. They might still be good/ok but in all honesty they are no where near as their old ones, much cheaper steel & manufacturing techniques are used making new tools. I'd always recommend trying to find a vintage tool first (only exception would be pricking irons & awls, you have to be very lucky to find an old pricking iron that isn't worn/damaged) Ive compared (& bought) head knifes, skivers, creasers etc from VB, Dixons etc to their vintage equivalent, difference is night & day. So I'd say do yourself a favour, get in touch with Bruce or search ebay etc for old tools first.

drop of glue on an awl & stick it into the stitch

Heres a pic of the marks made with a range of dixons irons I have, I have about 20, different sizes, different SPI, some old, some new. 7,8 & 9 SPI are old dixons 10 is the new type, I'll get onto the differences later in the post. I'd say the angle & size was pretty consistent there, don't compare the quality of the mark, I just gave them a quick cleanup & smack to show the size/angle (they have been in storage so I had coated them with machine oil to keep them in good condition) The newer irons are made differently (will be cheaper to produce) heres an above pic (3 on left are old, one on right is newer) Side profile shows the difference better OLD DIXON NEW DIXON All of them make a good, consistent mark for me to stick the awl through, so Im happy using any of them Ive seen lots of discussions on here about tool quality, brands, old Vs new etc etc Pricking irons are made to mark the leather ready to be punched with an awl, thats it, a very simple tool. Learning to use an iron & awl together properly is all that is needed to use them effectively. Misusing them as punches etc, well, we I'll leave an ancient French proverb here to finish my post mauvés ovriers ne trovera ja bon hostill Feel free to google it

Just a word of warning Don't buy a new Blanchard knife, the steel is garbage compared to the old ones.

Most of the Abbey hardware is their own, they took over the foundry in Walsall 5 years ago to keep it open & have invested in it since. They are quite happy to confirm whats theirs & what isn't if you shoot them a mail, I think they have increased the % of their own products over the last few years & not only on the hardware side. Heres a vid of the foundry, really is small volume..

Yes, they cost a bit more though as they are made up of separate pieces which have to be joined, if yours it rounded its likely made of one piece which is folded/shaped. The vid I linked shows the dixons ones with 90 degree corners.

found it.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=2mHnZE-8d9o#t=74

I haven't bought any, don't use dies. I have seen some though in the flesh, very good quality, you can tell they are made for manufacturing rather than hobbyists. I've seen someone on youtube using the same type I saw for leatherwork, can't remember who, will have a search

Dixons do dies/presses etc http://www.josephdixon.co.uk/content/Cutting_Formes.html

the teeth are sharpened to a point, so not a slit. No idea on the other irons you posted, they aren't European. Asian I'd guess