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Got my amy rokes. I also ordered the Amy Roke new linen threads. Was impressed with the performance so I ordered a bunch of em. A bit stiffer than the Fil au chinois especially the 532 equivalent. But running the thread thru a bees twice makes this thread hug the leather better. IMHO its as close as it can get with the fil au chinois line. I find it better than the other lin cable alternatives (barbour etc...). Not much color selection like the fil au chinois line. However, you can get them half the price of Fil au chinois if you order via email. Ordering via taobao, you can get the threads cheaper (difference around 4usd). Below using amy roke 3.38 and cmdachong 3.85. Stitched with Amy Roke linen 532 (M55) & 632 (M45) equivalents on a cheap veg tanned leather (midly pulled). Not a great stitch, but you get the idea how the thread looks like in different SPIs.

Thanks Vic! Looking forward to meet you. I will be staying near Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo. Not sure how far it is from Asakusabashi though. Haven't done my research yet. Will google and learn more about the places you mentioned.

Thanks for sharing man! Also, can you recommend a great place in japan where to get some leather tool stuff? I'll be traveling to Japan this April and will be there for a month or two. The only place I have in mind now is Iwataya shop.

I easily get mine from china taobao shops. They normally do group buys and sell them retail. Can easily get GVT, ILCEA, barenia, togo, alran, taldekalt, minerva, buttero, box calf, saffiano and i can go on and on. The ones i metioned are the popular ones among chinese leathercrafters. Also no need to worry about the quarantine stuff.

Search PergamenaNY on etsy. They specialized on bookbinding leathers. They have thin .8mm aniline dyed goat vegetable tan leathers. Price per hide is only around 50usd. Good stuff.

If you dont mind getting it from china i can recommend taobao shops who sells 304 and 316 hardwares. Cheaper than anywhere you can get.

Check out leathercrafttools.com well priced japanese knives. They have left handed Yujin knives made out of tungsten steel. Blue steel, tungsten, carbon and white steel are all good and perform well. TBH, for Japanese knives get them from leathercrafttools.com. They have great prices and selection. If there is a japanese knife that you like and they don't have it in their online shop, you can actually message them and they will find it for you. Dol Dokki also sell some japanese styled knives. Damage around 68USD.

IMHO, I think the korea tools are very well made especially the ones posted by rickdroid and the ones being sold by dol dokki. For cmdachong edgers, I know some french guys who bought them and told me they are the best edgers they have tried. I have no personal experience with cmdachong edgers yet. I still use my old kyoshin elle edger.

Aside from the 5% Paypal fee, direct shipping is also quite expensive. Plus, if you cancel your order, I think your payment will be refunded to your Alipay account instead of directly going to your credit card. If you can wait, stick with your taobao purchase. You can try to purchase some cheap stuff and use the 4px thing I told you and see how it goes.

+1. I also get my stuff from Taobao. Interestingly, if you order amyroke irons from taobao the wait is much longer ( I waited for 2 months for my set. Buying via email will only take around 2-3 weeks ). IMHO, Taobao is a best place for leathercrafters. Let me tell you a secret: Lin Cables cost 10-15USD cheaper in Taobao. And.... you can easily get Barenia, Togo, Alran, Vachetta hides in Taobao. Plus.... Fenice products are way way way more cheaper as compared to the price offered by tandy.

I think the thickness of the leather, the pitch, size of thread and how you control when you pull the thread does affect how the stitch will look like. I believe this has been explained by Nigel in some other thread. I use the same technique like what the french guys do. Per my experience, stitching thin leathers (2-4oz total) will sometimes give me less slant on the other side especially when using thin linen threads. For me, as long as the stitch is consistent, this is fine.

you will surely enjoy his tools. Just remember to follow him up when you order and confirm when he will ship. Also, take note that the chinese new year is very near. Hence, most cnc factory will take a break within this week with delays in production. Plus, most shipping companies will be closed. Just expect some delays. Chinese new year is a big thing is china and normally every work stops to celebrate.

You are correct. Both perform the same, just like blanchards. I just like how amy roke iron looks.

I also have cmdachong irons. Honestly, I would rather go with AmyRoke irons. Looks better and thicker. There is a reason why the chinese leatherguys would wait 2 months and pay 2x for AmyRoke irons.

Ok. I received the tools from cmdachong. I ordered the 3.85mm (9+2) for $100 and its around 7 TPI. Every tooth is around 1.85-2mm wide. The iron is well polished when I received it. Every tooth shines like a mirror and very sharp. It's chunky/thick and dwarfs the Japan prongs. Easily, hammering this iron twice will make it pass thru the leather. I didn't even use my awl the first time I tried it. All in all, I am very happy with the performance of cmdachong iron. However, comparing it to my friend's Amy Roke irons, I have to be honest that Amy Roke irons look way better (still waiting for my copy).

Looks nice and very sharp!. I have seen that on etsy before. Seems like you don't need to use a diamond awl....

+1 for ron's :D. Though very expensive, I heard a lot of good things about ron's edgers. Blanchard was ok.. a bit long for my taste and hard to use for corners.

Japanese Iwataya Tools (shipping is quite expensive though) - http://www.iwataya-kouguten.jp/

If you want some VB items and Lin Cable colors exclusively made for a korean store, you can visit THIS. I contacted them but I received no reply. I was interested with the Louis Vuitton patterned knife made by VB just for this retail store.

cmdachong currently don't have #0 (.6mm) edger. But I think he does have #1 (0.8mm) - #5(3mm) available and you can have it customized if you want to go wider (If my memory serves me well, waiting time would be around 2-3 weeks for customized products). For asian forums, best would be china (mix of china, taiwan and other chinese countries). However, you need a chinese account to be able to fully scan the forums. Problem is, for you to successfully create an account, you need to have a chinese number. If you're lucky, you can find some free log-in accounts in bugmenot.com China - 1.) This one (baidu) is sort of like a reddit style mixed discussion thread/buy&sell forum. This is where they introduce their new products as well as selling used stuff. (Just use the google chrome translate feature). 2.) this one also have lots of leathercraft discussion Singapore - http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/fashion-grooming-235/leather-thread-2437972.html Will do a review and comparison once I receive my irons.

Main reason is their pricking irons are always out of stock or they have a long list of clients. I got an email from both Amy & Roke and C Mason. Amy & Roke currently has 3.38 sets (9SPI) available (A bit rare for them to have stocks. The chinese guys need to wait for 2 months to get a hold of AmyRokes irons.) and C Mason just started to re-stock most of his sets. In addition, C Mason just started to sell his own Fileteuse in china (quite cheap. i think around $200+ for the machine and $50+ for each tip). Contact details: Amy & Roke - It is very easy to contact Amy Roke if you know how to use (Chinese ebay)Taobao (https://amyroke.taobao.com/). They have a chat service and they will actually reply in english. Otherwise, send them an email @ atelieramyroke@hotmail.com - . I suggest to stick ordering via email. If you order via Taobao, they wont accept paypal and you need to go through the Taobao process. If you want some AmyRokes now (and skip the wait of 2 months), I suggest to send them an email NOW. Like what I have said, they currently have few 3.38 (9SPI/10TPI) stocks left and these wont last long. (note: shipping is quite expensive.). Still waiting for mine to arrive. C Mason/caomeng - He is hard to get a hold of. He is always busy and rarely replies in email and taobao (and he use google translate to communicate. Sometimes he ask his friends to translate). I find that the easiest way to contact and order from him is facebook and his Etsy shop . He currently has stocks and he will most likely reply within a day or two. Another alternative is Dol Dokki from Korea (instagram) - I was told that his tools are being used by high-end artist in Korea. In addition, his tools are quite popular in Japan. Downside is, his tools are a bit expensive (around VB price but looks way way way way better). Check his instagram and you will see why. His tools are a work of art. His pricking iron are solid and thicker than VB, You can send him an email and ask for the price list: carstylist@naver.com . (forgive me if my english is not that good).

New to this forum but been lurking for months now. I have discussed with cmdachong(caomeng) in taobao and confirmed that he is using HSS (hrc level above 60). Ordered some customized tools from him which I will get next months. Also made ordered some amy rokes. I am no chinese, but i have been lurking the chinese forums for years now (re: cnc and programming discussions) and I can tell you that the chinese(china, taiwan, hk etc.) leathercraft community is very big. They have shops in china who carries VB, Au Chinois, Rons, Barry King etc...