Help Picking Out A Stitching Chisel/iron

[Not Awl Together]

I'll check when I'm back in the country later in the week (out on business at the mo)

I have dixons in 7,8,9 & 10

I use a wheel for 12 & 14, will be getting the 12 irons soon, sadly they don't make 14's any more so stuck with the wheel.

Depends what look you are going for... Refined classic euro

Or the chunky rough American

JUST JOKING !!!!!!!

Much appreciated Macca, and thanks for posting the link to the picture of your iron(s).

On an aside, I originally noticed on my Osbornes that as the spi's got higher, the pitch/angle of the dents become more vertical at each size while the dent height remains the same. Roughly a 1/8 inch or 3.5 mm give or take.

Since I've never had a Dixon or Blanchard in hand, It's led me to question whether the stitch dents becoming more vertical is unique to just the Osbornes and whether the Dixon/Blanchards are ground and filed such that the angle of the dents remains constant throughout the line as one goes up higher in spi count?

I appreciate your insight and comments and look forward to hearing what you have found once you have returned.

Kind Regards,

N.A.T.

[Hi Im Joe]

Only issue with the Seiwa is you can't get small ones, if you want a decent SPI you are stuck with the marking/awl types.

I don't think Osborne do very high SPI irons either.

One comment regarding the dixons, you have to ask for thin teeth on the lower SPI tools, dixons teeth get thinner the higher SPI so make sure you tell them what you want, they will finish them to your requirements at no extra charge ( dixons are hand ground, just like the Blanchards, not sure where the idea they are machine made came from)

Yeah they max at 8.5 stitches per inch.

[kwelna]

Hi everyone,

I have been reading the forums for a while now, and been slowly practicing leatherwork. Thank you all for your posts, makes learning so much easier!

I have a question about stitching irons. I want to buy one but with so many options and styles, I dont know what is right. I know that Vergez Blanchard Pricking Irons are the best, but I cannot afford $200 per iron. I went on ebay and saw these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/White-Steel-Stitching-Lacing-Punch-Chisel-Sets-2-5-10-prong-tooth-leathercraft-/181412079460?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a3d00a764

Has any one tried them before? are they any good? is there any other kind I should get? Should I get diamond style or flat?

I am mainly doing modern style wallets with this thread, some knife sheaths, bets, and dog collars.

Please help!

Thanks!

In answer to your initial question, I have both sets ~7.5 SPI and ~6.5 SPI and they are good for the price you are paying. I like mine and have had no issues with them. I wouild like the "teeth" to be a bit longer.

[Cletus2014]

Not to reopen an old thread, but I have a question about the Osborne irons that I've seen some here - Joe? - comment on. I bought one of these, the 609-7, from the CSO Tools site for around $55 and I found that the length of the dents (don't know how else to put it) was far too long to get an accurate stitching line. The marks appear to be slanted properly, but when stitching I've had to try to "aim" the awl for the top of the dent/mark, which lead to much inconsistency in the stitch line.

I spent several hours with a file, on each of the two side of the iron, if you can picture that, and was able to get the length of the dents down to a somewhat more usable "width". Still not perfect though and stitch lines are still inconsistent. With even more file work I might be able to approximate the fine, narrow stitch track, or line, or whatever you want to call it, of the Blanchard irons, but I'm not as optimistic as I once was. I'm about to give up and spring for a set of #6 VBs at this point.

Does this sound like your experience with the CSO chisels?

[billybopp]

Word to the wise:

If you intend to get irons in different sizes, stick with the same brand ... Or check them out carefully. I recently decided to give irons a try, so bought some cheap ones from China to see if I'd like them, and I did, although the quality was OK but not great. Then, I decided I wanted something in a little less SPI for other types of stitching, so ordered some Seiwas from GoodsJapan. When I got them, I tried them out and they are a different style and better quality. But I soon realized that something was odd: For lack of proper words to describe it, the holes in one set leaned forward, and the other set leaned backward!! I was floored .. It's just something I hadn't given any thought to! While I can adapt my stitching to work with either of these as long as it's consistent, it's a pain to try to adapt between projects!!

On another note, I've bought a few things from GoodsJapan and have had good luck, however, you'll probably want to pay for the "standard" shipping rather than the free "economy" shipping. I've waited for more than a month with economy shipping, as opposed to a week or so for standard.

Bill

Edited June 15, 2014 by billybopp

[Feraud]

Thanks for the tip billybopp!

[Macca]

Much appreciated Macca, and thanks for posting the link to the picture of your iron(s).

On an aside, I originally noticed on my Osbornes that as the spi's got higher, the pitch/angle of the dents become more vertical at each size while the dent height remains the same. Roughly a 1/8 inch or 3.5 mm give or take.

Since I've never had a Dixon or Blanchard in hand, It's led me to question whether the stitch dents becoming more vertical is unique to just the Osbornes and whether the Dixon/Blanchards are ground and filed such that the angle of the dents remains constant throughout the line as one goes up higher in spi count?

I appreciate your insight and comments and look forward to hearing what you have found once you have returned.

Kind Regards,

N.A.T.

Heres a pic of the marks made with a range of dixons irons I have, I have about 20, different sizes, different SPI, some old, some new.

7,8 & 9 SPI are old dixons

10 is the new type, I'll get onto the differences later in the post.

I'd say the angle & size was pretty consistent there, don't compare the quality of the mark, I just gave them a quick cleanup & smack to show the size/angle (they have been in storage so I had coated them with machine oil to keep them in good condition)

The newer irons are made differently (will be cheaper to produce)

heres an above pic (3 on left are old, one on right is newer)

Side profile shows the difference better

OLD DIXON

NEW DIXON

All of them make a good, consistent mark for me to stick the awl through, so Im happy using any of them

Ive seen lots of discussions on here about tool quality, brands, old Vs new etc etc

Pricking irons are made to mark the leather ready to be punched with an awl, thats it, a very simple tool.

Learning to use an iron & awl together properly is all that is needed to use them effectively.

Misusing them as punches etc, well, we I'll leave an ancient French proverb here to finish my post

mauvés ovriers ne trovera ja bon hostill

Feel free to google it

[DavidL]

old dixons look like vergez irons.

[Not Awl Together]

Macca,

Thank you for your generosity in taking the time and effort to put together such a very detailed and informative response to my post.

Your post and pictures confirmed my hunch about my current set of irons and removed any uncertainty about going forward with some additional acquisitions. Having said that, I don't wish to give anyone the impression there is anything wrong with the Osborne's, rather, I will use them on larger leather projects where I'll be using a heavier thread size.

Thank's again.

Best Regards,

N.A.T.