Am I right to use this as a pricking iron (it's not specially made somehow just as a chisel?)

[LakeOtter]

(image attached)

I'm stoked to get my KS Blade Punch brand … item, lol. I like it!

I say “item” because I want to know whether to call them pricking irons or stitching chisels that happen to be French style...?

If I looked at this, with my limited sewing experience, I'd have said “French Style Pricking Irons” you'd use to mark the leather, then follow with an appropriate awl rotated at that marked angle.

But then everywhere I look I see people using these same types to punch all the way through like a chisel, be they KS Blade Punch, Sinabroks, or 4Z.

Even Mr. Armitage talks about how they glide all the way through, in his great PDF article, here (although I couldn't tell if he was referring to the round or flat).

What's the deal with that? Are these an “either/or” that can be punched through or used as a pricking iron?

 

I got them to use as pricking irons, and follow with my C.S. Osbourne Saddler's Stitching awl. I have adequate, more affordable pricking irons in other sizes, that work fine, but couldn't find them above 4.5mm, so I got an 8 blade and 2 blade KS brand in 5mm I like the look of with 1.0 and 1.2mm thread.

 

Often, the ads for these products say both Stitching Chisel and Pricking Iron.

Thanks for your thoughts!  -- Jeff

(optional reading babbled below) : 

P.S. -- Commentary on my choosing KS over Sinabroks or 4Z,

I chose KS because I saw Nigel Armitage's pricking irons/chisels reviews article from 2020. He stated in a very benign way (not taking sides) that Jin from Sinabroks left KS and went independent. Having business experience I saw this seemed to mean the development and design was taken from KS. When I bought these and mentioned loyalty to such companies vs. opportunists, Mr Son confirmed they felt very betrayed and their feelings were very hurt for some time (that they literally lost sleep at first), and didn't even mention any lost business. I cannot fully judge because I don't know if Jin was mistreated or something, but I've experienced appropriation of this in the past, where we paid for development time only to have an employee take off with designs and go make money, and it smelled like that. So I went to KS. Now it appears a third party in China is in the mix with 4Z but, go figure.

 

Anyway, I'm no expert in any of this sewing knowledge, as my experience lies in other fields. I appreciate any thoughts about whether you'd use this as a pricking iron, chisel, or if it's a 50/50 that can be used as either. I've even been using chisels as pricking irons until I got pricking irons, and just dealt with them having unneeded points, lol. (That's not what is pictured... below is the KS ones I intend as "real" pricking irons... certainly better than fudging marks w/pointed chisels then using my awl, in any case)

 

Edited 7 hours ago by LakeOtter
felt i was unclear