Barbour Linen Thread Rocks

[UberSquid]

I've seen a lot of posts in the Gun Holsters, Rifle Slings and Knife Sheathes section asking about what threads people use. I thought I would share my recent religious experience with Barbours Linen Thread.

This weekend I ran up to Landwerlen Leather in Indianapolis and picked up a pound of seven ply Barbours linen thread. I've resisted buying Barbours simply because I didn't want to pay fifty dollars for a pound of thread I wasn't sure I was going to like. I wish I had taken the plunge a long time ago! (No affiliation with Landwerlen, just excited about a really neat store that isn't Tandy!)

Anyone who is on the fence about picking up some Barbours , spend the money. I've not been fully happy with the appearance of my stitching until I picked up a spool this weekend. I've used other Linen threads from Tandy, Sprinfield, Ebay, you name it but I never was fully happy with they way my stitching came out. The Barbours is just easier to get the effects I want. I can wax it to the consistency I want, it lays in the grooves better, frays less, it's just all around better than anything I've tried to this point, synthetic or natural. My stitching looks so much better that I'll be using more natural colored stitching to highlight it much more often.

I picked up the seven ply so I could remove threads if I needed something thinner and so far it's worked perfectly. At my rate of production a pound spool will last a very long time. Given the increase in appearance, ease of use and how much happier I am with my finished product, I would happily pay twice as much for a pound spool. I'm a Barbours convert now for life! Even though the initial buy in is higher my per item cost is lower than buying smaller spools so it's a win financially too!

Now if only my powdered rosin would get here so I could make a batch of code to go with it!

[Mijo]

Squid, thanks for the feedback. i've been sitting on a pound of the barabours linen thread for several months, as i'm working through the rest of some prewaxed thread that i had previously purchased. The prewaxed thread is a lot more costly than unwaxed linen but i had some reservations about waxing the thread myself.

[UberSquid]

It's no big deal, get the bees wax out and start waxing. Pitch the other stuff or donate it to kids programs, what ever. Trust me, you will be glad you did.

[J Hayes]

How do you like the 7 cord? I plan on ordering a pound Monday and have been debating cord size. What needle are you using with that?

I've had some help locating pre made code at around $3 an oz, if you're interested I can share the sites.

Thanks

Jeremy

Edited July 8, 2012 by J Hayes

[UberSquid]

How do you like the 7 cord? I plan on ordering a pound Monday and have been debating cord size. What needle are you using with that?

I've had some help locating pre made code at around $3 an oz, if you're interested I can share the sites.

Thanks

Jeremy

I personally really like the seven cord and kinda wish I could get eight. I'd read once that if you buy heavy thread you can always remove extra plys to reduce the diameter later for lighter stitching if you need to but so far it's worked really well for the work I do. I mostly do holsters and the occasional piece of hunting or outdoors gear at 5 stitches per inch so I need a pretty heavy thread. If you are doing something lighter or more stitches the seven might be a bit heavy.

I use a 00 harness Needle from Springfield Leather. I taper the ends of my thread per the instructions in The Art of Hand Sewing Leather by Al Stohlman.

I've made my own batch of code the other day. It works really well. I like it a lot better than plain bees wax. I've made up a full pound so far and I think that will probably be enough to last me about the rest of my life.

[J Hayes]

I personally really like the seven cord and kinda wish I could get eight. I'd read once that if you buy heavy thread you can always remove extra plys to reduce the diameter later for lighter stitching if you need to but so far it's worked really well for the work I do. I mostly do holsters and the occasional piece of hunting or outdoors gear at 5 stitches per inch so I need a pretty heavy thread. If you are doing something lighter or more stitches the seven might be a bit heavy.

I use a 00 harness Needle from Springfield Leather. I taper the ends of my thread per the instructions in The Art of Hand Sewing Leather by Al Stohlman.

I've made my own batch of code the other day. It works really well. I like it a lot better than plain bees wax. I've made up a full pound so far and I think that will probably be enough to last me about the rest of my life.

Everything I've done so far has been holsters at 6 spi, I may do some bags, but they will be heavy. 7 cord sounds good, can you pull it through the awl holes fairly well?

How did making your own code go?

Thanks

Jeremy

[UberSquid]

Everything I've done so far has been holsters at 6 spi, I may do some bags, but they will be heavy. 7 cord sounds good, can you pull it through the awl holes fairly well?

How did making your own code go?

Thanks

Jeremy

I use an Osborne awl that I reshaped, polished and sharpened. It took a couple of hours with files and Emery cloth to get it to the shape and size I wanted but I've matched my awl to the thread. I have no problems passing the first needle, the second one is getting tight and when I'm doubling stitches it requires pliers to push a needle through the holes. So for me its perfect but like I said, I'v e adapted my tools to the thread.

My first run at making code was a mess! I used a mini crock pot that the sell for potpourri to melt bees wax and rosin. Once it was completely melted I dumped it into a bucket of the hottest water I could stand and gathered it up into a wad and started kneading it. I didn't know how sticky it was going to be! I managed to get a usable lump about the size of a racket ball but I wound up with a thick coating of sticky wax bonded to my fingers!

It was really hard to get it off my skin. I tried scraping it, running cold water over it, rolling the ball of cooled code across it, I even tried freezing it with butane but I couldn't get it to come off! Finally I got out the mineral spirits and that dissolved it into this this thick liquid slim that started to come off with Dawn dish soap. I went through a lot of dish soap getting it all off my hands.

I posted my problem on the leather sewing section of this forum and was advised to use cool water. That and invisible gloves has helped quite a bit. An ounce of rosin and half an ounce of bees wax tossed into my $2 goodwill potpourri crock pot and left for an hour and dumped into cool water then removed after its had a chance to cool a bit. Easy as pie. It stays hard at room temp but you start handling it and running thread across it and it gets really tacky really quick. Its perfect.

[J Hayes]

I orders the 7 cord from Landwerlen today. I cant wait till it gets here.

I decided to order the wax too, it doesn't sound terribly difficult to make, I just don't have the time.

Jeremy

[ChuckBurrows]

I've used Barbours now for 51 years and still counting and although I've tried other threads in the past I always wound up going back to Barbours. For getting pitch/resin/rosin off your hands use pure gum turpentine.....For general sewing I use a 50/50 mix of rosin and beeswax - plenty sticky for most work...

[UberSquid]

I've used Barbours now for 51 years and still counting and although I've tried other threads in the past I always wound up going back to Barbours. For getting pitch/resin/rosin off your hands use pure gum turpentine.....For general sewing I use a 50/50 mix of rosin and beeswax - plenty sticky for most work...

Of course Turpentine is the one thing I don't have in my shop... I'll have to hit the hardware store tonight.

I've also tried several other types of thread and I just haven't found anything that looks or feels as good as linen. Natural colored linen on a brown or mahogany colored piece of leather has that classy old world look to it that is eternal.

Personally I really like the glue type effect of the 2:1 rosin:beeswax that I'm using but it does stick to the fingers when you are waxing the string. Fortunately it is a thin layer that wears off quickly and actually leaves my hands well conditioned without softening the callouses to the point where they peel. I've always had problems with my hands drying and cracking but they are looking pretty good since I've been using the code. (Or Coad if you prefer.)

I'll have to try making up a batch of the 1:1 stuff tonight. I suspect that I might not be as happy with it but since I can always melt it down and change the ratio, nothing is lost on an experiment. It might be better for working in this heat anyway. What I'm using does get really sticky really quick as soon as I put it in my hand and start running thread across it.

[UberSquid]

I orders the 7 cord from Landwerlen today. I cant wait till it gets here.

I decided to order the wax too, it doesn't sound terribly difficult to make, I just don't have the time.

Jeremy

I think you will be happy with your purchase but make sure and let us know what you think. That great big spool sure is motivating!

[J Hayes]

I think you will be happy with your purchase but make sure and let us know what you think. That great big spool sure is motivating!

I am stoked to get the Red Hand and the code. I have a holster ready to be stitched and am chomping at the bit to get after it. I will report back. I got the 7 cord natural and some Osborne 0 harness needles to go with it. I was using some big eye needles from Springfield prior to this.

Its nice to see other people get excited about thread and wax too!

Jeremy

[J Hayes]

The Barbour's is awesome, the stuff doesn't seem to fray as badly as the previous stuff I've used.

Is the best way to wax it just to drag it across my wax ball?

Also what is the best way to dye this? I put some in my Fiebing's pro oil dye and let dry overnight but I still get alot of dye rubbing off on my hands. Should I be dragging it through a cloth. What do others do?

Thanks,

Jeremy

[Rawhide]

Jeremy,

I place the cord on a hook that's screwed into my bench, and then rub my wax back and forth over it. I rub fast enough to generate a little heat so as to sort of melt the wax into the fibers. I've never dyed my cord, but if I did, I would rub it with a white cloth until no more dye bled off, then wax it well.