why does stitching done with my french irons look worse than my diamond irons?

[Spyros]

1 minute ago, dans79 said:

However the French irons definitely seem more sensitive than the diamonds to the angle and amount of force you use when tensioning the thread.

yeah they are... the thread has a lot more distance to travel to reach the end of the hole, with the diamonds it bottoms out faster so it doesn't really matter how much you pull it.

[Klara]

You did not punch all the way through with the French irons, did you?  Because they are not meant for that...

[dans79]

2 hours ago, Klara said:

You did not punch all the way through with the French irons, did you?  Because they are not meant for that...

These aren't pricking irons, they are stitching irons. I checked with the manufacture before I purchased them, and was assured the will happily go through without issue. Using a punch pad of course! 

[dans79]

11 hours ago, MtlBiker said:

Interesting.  I wonder if that's technique.  I have yet to try such stitching chisels and I'm impatiently waiting for my order of Sinabroks 4mm European style chisels.  I'm hoping they will help me elevate my stitching skills.  When I get mine, I'm going to do stitching tests using Ritza Tiger .6, .8 and 1.0 threads.  I suspect the 4mm chisels will be too closely spaced for the 1.0mm thread to look good.  I like how you've done your comparison test.

 

Here you can see a comparison now that I'm doing the cast correctly, thought i still need to get a better handle on the appropriate amount of tension for both types of irons so the stitches look more consistent, but I'm much happier with the results.

2 layers of 2.5oz glued together.

The thread from top to bottom is :

1. 0.4 to 0.45mm Vinymo MBT #8
2. 0.6mm Vinymo MBT #5
3. 0.6mm tiger thread
4. 0.75mm Vinymo MBT #1
5. 0.8mm tiger thread

Personally I think the french irons look better on the front side up to Vinymo #1. For the diamonds i wouldn't go  larger than the 0.6mm tiger thread or Vinymo #5. 

On the back side the french are much better than what they where yesterday.  Are there any tricks to make the back side of the french look better (more centered vertically)? Or maybe a book with good information in it?

As an aside, one thing I've noticed is that the tiger thread is a little easier to work with imo. Every now and then the Vinymo will twist itself tighter for a stitch or two and throw of the look of the stich.  

Front

 

Back




 

Edited May 8, 2022 by dans79

[Spyros]

If you are doing any sort of significant stitching lengths then IMO these result are pretty much as good as it gets.

[Handstitched]

@dans79 If you want  it any more perfect than that, use a machine . But from what I can see, it looks great   

16 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

Get to enjoying the process of making stuff the human way you don't have to be perfect your not a machine. Lets see some projects!!!

Hear hear !! I've lost count the amount of times my  hand stitching  has gone a bit off course on the back .  I call them ' humanity stitches' . Lets me know I am not a machine, or a robot . It also lets the customer  know that  its actually hand made . 

To keep (over) analysing  your work will only drive you crazy   

HS

[MtlBiker]

6 hours ago, dans79 said:

Here you can see a comparison now that I'm doing the cast correctly, thought i still need to get a better handle on the appropriate amount of tension for both types of irons so the stitches look more consistent, but I'm much happier with the results.

2 layers of 2.5oz glued together.

The thread from top to bottom is :

1. 0.4 to 0.45mm Vinymo MBT #8
2. 0.6mm Vinymo MBT #5
3. 0.6mm tiger thread
4. 0.75mm Vinymo MBT #1
5. 0.8mm tiger thread

Personally I think the french irons look better on the front side up to Vinymo #1. For the diamonds i wouldn't go  larger than the 0.6mm tiger thread or Vinymo #5. 

On the back side the french are much better than what they where yesterday.  Are there any tricks to make the back side of the french look better (more centered vertically)? Or maybe a book with good information in it?

As an aside, one thing I've noticed is that the tiger thread is a little easier to work with imo. Every now and then the Vinymo will twist itself tighter for a stitch or two and throw of the look of the stich.  

Front

 

Back




 

That's looking really good, and noticeably better than the first batch.  You've said that your French chisels are 3.85mm (I've ordered 4mm) but you never said what the regular chisel is (and size) for comparison.

And if I'm not mistaken, the Vinymo thread isn't waxed... are you waxing it?

[dans79]

1 minute ago, MtlBiker said:

That's looking really good, and noticeably better than the first batch.  You've said that your French chisels are 3.85mm (I've ordered 4mm) but you never said what the regular chisel is (and size) for comparison.

And if I'm not mistaken, the Vinymo thread isn't waxed... are you waxing it?

The regular/comparison chisels are 4mm diamonds from KemovanCraft.

I've tried it waxed, and unwaxed, and personally i don't really see a difference.