Hello! Hand Stitch ?

[Iron Pounder]

Hello,

Great forum here. I have been doing lots of reading and bought the hand sewing book most recommend. I'm interested in mainly gun belts and holsters. I went to Tandy and bought a few things to get started. I bought a few belts blanks to practice with and am having a problem. I think the needle they gave me is too large (000 saddle). My awl is razor sharp (dressed in lathe,ha) but hard to get it through far enough to let the needle make it through the hole.

Here is what I'm trying to use... size 000 harness needle

round awl from Tandy (best one they had)

handmade awl from high carbon steel (extremely sharp)

plain belt blanks at Tandy I think .250 thick

Part # 1220-02 waxed thread (tandy again)

Is the needle too large? Just seems that I have to make such a large hole to get thing to work with this size needle that I don't like that look. I told them I wanted a diamond awl but they said they aren't what I want for this I guess. If I need a diamond awl I can make one nicer than I can buy from the way it looks.

Go easy on the new guy:whatdoyouthink:

[Timd]

A sharp diamond awl will make your life much easier.

[celticleather]

You definitely need a diamond awl, sharpened and polished in the way described here . . . http://www.bowstock.co.uk/saa.html.

As Timd says, it will make life a whole lot easier!

[Iron Pounder]

Dang I knew I should have just went ahead and bought one. They say it causes the sticking to be all over the place and easier for the leather to split with the cuts it makes. Is my needle the right size? Do most of you find the tools you buy to be lacking and end up making your own? I spent a few hundred and have very few tools that I won't end up making replacements for. That's what i get for taking my daughter with me and being in a hurry. I guess I should have looked at them a bit closer.

[bkingery]

Dang I knew I should have just went ahead and bought one. They say it causes the sticking to be all over the place and easier for the leather to split with the cuts it makes. Is my needle the right size? Do most of you find the tools you buy to be lacking and end up making your own? I spent a few hundred and have very few tools that I won't end up making replacements for. That's what i get for taking my daughter with me and being in a hurry. I guess I should have looked at them a bit closer.

Obviously the Tandy person who talked you out of buying the diamond awl didn't know **** about hand sewing, if you hold the awl at an angle when you push it through when you stitch the leather actually grabs the thread. I would be very disappointed with this person. Diamond awls have been used for thousands of years so I would trust that. There was some bone awls found on Kodiak Island a few years ago that they think are almost three thousand years old. Hmmm wonder if they were on to something. As far as remaking the tools if you can go for it if it's easy for you. i think the craftools actually help me be a better leatherworker because I have to adapt to make them work better. Just my .02 hope it helps.

Peace

Bryan

[Luke Hatley]

Iorn Pounder, when you go back to Tandy buy the book "Hand Stiching" by Al Stolman.

a lot of questions will be answered .

[Timd]

[LilRay]

Gonna chime in with another related question. Are 4 prong diamond chisels as effective as awls? What's the most common spacing?

God Bless, Ray

[Timd]

Ray, I use the chisel on thinner leather, say sewing 2 3oz. pieces together. On thicker leather it makes the holes too big, although I sometimes will use it to lay out my stitch line on the thick stuff. I use the 1/8" chisel.

[Big O]

For belts and holsters, using 8/9oz leather, FORGET about diamond chisels. I tried that. Broke two of the Tandy 4-prong diamond chisels (made of pot metal, apparently) before I gave up and started drilling holes.

Then katsass schooled me in the merits of diamond-shaped stitching awls, and I got one, and once I got comfortable with its use, I'd never go back.

As for belts, I've made ONE. I'll probably make one or two more, for myself. I wouldn't want to try it as a commercial venture, though, because it takes HOURS and HOURS to HAND-stitch a belt. Think about it. 40-60 inches of belt, stitching on both sides, 5-6 stitches per inch. That's at least 400 stitches. And you need about 4 times the length of thread as the length of the work. You spend most of your time pulling the thread through......