Avgvstvs

One thing people seem to like about tiger thread is that it comes in a lot of widths (0.6mm, 0.8mm, 1mm, 1.2mm, 1,4mm and 1,7mm) to accomodate different spi's and comes in a lot of colors (I've seen 16, there may be more idk). It has a refined and consistent look about it that many other threads don't have. It is 'flat' so it lays differently than 'round' threads. As others have stated, pleasant stuff to work with. If you plan on ordering some, you should consider getting small quantities of different sizes via resellers to put the finger on the thread that suits your type of work best. Buying spools is a lot cheaper but getting a spool in a size you don't need is a commitment you might not want to make. Not in my experience. Ordered three spools from abbey a while back. Cost me less than $ 40 a spool shipped. Even though the sipping costs are prohibitive, abbey sells the 500m spools for around 13ish pounds excluding VAT (which you don't pay if you're from outside the EU) - thats about $ 22. To give you an idea of shipping costs from abbey, I ordered three spools, an awl haft and a couple of blades and shipping costs via DHL were CAD $ 37ish . I assume shipping would have been quite cheaper for a single spool.

Hi there, I have played a bit with chromexcel and, like others, have found out that it's pretty hard to finish the edges as the leather is really soft and doesn't seem to compact properly in order to burnish. I couldn't find anyone vouching for any particular method except edge turning, which is not so easily done and cannot always be a solution depending of what you're making. I was at the point of leaving edges rough when I started playing around with the products I had laying around the house. Turns out the best results I had was with 'sole and heel edge dressing', a shoe care product - the one I used is made by Allen Edmonds and is clear ($5.50 for 4 oz bottle). It is a water based product and I suspect it is acrylic reinforced. It's fluid and it soaks right in the leather edge. It can be relatively easily removed from the grain side of the chromexcel. Once dry it hardens the edge slighlty, gives it a glow and it won't crack or peel however you might twist the edge. I bevel the edge, wet it and sand it, then I dampen it again and add spirit dye (if needed). I put two to three coats of edge dressing, sanding before and between coats(220 grit). It might not look like it but it is time consuming and tedious (sanding takes time) Doing this I manage to get more than decent edges. Plus they seem to last a lot more than regular painted edges (the product doen't stay 'on top' of the edge, it's sunken in, so it seems to be quite abrasion resistant. The first item I made with this was a simple moleskine pocket notebook cover - didn't dye the edges, didn't sand them either so they were rough - this thing has been in my jean front pocket everyday for nearly two months and the edges look the same as the day I finished them. I don't think it's the be-all-end-all finishig product/technique for chromexcel edges but it works for me and it sure helped me finish nice edges on multiple items so far. Here are pictures of the edge of the moleskine cover ; edges aren't nice but pictures show the edge dressing still shiny after two months of abuse ( i work in a lumber yard/ hardware store so my pockets see their load of cement, saw dust, soil and all the good stuff. Also added pictures of a piece of scrap that shows how nice this can look when edges are sanded and dyed (the pictures from my ipod don't do it justice). Hope this helps.

This is absolutely false (I can't, for the life of me, find a way to edit my original post...): Thought about it, made no sense, checked it out. Here's something that makes more sense: "Commercial sizes for heavy-duty thread used in upholstery and webbing (e.g., safety rigging and vehicle tow straps) are 33, 46, 69, 92, 138, 207, 277, 346, 415 and 554. These sizes are the denier measurement divided by 10. (A size 554 thread is about 1/32" or 0.8mm in diameter" source: http://designer-entrepreneurs.com/blog/illustrations/Thread_Sizes.htm

Thanks Electrathon. I realised while reading your reply that lasy must have been a typo for last. Why did the coffee have to take that long to kick in !?!? As for Tiger thread vs linen, I can't contribute much as I haven't had the chance to fool around with linen thread yet. I've only dabbled with synthetics, namely waxed polyesters from Tandy, Seiwa (from goodsjapan) and Tiger thread. What I can say in my limited experience is that Tiger thread is by far the most pleasant to use: the other too had way too much wax on and the extra wax would smudge when tightening the thread. Had to wipe-off excess wax from the thread to prevent this. Tiger thread doesn't have this problem as it is very slightly waxed. Cheers

I don't get the last part. If you could clarify, it would be much appreciated. Thanks! (edit: dyslexic me...)

Good people of the forum, I beseech thy wisdom! I have been looking for some kind of guideline concerning thread size to stitches per inch ratio for hand stitching. I rummaged around the forums trying to find the info but this thread seems to be as close as it gets: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=53981&hl=%2Bthread+%2Bsize Now, this is on machine thread. I tried to find equivalents in mm sizes and my understanding is that machine thread sizes are actually mm decimals (207 thread being 0.207mm...?...)* and are quite smaller than those of hand sewing thread. If this is correct, it might be difficult - or impossible (?) - to extrapolate on the above thread's info to make an equivalent for hand sewing... What thread size/ stitches per inch ratio do you seasoned (and not-so-seasoned) leatherworkers use when it comes to hand stitching? *I found a chart while googling on the subject but I can't find it anymore. This is from what I remember (poorly) so please don't go too hard on me if I'm wrong.

I too have opened an account with Abbey. Bought three spools and a bunch of bits and pieces for an order total for $97. Shipping to eastern Canada was $37 with DHL, which is quite expensive. I wonder if royal mail would have been cheaper. Still, even with this hefty shipping cost, each spool comes to $42 shipped which is cheaper than any other price I've seen. I have yet to recieve the order so I can't really comment on shipping times.

That's for sure electrathon. I have no problem paying a 'premium' for smaller lenghts. I would, however, have a problem paying such a 'premium' for a full spool. The guy offering me full spools would make about 10-12 bucks margin wich I think is quite fair, since he would order specifically for me and would take the risk of being stuck with it if I weren't able to pay or whatever other reason (which is not going to happen but still, I guess it has to be taken into account). All in all I think it's quite fair - if it's not, please do chime in Avgvstvs (Edit: misspelled electrathon...)

Thanks silverback, much appreciated!

Hi all! Like many here before me, long time lurker coming out the shadows. Great community/ forum here! Lots of great info and advice! Now to the matter at hand: I recently bought small quantities of Ritza 25 (wich I haven't recieved yet) at what I think is a fair price (compared to other offerings out there). Small quantities seem to suit my needs better for now since I'm just starting out but in the long run, having to pay extra for smaller bits AND pay for shipping for every single transaction might end up costing me an arm and leg. So, this got me thinking of full spools. Harder to find but got a hold of someone selling some at what I once again think is a fair price. Thing is, I have absolutely no idea what those go for - I can't seem to find the 'retail price' anywhere -, so my idea of what's fair and what's not might be pretty far from reality. Any of you ritza 25 users care to give me a idea of what it could be worth?

I think a lot of Art Deco designs could be of interest for someone who doesn't want to go the floral or western way. Many of them are composed of abstract geometrical patterns and are really appealing and elegant. (edited a missing word...)