Martyn

Hi Steve,

It's a matter of personal taste my friend. I like the European on the big stitches - 5 stitches per inch. The steep pitch of the teeth gives a nice lay to the stitch. At 5spi, the Diamond chisel lies a little flat with it's shallow pitch. But when you go up to 6 stitches per inch, I think the European starts to get a little too toothy as the angle stays the same but the space between the teeth reduce. At 6spi or more, I think the Diamond comes into it's own a bit more.

Have you seen Nigel Armitage's review of the Seiwa European?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3HBuzIoqyA

Oh, just to add, the tines on the Seiwa are 7mm long, which gives you a comfortable punch through depth of around 6mm of leather. After that, you either have to punch through different layers and line them up, or follow through with an awl. My preference is to glue up the layers, punch as deep as I can then follow through with the awl. Because the Diamond chisel imitates the diamond x-section of an awl, the 'tunnel' it creates is a very nice guide for the awl, making it quite easy to align the awl at a very consistent angle. This makes the back side stitch very consistent and neat. The flat profile of the European isn't quite so easy to follow through with an awl. It's not massively harder, but perhaps something to consider.

Hey thanks a lot! No I hadn't seen Armitage's video. but will now. Great info!