Which needle and which pricking iron (hole punch?) to pair up with Ritza .8 mm thread for belt making?

[Bobby B]

Hi to everyone.

I'm a noobie to this forum and a beginner leather worker.

In the past, I fabricated some axe and hatchet masks as well as some knife sheaths. For the sewing"holes' I first stamped some holes with a 4 mm Craftool then drilled these out with a 5/64 bit in a drill press. I saddle stitched the pieces together with Tandy Harness Needles size 000 and some thick waxed thread of a size I no longer know.

I would now like to fabricate some belts for friends and family.

I've spent hours researching needle size and pricking irons and am now more confused than ever. Some (much?) of this confusion is due to the limited number of suppliers up here in western Canada.

Can someone steer me in the right direction and provide me the correct needle size and 'hole maker' I need to sew with .8 mm Ritza thread. If you can recommend a source here in Canada that would be a bonus.

Bobby B

[mike02130]

3.85 mm irons would work with .8mm thread.  John James 004 needles.