Brass Hammer Safe On Pricking Iron?

[DavidL]

Are brass hammers safe for use on metal pricking irons - not deforming the top or teeth?

They are cheap from harbour freight if I'm ever in the USA (2lb hammer) and can make a good impression in one hit I'm imagining.

My 1 lb soft rubber mallet sometimes needs two hits, making it hard to make the holes the same size - If I hammer too softly it needs a second hit, in some cases I overcompensate and the hole is too large.

So I'm looking at 2 lb hammers, a medium strength hit will get the proper sized hole

or

are 1 lb hard plastic mauls the way to go?

......

Is it also safe to use a solid metal block under a pricking iron?

[papaw]

Yes it will work just remember not too hard of hit, it will not deform the top the points are what you have to watch out for hit to hard and you could break one not because of the force but in the movement of creating that force with brass you'll not need the force because there is no bounce. I use my dead blow hammer 1 lb for the ones I do my is mostly awl work. NO NO metal under pricking iron - poly board with steel would be ok as long as poly is thick enought.

[DavidL]

I'll go with a 1.5 - 2 pound brass.

from bottom to top:

Thick log

metal plate 1 inch

pound board

Scrap leather piece

Is this a proper set up? I want there to be no bounce from the hammer to the pricking iron and no bounce from the base.

I can't see why it won't work, to be on the safe side I thought id ask.

[Macca]

learn to use an awl & pricking iron together properly & you won't have these problems, as Ive posted repeatedly, they are not meant for what you are using them for

You are still trying to use a pricking iron like a chisel to make the holes, so now you are having hole sizing issues due to the taper, well thats because too much of the iron is going into the leather.

You get away with punching slits all the way through on thin leather, you don't on thicker.

If you want to punch stitching holes with irons get the Japanese ones, they have parallel teeth & make diamond holes

(waits for the inevitable replies from people who use them like this or get mixed up between a pricking iron & a chisel !)

[Fowlingpiece]

Ditto

[DavidL]

The way I do it I prefer to hit it all the way through on single pieces. If I do multi layered I mark one piece all the way through (3/4 ounce leather), then glue the other pieces on and stab through or use another iron and hit the backside, the middle piece is unmarked and I stab from one side to another where there are grooves on back and front so that every stitch is even.

No way is the proper way. I can get good results doing it this way and the stitches come out how I want it to so I keep it like this. Only problem is the base in my setup and the hammer I'm using doesnt distribute the force evenly, so one side of the iron comes down deeper than the other.

Some hermes workers hit the iron all the way through, a dunhill worker in a video i've seen hits it all the way through and other good craftsman I've seen do the same.

In my opinion, and its only my opinion, If you hand stitch without using another iron in the back it will never turn out as well as if you haven't. The difference in is like drawing a straight line with a ruler vs trying to free hand a straight line by hand. No matter how straight I place my awl through the leather or vertically through w/ a foam board underneath taking extra time to make sure it is 100 percent straight, in a row of stitches of 50-200 at least 1-10 will be off in any direction by a mm or 2 and make the line of stitching look bad. Even w/ the iron on both sides the stitches don't come out perfect since it is hand stitching, but effects the margin of error.

Edited June 1, 2014 by DavidL

[oltoot]

Safer than steel, not as safe as rawhide or poly

[Hi Im Joe]

In my opinion, and its only my opinion, If you hand stitch without using another iron in the back it will never turn out as well as if you haven't. The difference in is like drawing a straight line with a ruler vs trying to free hand a straight line by hand. No matter how straight I place my awl through the leather or vertically through w/ a foam board underneath taking extra time to make sure it is 100 percent straight, in a row of stitches of 50-200 at least 1-10 will be off in any direction by a mm or 2 and make the line of stitching look bad. Even w/ the iron on both sides the stitches don't come out perfect since it is hand stitching, but effects the margin of error.

This is exactly why I have gone to the japanese pricking irons. They are much more consistent. It is damn hard to get every awl hole perfect from front to back.

[Macca]

Agree it's hard

Takes lot of practice, you do eventually develop a muscle memory that means the awl angle is repeated time after time & will look prefect

[Hi Im Joe]

Agree it's hard

Takes lot of practice, you do eventually develop a muscle memory that means the awl angle is repeated time after time & will look prefect

For sure! I do plan on using my osborne pricking iron in the future so hopefully I'll get better at it!

[lightningad]

i'm with the marking only brigade - hitting it so hard the prongs pierce the leather will only knacker the Pricking Iron ! I use a very cheap Ivan iron, and a wooden mallet to whack it. Works ok til i can afford a better iron.

To help keep the iron held vertically, i added a silicon putty (Sugru) around the shaft and molded it to my grip. Now i can hold it in the right position every time, and its less strain on my finger muscles - no more cramps after marking a big piece.

adam

[Nuttish]

Ditto others about using a pricking iron as a chisel. They're for making marks on, not in, and not through the grain.

If you insist on using a pricking iron as a chisel, as someone here said, the teeth widen as you go down and will make enormous holes that will never close. Holes opened with a proper sized awl do.

You can modify a pricking iron by grinding a face to reduce the height of the teeth (you might consider this even if you're using a pricking iron as intended) and using a Dremel to remove some of the material from the sides.

A brass hammer in that weight is for blacksmithing soft metal. It will eventually deform steel tools.

If you want a perfectly serviceable maul, buy a foot of 4" HDPE from Grainger and have a friend turn a handle right into it on a woodworking lathe (HDPE will flow out of an engine lathe chuck).

No, you can never use a pricking iron, chisel, or punch over a piece of steel if you ever want to use it again. I use an el cheapo 3" thick grade B surface plate with a piece of thick felt glued to the bottom for whacking and paring.