I don't want to damage my chisels

[MtlBiker]

This is a basic question which most of you probably have an answer for, but I am not sure what to do...

What do you use under your leather assembly when using a stitching chisel?  Obviously nothing hard.  Or even a cutting mat.  I have a couple of those poly cutting boards but I'm not sure that's the best to use with a stitching chisel.  I use those with hole and corner punches.  I think it was @fredk who at one time posted something he'd made... some kind of wood cut into pieces and then stacked together with the grain facing up.  That might be good.  But if I made something like that using 2x4's for example, there'd still be a small gap between the pieces.  Maybe I could live with that.

Is there a better solution or product?

(I've ordered some expensive stitching chisels and want to make sure I treat them properly and don't ruin them.)

 

[Sheilajeanne]

After ruining a set of chisels on my poundo board, I now punch with a thick piece of belly hide under my project.  Cheap, and easily replaced when it gets too many holes in it!

Edited May 5, 2022 by Sheilajeanne

[MtlBiker]

23 minutes ago, Sheilajeanne said:

After ruining a set of chisels on my poundo board, I now punch with a thick piece of belly hide under my project.  Cheap, and easily replaced when it gets too many holes in it!

That's a great idea!  Thanks for the suggestion.  But as a newcomer to leather, I'm going to have to learn what belly hide is.  I have veg tan leather in different thicknesses and of course chrome tan also.  Is belly leather very soft?  (Like a soft under belly?)

Scratch that... I just found that it's just veg tan, probably a bit thicker (6oz+).  I do have some veg tan that thick but I have no idea where it comes from (belly or what).  I'll give that a try tonight when I get home.

Edited May 5, 2022 by MtlBiker
found the answer

[fredk]

A. the board in question

1. the grain of each block is turned in a different direction

2. The individual blocks are glued together and were clamped up real tight. The glue was taken to within about 1/4 inch of the top.

There is minimal gap between the blocks

This sort of thing can be made from a slice of a soft-wood tree trunk.

B. I also sometimes just use a scrap piece of leather, usually on top of my blocks board. Any scrap leather will do, thick or thin, veg or chrome

C, I've also been playing with this; a thick block of candle wax. For smaller projects. Either punch through into it or use an awl to poke a hole. When the surface gets a bit chewed up I just re-melt it and let it solidify again = a new flat surface

[Sheilajeanne]

This piece of belly leather was unusually thick. Parts of it are around 10 oz!  Tandy was having a sale, and I bought it to practice my carving skills on. Found it had other uses, too!

Fred, that looks like a great idea!

Edited May 5, 2022 by Sheilajeanne

[MtlBiker]

52 minutes ago, Sheilajeanne said:

This piece of belly leather was unusually thick. Parts of it are around 10 oz!  Tandy was having a sale, and I bought it to practice my carving skills on. Found it had other uses, too!

Fred, that looks like a great idea!

I just tried with a  piece of veg tan that's 8+ oz thick.  Put it on top of my poly board and it worked like a charm!  Thanks again!

 

[Spyros]

$2 plastic bread cutting board

That worked great for a couple of years, eventually I wanted bigger and I bought a giant piece of HDPE from ebay and screwed it on my bench.  That was like $60 or something 

[MtlBiker]

1 hour ago, fredk said:

A. the board in question

1. the grain of each block is turned in a different direction

2. The individual blocks are glued together and were clamped up real tight. The glue was taken to within about 1/4 inch of the top.

There is minimal gap between the blocks

This sort of thing can be made from a slice of a soft-wood tree trunk.

B. I also sometimes just use a scrap piece of leather, usually on top of my blocks board. Any scrap leather will do, thick or thin, veg or chrome

C, I've also been playing with this; a thick block of candle wax. For smaller projects. Either punch through into it or use an awl to poke a hole. When the surface gets a bit chewed up I just re-melt it and let it solidify again = a new flat surface

 

Thanks very much, Fred!  Why do you turn each block so the grain is in different directions?  I just tried using some 8+ oz veg tan on top of my poly board and that seemed to work.  But I'll keep my eyes out for some suitable soft wood I could use to make something like yours.  That really does look pretty darn effective.

Cheers!

 

[MtlBiker]

3 minutes ago, Spyros said:

$2 plastic bread cutting board

That worked great for a couple of years, eventually I wanted bigger and I bought a giant piece of HDPE from ebay and screwed it on my bench.  That was like $60 or something 

Well, you've certainly got more experience than I have, but my thoughts on that are that the $2 cutting board (I use those often to make templates) isn't going to absorb much if I use a stitching chisel on it.  And I'm not sure what HDPE is, but it sounds expensive and hard.  I wanted something that would not dull or harm the stitching chisels if I went through my assembly into whatever I have underneath.  I just tried what @Sheilajeanne suggested above... I used a piece of 8+ oz veg tan on top of my poly board and it worked like a charm.  Rigid enough to pound against but soft enough not to harm the chisel.

 

[fredk]

Three reasons for turning the grain;

1. when doing a line of sewing or lacing holes the multi-punch won't follow any one grain

2. I also use this for quick rough out cutting, again, the blade won't follow any one grain

3. there is a possibility that one block may start to split - that split can't travel through to any other block

HDPE =  high density polyethylene plastic - wot plastic milk jugs are made of, kitchen cutting boards and such. It is hard. Maybe Sheilajeanne can tell us how it compares to her poundo board.  I don't have one of those

 

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by fredk