mrtreat32

so I got the edger in the mail today. I have only tried on scrap pieces and max 2 layers glued together of scrap but it was very easy to make a straight line with this tool. Keep in mind I wasnt going over different thickness of layers with pockets etc but it worked very easily. Im assuming when you said you were having a difficult time with the osborne you also tried on a simple piece of scrap to see if even that would work. I would highly recommend this tool but I have never tried another creaser to compare but no complaints. Not sure if any other high end modern tool makers have creasers..if Barry King or Sheridan make one Ill try that for my next purchase Havent tried it heated yet which I will do tomorrow. I have read people use spirit lamps mostly to heat the creaser...is there any reason I cant use a regular gas stove or candle? If it can damage the tool I would really like to avoid it but I dont see what the difference would be.

I bought the Vergez Blanchard and have never tried anything else. I actually had the #9 iron in a 4 prong but sold it to upgrade to a larger set this week. They work great but I am kind of curious since Im spending so much money on them what the difference is between them and the cheaper irons. I would love to have multiple sizes but cant purchase them all at once so I have considered trying out cheaper ones in a smaller spi. While its nice to have good tools I think I would appreciate them more if knew how much better the quality is aster trying other brands. Tempted to try the seiwa ones from goodsjapan What exactly do the the other irons do or dont do that the VB does. I know they are quality tools but they are literally pretty much just slanted metal prongs. I dont see why they couldnt be replicated by another tool manufacturer. For example with some tools I think you are clearly paying a premium for the name and maybe the quality of steel where it really doesnt matter. I bought the VB scratch compass 2 months ago when I started out because I needed that or a groover to mark the stitching line. While it is a very nice looking and sturdy tool Im pretty sure I could get the exact same result with a much cheaper compass. If I had to do it over I would have put that money into another tool where the quality really varies (maybe another pricking iron) I also cant imagine a overstitch wheel varying widely in results..some may be made of better material but the result should pretty much be the same. On the other hand certain tools I think it can make a world of difference. Knives and I guess pricking irons for example.

Will let you know how it goes. I ordered from that eBay seller you mentioned... Im in the same boat.. I feel like sometimes when trying to save money I buy the cheaper alternative and end up re-buying what I really wanted in the first place. Not saying the VB is good cause I have yet to try it but the other tools of theirs I own are of good quality. Also people I follow on social networks whos work I like use that tool with good results. I have the small BK awl haft as well. Very nice looking. I bought the Douglas Awl blade for it after reading they were some of the best. It was my first awl blade (only been working with leather 2 months) and was using it exclusively. Honestly I dont know what a truly sharp awl blade is since no one else I know does leather work to compare with. It seems pretty sharp but it is 2.5 inches long and the farthest I can get it into the awl haft still leaves about 2 inches exposed which makes it feel a bit awkward and cant get as much leverage when stabbing the holes. I ordered one of the VB blades 43mm for the hell of it since they were only a few bucks and after trying it out I havent gone back to the Douglas. The VB is a lot shorter so it is only sticking out of the haft about 1 inch and I feel like I have better control of it that way. When I touched the tip of it alongside the douglas blade out of the box the Douglas blade felt a bit more sharp but pushing it through leather I have a easier time with the VB. Maybe its because the shorter length along with the fact that the blade is a bit slimmer. If you look super close the shape is a bit different as well. It seems to match the slants of the pricking iron more closely which makes sense since they are the same brand. I hear people mention that certain brands come polished sharp from the factory such as the Douglas. If you look at the blades next to each other the Douglas is almost mirror like and the VB is a dull steel color. Is that actually a sign of sharpness or a different type of steel? As far as I can tell I now have the VB as sharp as the Douglas but it still isnt shiny. Maybe someone with better understanding of these tools and sharpening can chime in. The Douglas could very well be the superior quality tool but for me I have had better luck with the VB. maybe its my lack of experience.

thanks for the heads up. Maybe Ill check out the knipschield knifes mentioned above or do some research on some other brands. Gonna hold off for a bit though since I have already spent more than I should have on tools recently! The head knife looks like a tool with a steep learning curve as well but Im still interested in learning.

sounds strange. I looked at the c.s. osborne briefly as well. Is one edge hanging off the side to guide it.. similar to how a divider or a grooving tool has one side run along the edge to guide it? The side that is not making the crease is in contact with the mat or work table you are working on? I recently got a versa groover from Sheridan and it is super easy to keep the line straight..would be nice if a creaser was designed in similar fashion to that tool. I will post my impressions of the vergez creaser and its ease of use once it arrives this week if youre interested. Excited I ordered it but at the same time kinda thinking I could have spent that money on another tool that has more uses (head knife, vergez skiver) since the crease is pretty much only for decorative purposes. When you speak of the barry king awl are you referring to the handles he makes or his blades. I have the handle which is very nice but Im switching between a Vergez and Sheridan awl blade. Maybe I will try the BK next!

thats what I figured. Plan on ordering chromexcel for my next order so I will go ahead with the creaser most likely. thanks for the feedback

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah I don't know what a real nice crease looks like so I have nothing to compare mine too in terms of what to expect. Im kind of thinking about holding off on the creaser if its not going to be a major improvement over what Im getting now. I guess the main advantage would be that you can heat a creaser tool up and I can't do that with my compass. My scratch compass which I mainly use to mark the lines before I use my pricking Iron has been a major learning curve for me also. I find it really hard to get a straight line since Im mostly working on wallets and other items with multiple layers. When I set the width and run it along the edge the line varies because the outside leg of the tool is being guided along different widths of leather. If I use it on a test piece that is only one layer thick I can get a much better result.

thanks. thats the size I was going to try. Im doing mostly 9spi so hoping it looks good with that. http://www.campbell-randall.com/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=43_60_62 the Barbour on this site is a red box and it doesn't list sizes like 18/3 etc. Its the same thing just different packaging?

http://www.johnnealbooks.com/prod_detail_list/273 If you scroll down the page half way..is this the same Barbour thread that people use for sewing leather? I called them and said they have never had anyone ask about using it for leather and said its made for book binding. I want to try Barbour thread out but Im having a tough time finding it online. One site offers it in much larger spools for $50 but I want to try a smaller amount before I commit to that size. Not to mention I keep coming across different labels on the thread so Im not sure if they make different grades of the stuff. thanks

Placing a order for some new tools today and was about to pull the trigger on a edge creaser as well. I am looking at a vergez blanchard mostly. Question is I don't own one and have never used a creaser. In the past few days I have I tried using my scratch compass on the edges of dampened leather and Im getting a crease line that Im pretty happy with. I don't know what to expect from a normal creasing tool so I can't really compare the result. The compass is leaving a impression in the leather and not just a scratch. Im basically trying to find out if this is a tool that I should invest in now or its just a more convenient method of getting a similar result. I guess once I work with chromexcel where the impression is harder to make this is where the proper tool would really shine. Would love to hear any feedback thanks. here is a picture of some crease lines I made with the compass tool. I will try to upload a image of one done on natural color veg tan where you can see it a bit better

Placing a order for some new tools today and was about to pull the trigger on a edge creaser as well. I am looking at a vergez blanchard mostly. Question is I don't own one and have never used a creaser. In the past few days I have I tried using my scratch compass on the edges of dampened leather and Im getting a crease line that Im pretty happy with. I don't know what to expect from a normal creasing tool so I can't really compare the result. The compass is leaving a impression in the leather and not just a scratch. Im basically trying to find out if this is a tool that I should invest in now or its just a more convenient method of getting a similar result. I guess once I work with chromexcel where the impression is harder to make this is where the proper tool would really shine. Would love to hear any feedback thanks. here is a picture of some crease lines I made with the compass tool. I will try to upload a image of one done on natural color veg tan where you can see it a bit better

Vergez iron is about a month old. Only used on a handful of projects. Perfect working condition but has some cosmetic scratches on handle from use. Will not have any impact on the performance of the tool. I am selling this with a spool of dil au chinois thread size 432. Made a few wallets with the thread and practiced stitching so its not a completely full spool but LOTS left. Probably used 1/8th of it but no way of telling exactly. Thread was $36 alone not counting the shipping I am selling this to buy the same brand of tool but in a different size. $105 for both shipped in the US thanks

Was thinking about trying out some horse butt strips or fronts for some small projects. I was wondering if anyone knows who sells this type of leather besides Maverick. When I do a google search I get results for Brettuns also but do not see it for sale on their site. I would purchase from Maverick but Im checking my options first since it all seems to be about 5-7oz or heavier. Maybe a distributor that can split it for me as well since I will be using it for wallets and other similar projects I would prefer a lighter weight. Also interested in hearing about anyone experience with this type of leather who has used it. Seems like maybe you get some of the nice qualities of Cordovan without the hefty price.

I cant tell what those are in the video but ebay has some irons that I have never heard of made in china. Some look like blanchard knock offs but I have never tried any of them so not sure on the quality. One or two of them if you search around look somewhat simialr to what is in the video. http://www.ebay.com/itm/leather-craft-high-quality-stitching-punch-diagonal-chisel-N7-3-85-10prong/221459250036?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D22946%26meid%3D7476484158237478049%26pid%3D100033%26prg%3D9894%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D221459248472 Benedic tools? curious if anyone has ever tried them

Got my maine sample card today also! I actually emailed Ludlow leather asking a question about smaller sizes of tiger thread and I never heard a word back. Could have went to their spam folder or something so could be a mix up. But thats very nice of them to do that for you! I was curious about the pricing break down on the maine thread so that puts it in perspective more on how it compares to other brands! Although I just ordered the extra fine size which is $4.19 a spool. Still comes out to not being cheap if you add it all up.. but its nice being able to get some interesting colors that I wouldnt commit to purchasing a large spool of! got the denim and some other strange colors. Its not my ideal thread since it seems to feel a bit sticky and the doesnt look as consistent as the tiger that I have but for small amounts of different colors I think I am a fan. The tiger thread seems nice that I have but its just too big looking to my eyes for smaller goods. Probably like the fil au chinois thread the most out of those 3 that I tried but its a pain in the ass to get and $$

I have ordered off that site multiple times and not sure I have seen that pic. cool comparison of the sizes. So when I got home from work I had a sample card with thread colors and sizes from maine thread company and on it was a tiny sample of the .20 size thread so I cut it off the card and used what tiny bit I could to try and sew a few stitches...was pretty funny trying to pierce this tiny thread and sew with it (was maybe 2 inches). I got about 4 stitches and they definitely look closer to what I was going for. Much more slanted since they arent filling the holes are tightly. Looks more like a machine stitch or closer to a hermes type pattern than I was getting with the thicker thread.. so I think I need to size down if I want to get that look consistently!

thanks will give them a call tomorrow

haha. I feel stupid now. I have many but Im not sure where to measure the circumference? Once the blade tapers to full thickness? I thought you would need some type of caliper of some sort to get the accurate size.

Does anyone know how many mm the slim douglas awl blade is? Its what Im using now and the website doesn't have it listed. Its the only awl I have ever used and Im trying to get a idea of the size so I can order something smaller elsewhere for sewing smaller projects. (9,10spi) Vergez blanchard has a lot of different sizes that might fit what Im looking for. thanks

Honestly I can't find Barbour except for abbey england and they need me to be signed up for a business account to see the pricing and shipping so not sure how much cheaper it will be than ordering the lin cable. I have done a bunch of google searches and found a few places in the US carrying it but they are book binding companies and the label appears to be a bit different. I emailed one of them and they said they have never sold it to anyone looking to use it on leather. Im not sure if they carry a bunch of different types and don't want to order the wrong thing. I just want to have a reliable thread of good quality and be done with it. I have only tried the lin, tiger, and maine. the tiger and maine are too thick for 9spi IMO so I want something thinner.. which I guess is the barbour but can't find it online.

Im familiar with Barbours brand for hand sewing though I haven't tried it yet. Are you saying they make a cheaper machine thread as well or thats something entirely different

thanks david. Is there a particular brand you recommend?

Does thinner thread tend to give you more of a angle to your stitching? I noticed people using thin thread seem to have more of a slanted angle to their stitches. I was wondering if anyone who has used lots of types of thread can comment on this. My stitching is angled but not as much as I would like. I feel like part of the reason is my thread is filling the holes //// more and creating less of a contrast between the top and bottom of the thread. I am trying to order 632fil au chinois but the only place I know is currently out of the color I am wanting. I would try it out for myself but I only have tiger thread, 432 dil au chinos thread, and some maine thread. Unfortunately the 432 is the thinnest I have on hand. Trying to determine if this is playing some factor in the stitching before I order a particular size. thanks

no problem. The .30 is pretty close in size to the .6mm tiger thread. I don't have a way of measuring it precisely but in feel and appearance. I just had them send me a sample card with the different thread sizes which I should have done ahead of time. Gonna see what the .20 looks like as well as color options.

just got the maine thread in the mail. Sewed a test line with it. Seems nice so far. Feels similar to tiger thread to me. Only problem is I ordered the .30 and .35 looking for something thinner than my 432 fil au chinois and both are thicker. Next order I will order the ultra lightweight .20 It seems of high quality but these sizes seem better suited to 7spi or larger.