Shell Cordovan And Stitching. Use Groover?

[quinatt]

hey everyone, I have been making a few wallets lately and am still in practice stage especially with my stitching. I've been working alot with horween chromexcel leather and am interested in shell cordovan (not a wise material to use for a beginner I know already). anyway, on some of my work, I have had people critique my work in saying the stitching is not countersunk into the leather enough and is sitting too far out. I am using barbours 5 cord and not grooving a channel in my leather for the stitching to sit in. My question is does anybody stitch without using the groover? I personally don't like the idea of grooving the leather first and especially not on a nice piece of leather such as shell cordovan. Am i wrong in thinking this? and is 5 cord linen too heavy for wallets in others opinion? Also, I have found that using a stitching chisel on the outside piece of my wallet and then using the awl to push through the other pieces once I have them all clamped in my stitching pony works alot better than just relying on the awl. I've noticed that alot of people dont recommend using a stitching chisel at all but from what ive found, the awl makes just as big of a hole as the chisel yet the awl makes the stitching look less uniform when relying on it only. any advice is appreciated.

[billymac814]

I think you'd have better results with a thinner thread for wallets. 5 cord is fairly heavy stuff for a wallet. I'd probably use size 138 at most depending on style, maybe 207 for a real heavy duty look. A 5 cord linen thread is equivalent to size 346 which is very heavy, most of us holster makers use 277 on holsters, some duty gear or more heavy ones will use 346.

Just like a needle you'll need to find an awl that is sized appropriate for the thread you're using. If your awl holes are too big then you'll have to get a smaller one, I think Tandy only sells like one maybe two sizes and they are too big, you can rework it yourself if that's all you have.

I'm not sure about grooving the Shell cordovan, I probably would personally if I were handsewing it, unless it is too thin to groove but I doubt that. If you get thinner thread you should be able to pull it down in a little tighter and even without grooving it it shouldn't look like its just laying on top like it does now.

[quinatt]

Thanks for the reply. so ive seen people mention that you can remove strands from your linen. like strip it down to say 3 cord. does this mess with the twist of the cord at all? is this something i can do. kind of a bummer that i have this huge spool of barbours 5 cord now.

also i went ahead and got the douglas awl with the standard size blade. I would assume this would be a suitable tool as it is recommended so often. What do you think? do i need a smaller blade?

I have used artificial sinew in the past and actually liked the way it layed on the leather better but steered away from it due to others opinion on the way it aged or cut into the leather. anyone out there prefer artificial sinew to linen and consider it to be just as good of quality?

Thanks

[quinatt]

also, as far as grooving the leather, especially cordovan, the thing i dont like is that once you groove into the leather you have that natural colored raw leather exposed and unless your stitching completely fills in the groove, i think it looks sloppy. And i do worry about some leathers being too thin to groove and still remain strong also

[billymac814]

If it creates a natural spot on the groove I would take a little dye and dye that first, just use a small brush and some cordovan dye. You can also try pushing a groove into the leather with a pair of dividers instead of removing the material, or just remove a little bit, you don't have to cut it super deep.

I wouldn't strip down the 5 cord personally but I guess you could try it. It seems like more of an hassle than its worth. I'd try to either save it for something else or post it for sale if you don't think you'll need it. I did a test piece, I stripped 2 cords off of a 6 cord Bourbors that I have and it just doesn't seem to look the same, it might be ok in a pinch but I wouldn't want to do it often. It may look better once waxed, I didn't go that far in my test.

I don't often use linen thread, I machine stitch almost everything though and the stuff that I make is mostly modern stuff so nylon suits me. I never like sinew but if I was making something that was more traditional and sinew fit the bill I would use it then, the same goes for linen thread really.

[quinatt]

alright ill experiment a little with this. i appreciate the the feedback. If anyone else has any input id like to hear it

[electrathon]

I seldome grove. I think your other parts of the wallet will fail before the thread does so no need to protect it with a grove.

As to the chisel/awl issue. You need a pricking iron. They are driven in part way to mark the leather then you can awl the rest of the way.

[quinatt]

Yea i would like to get a good pricking iron as i think it would help alot. The price on a good pricking iron is the only thing holding me back from picking one up.

anyone have any input on the size of the douglas awl blade that im using? should i be using the smallest blade he offers or is the standard one a good choice?

[Chris Pass]

Yea i would like to get a good pricking iron as i think it would help alot. The price on a good pricking iron is the only thing holding me back from picking one up.

anyone have any input on the size of the douglas awl blade that im using? should i be using the smallest blade he offers or is the standard one a good choice?

I have all the blades he offers and find myself only ever using the "slim" blade. Personally, I could still stand a smaller hole, but it does work for my needs. Hope this helps.

Edited February 14, 2013 by Chris Pass