Macca

thats a strap pricker, very different tool to a pricking iron (strap pricker IS designed to punch through leather) You don't get different sizes though & its not the same impression.

Its from Mando, Paris http://mando.fr/fr/17-fileteuse-manuelle

did you contact Abbey about your issues ? Their support is extremely good. They are the main trade supplier over here (even making their own hardware) so definitely should resolve any issues you have had.

Here it is http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=51392#entry327700

Sounds like you got a bad one David. All my dixons are like that, nice v taper with perfect teeth alignment. I posted a close up here of ones I recently bought, I'll try and find the post.

Not sure where to get over there. For sizing, 8&10 would be my choice to start Or...hmm.. Maybe get a 7 & 9 ? You can probably guess this is very much a personal choice thing...

Yeah, I'm sure it doesn't matter to the company that spent the money developing the tool, they are delighted I'm sure that someone in china is chucking out sub par copies of their hard work. Tell you what, there's lots of sweat shops in India that chuck out leather bags for a few bucks, why bother supporting anyone else. As long as it's cheap, right ? Btw, that tool won't work well, soldering irons aren't controllable enough, it's been tried before. Still, it's cheap and looks similar, so that's ok.

Well if you take your iron into dixons to get it thinned you see the bloke taking it to a grinder & thinning it by hand/eye, so I'd say that was hand made ! If you look at the teeth, you don't see machine marks unlike those cheap Chinese ones. Don't compare UK & French pricing, salaries / cost of living is quite different between the two countries, also, Dixons are typically down to earth tools for the saddlery trade, Blanchard have a bit more marketing power behind them, basically they charge what they can get away with, very good tools but very, very expensive. What country are you in ? You can ask dixons for thinner teeth, they don't charge any more for this

I'll check when I'm back in the country later in the week (out on business at the mo) I have dixons in 7,8,9 & 10 I use a wheel for 12 & 14, will be getting the 12 irons soon, sadly they don't make 14's any more so stuck with the wheel. Depends what look you are going for... Refined classic euro Or the chunky rough American JUST JOKING !!!!!!!

If you get stuck give me a shout, I can get it quickly here & send to you, will be much faster than a month !

Only issue with the Seiwa is you can't get small ones, if you want a decent SPI you are stuck with the marking/awl types. I don't think Osborne do very high SPI irons either. One comment regarding the dixons, you have to ask for thin teeth on the lower SPI tools, dixons teeth get thinner the higher SPI so make sure you tell them what you want, they will finish them to your requirements at no extra charge ( dixons are hand ground, just like the Blanchards, not sure where the idea they are machine made came from)

Doesn't matter if they are a copy ? Nice.

Agree it's hard Takes lot of practice, you do eventually develop a muscle memory that means the awl angle is repeated time after time & will look prefect

soldering irons tend to get too hot for creasing, even the temperature controlled ones. how about a traditional setup of burner & creaser instead ?

learn to use an awl & pricking iron together properly & you won't have these problems, as Ive posted repeatedly, they are not meant for what you are using them for You are still trying to use a pricking iron like a chisel to make the holes, so now you are having hole sizing issues due to the taper, well thats because too much of the iron is going into the leather. You get away with punching slits all the way through on thin leather, you don't on thicker. If you want to punch stitching holes with irons get the Japanese ones, they have parallel teeth & make diamond holes (waits for the inevitable replies from people who use them like this or get mixed up between a pricking iron & a chisel !)

you even copied the sizing & names of the heads, straight from the French supplier. How about not stealing someone else's idea & work ? Oh & incase anyone is wondering, this is a very cheap soldering iron with some insulation around the handle.. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/261476253875?lpid=82

Fil au Chinois was registered as a brand (so, a trademark in modern terms) in 1847, the name, figure & the rest of the branding was made up (hence the very European looking figure), it wasn't bought from anywhere. Anything oriental was fashionable at that time in France, made up or not, the parent company (PH Vrau & Cie) had started producing thread in Lille 20 years earlier. Fil au Chinois was the brand/product line that became hugely successful for them.

Ouch, thats a bit blatant ! One good thing though, Its got me looking at Paul's knifes now, got to pick up a couple of these Assume he ships to Europe ?

foam lined drawer in a tool cabinet

love the camping idea !

I use a wheel for 14 SPI David you can get a good impression with the wheel (again, not the US overstitch types, the euro ones that do proper slanted marks)

its not really terminology, its a completely different tool David is using a dixon pricking iron, they are tapered tools for marking, you can do very fine stitching with them. yours is designed for punching holes so I can see a press working ok with that 10 SPI is pretty standard harness sizing over here.. I so some stuff at 12, even 14 at times

thats not a pricking iron, the teeth are not tapered, they are parallel so it will go through thicker leather without distorting

well, Ive seen a 10 SPI pricking iron break when the owner tried to force it through too thick leather a press would apply even more pressure so I would say the chance of damaging the tool is very high.

the problem with using a press like this is to do with the taper on the irons. the further you press the more pressure builds on the side of the teeth (the taper applies increasing pressure to the leather the further in it goes), there is only a little leather between the teeth & leather only compresses a finite amount, keep applying pressure and it will break (the more teeth on the iron, the worse this will be) whereas a hammer/mallet has some give to it, the hammer will bounce off the iron rather than applying all the force into the iron. Also, whether you use a hammer/press/ whatever.. If you punch all the way through with a pricking iron you will distort the leather too much (again, the taper spreads the leather more the further it goes in) & you will find the tool gets stuck a lot, removing it distorts the leather. If striking noise is the issue I'd look at a pricking wheel (not like the US ones, a European one that makes marks like a pricking iron) Use the wheel to mark the stitches then awl to open them up.