Help Picking Out A Stitching Chisel/iron

[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.