MtlBiker

@NDphung - Nice to meet you. I'm also in Montreal. Where did you find the information that JJ needles size 1, 2 and 3 are identical? I didn't see that on the JJ website nor on others that I've searched. But I did see the specs which certainly seems to confirm that. I got my John James harness needles directly from James in the UK. I got a package of each of the 7 sizes, including exchange and shipping for less than the shipping cost alone from just about anywhere else. Total cost in Canadian was $28. All in. Can't beat that. Plus I got Ritza Tiger 25 thread in 1.0 size from Abby England, again for way way less than I could buy smaller quantities in North America. Cheers!

@Frodo - Getting a lot of attention from the public? Good attention I hope! Are you advertising it online somewhere? The photo at the bottom right looks like when the holder is folded the open slot for the cards would face outwards, but the bottom left photo looks like they face inwards. Half an inch thick? Is that with cards inserted? Oh, I think I get it... uh, maybe not. Is the bottom left photo showing the outside of the holder? And the bottom right showing the inside? I don't get where the inside card pocket is. The id pocket surely is on the inside part, right? With suede do you have to finish the edges? Is it more like chrome tan or veg tan? Duh, more beginner questions.

@benfanman - I'm a fine one to talk (being just a beginner with leather myself) but your edges sure could do with some finishing. They do look a little rough. Maybe (in the future) a little sanding first, followed by some tokinole and a polishing.

Not too bad! I watched his video and also bought the PDF pattern but before I start I need to improve/learn my stitching technique. This pattern is certainly an easier project than the other one I saw, with wet moulding the leather. What kind of closure is that you used? I was thinking of a regular line24 snap, or maybe even a magnetic closure. Your leather looks really thick... what weight is that? 6oz at least, I'm guessing.

The first haft I got was from Tandy and was this one. And I found the awls I got were terribly dull, even to my inexperienced eyes. Then I made a mistake by buying the Osborne #141 haft which wouldn't let the Osborne awls fit. I found out too late that this haft was for large needles or small awls. So now I've got an Osborne #145 haft coming (arriving tomorrow) with some extra awls in case I mess up the sharpening. I never considered buying one with permanent awl blade, thinking that the blade would be replaced fairly often. But I guess I should have.

That's really a most helpful reply from you! Thank you! About the spacing on Craftool chisels... I see what you mean, but the Craftool Pro seems to be different. The black Craftools are as you say and the ones I have are wider spacing than I'd expected. In the Pro, the ones I have are the 3mm, and I've ordered the 3.5 which should arrive tomorrow. The Pro's are much sharper, especially on the sides than the black regular ones. And with beeswax, I'm sure it'll be easier to pull the chisel out. I'll look for those videos about awl sharpening. That's what I'm currently having trouble doing right. If that old cobbler was in a pub... no wonder he said the awl goes halfway through your finger before you feel it! But I get the "point". Again, really great message. Thank you.

Good stuff! Thank you. That's what I'm going to try, but first I've got to master getting my awl properly sharp. And I've got some beeswax which I'll use on my chisel. And it's probably going to be a lot easier to pull the chisel out of the leather if I'm not punching through 3 layers at a time. I'm using a wine bottle cork for now.

Great suggestions! Thank you! I like door #2. And thanks for the term "welt". For the time being I'm going to concentrate on sharpening my awl and once I'm happy with that, I'll try gluing the first layer to the welt and then punching the holes through with my awl after partial punching with the chisel.

I screwed up with a little practice project I'd been working on. After practicing my stitching with scraps of 6oz veg tan, I *thought* I was ready to try a real project. I wanted to stitch a sheath for one of my skiving knives. I'd made a few before but used machine stitching. So I had top and bottom layers of 6oz, plus a "spacer" (is there a better name for that? I hesitate to call it a gusset) so that the skiver blade doesn't hit the stitching. So effectively 3 layers of 6oz. I glued it all together with contact cement and then punched my stitching holes with my Craftool 3mm (#88045-06) chisel. That's where I had the first problem... I almost couldn't get the chisel back out of the leather. Yes, I'd punched all the way through... should I have only punched part way and then used an awl to get all the way through? Anyway, by wiggling the chisel back and forth I eventuallly got it out, but the glued layers came apart on a section. So when I tried to stitch this, the layers didn't align properly and I had a devil of a time until I finally gave up because I couldn't get the needles through when the holes didn't align. I'll try again, and plan to skive the edges of the top and bottom layers a bit to thin it out (leaving the spacer middle layer intact) and then glue it again. Not sure what to do with the chisel and awl. Right now my awl doesn't seem to be sharp enough (working on it) to punch through even half the thickness without really bending the leather, thus probably causing the glue to separate again. Anyway, I'm going to try, and again it's a good practice piece which doesn't waste too much leather.

Top right corner of that website has a flag icon and the text next to it says to click there and select language. There is no US flag so you'll have to pick the British one to get the Queen's English. Works just fine.

Yes, I'm new to sharpening awls. What was your first clue? Is that in the Stohlman book on hand stitching? I'm slowly working my way through that, with of course too many YouTube videos thrown in. I'm finding my eyesight makes it hard to see the cutting edges on the awl. Probably need a new prescription and glasses. SIGH

What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger! Right? One of the challenges is to find a supplier in Canada, or at least one that doesn't charge more for shipping than the cost of the item. And I'm very much dependent on information on sellers' websites. And of course this great site! Thank you (and others) for your great help!

Thank you Klara, but I've found out that it simply was the wrong haft for the awl. I've now ordered a different Osborne haft (#145) and some more awls (because I might screw them up sharpening them). The one I'd bought says, "Brass chuck designed to hold thinner awls or larger needles." I should have checked the CS Osborne site before I ordered because the combo I got just doesn't work.

Thank you. What about #145? That seems to be the only model in stock at Canadian sources at the moment. I only found one source for #142 but it's out of stock. And ordering an awl from the US almost triples the cost once exchange rate and shipping are added. I guess I'm not risking much by ordering the 145. And probably a couple more awls. (Learning the correct terms here... the handle is called a "haft" and the blade, an "awl"?) So I guess that in spite of being told the haft I bought worked with the awls I bought, they don't really. SIGH

This is the second awl I have bought which doesn't seem to be correct... This one is an Osborne 141 Awl Haft. I also bought three Osborne awl blades (2 1/4" 57mm, 1 1/2" 38mm and 2" 50mm) which were indicated as the proper ones for the 141. But they don't fit!! If I unscrew and remove the threaded locking collar I can pry open the jaws barely enough to get the awl blade in, but then I cannot replace the locking collar. SIGH Is it possible that they sent me the wrong products? (I had a similar problem with the Tandy no-name awl haft and their blades, but by using pliers to force the blade into the haft I managed, but IMHO a blade should fit easily and then should be able to be tightened. But the Osborne one is simply no go.) Surely this isn't the way it's supposed to be.

Geez, this needle sizing thing just doesn't make sense! Please take a look at the screen shot I posted above (2-3 messages back) taken from the John James UK website showing the sizes available. If what you are saying in this message is true (and I don't doubt you) then if you were to put those sizes in order from the smallest needle to the largest, what would that look like? 004, 003, 002, 001, 1/0, 2/0, 3/0???? Why would any company list sizes of anything in an apparently random order? And am I correct that it appears sizes 1, 2 and 3 are all IDENTICAL?

Thanks very much, Klara. And that needle case looks like a nice little project to practice stitching with. I'll just have to modify it a bit because I ordered some of each of the 7 sizes John James offers. Right now I'm working on trying to sharpen my awl and not yet doing a good job of it. SIGH

What's really to show? Just a machine sitting in its table? Or something else? How you set up your sewing room really depends on the space you have to work with, what you sew mostly and what you cut. It's always nice to have a big table you can cut out material on, and that's separate from your sewing machine setup. Maybe looking at some sewing videos on YouTube could be helpful? And make sure you have good lighting for the sewing machine.

You don't indicate where in the world you are... I've bought very good quality DOT line 20 snaps from JT's Outdoor Fabrics in Canada,and I also use a lot from Kamsnaps in the USA. I've found both to be very good. AmetureHour... just curious, but were you by any chance trying to spell "Amateur"? Also, no need to post two messages the same here.

Not clear on what you said... do you mean that 1/0 is the next size larger than 001, or just that it's larger? Assuming (often dangerous to do) that of the seven sizes John James lists for their harness needles, the list would go from the smallest to the largest (or even vice-versa), 001 and 1/0 are completely at opposite ends of the range. So far those are the only two sizes I have (my John James direct order for a pack of each size seems to have gotten lost in transit) and using Ritza Tiger 25 thread in 1.0 weight, I'm able to thread both those needles. Which surprises me (as a novice). I mean, if needles at each end of the size range work with 1.0 thread, it would seem they would work with the full range. Unless as you might be implying by your comment, the 001 and 1/0 sizes are adjacent to each other in size. Which makes this whole needle sizing thing even more confusing. SIGH

Ok, I’m still confused about needle sizes, particularly John James harness needles. Here are two packages of needles, one labeled 001 and the other 1/0. This size naming system is crazy! You can see that both needles are different sizes in length and as near as I can measure the one on the left is 0.98mm in diameter and the right one is 1.06mm. i know I can thread the bigger needle with Ritza Tiger 25 1.0 thread but I haven’t tried yet with the other needle. Why is this so darn complicated?

Thank you. Looks like a great excuse (not that one is needed) to uncork a bottle or two of wine! Really, it's just for the cork dear. But now that it's open, it would be a shame to let it go to waste.

Funny guy! A dart... really. But how annoying that a brand new awl arrives too dull to be any use. Maybe the Osborne one I expect later today will be sharper out of the box.

Great! Thanks very much for that link, Dave. Armitage videos are terrific. That sounds like a very good idea (and an excuse to buy popcicles!). Any particular flavor work best?

Thank you! I guess my awl isn't punching through well because it's not sharp enough. But what's the technique for sharpening that shape of blade? And how much of it do you sharpen? The point and how far back along the shaft? I've also got an Osborne awl coming along with a couple of blades. It'll be interesting to see the sharpness (or not) compared with the Tandy one.