leathervan Report post Posted June 10, 2014 I am going to make a leather case and do double hand stiching. The leather is 8oz and I want to use a 4 or 6 prong chisel type tool to punch the holes for the stitching since there are a lot of holes that have to be made and it would take forever to use one punch on all those holes. The trouble is that the chisels I see advertised aren't for 8oz leather and the holes that they punch are too small for the stitching needles to enter easily. I need something that will punch fairly good size holes and do 4 or 6 holes at a time. Tandy has a 4 in 1 punch but it is only for 3 to 4oz leather. The one that I would want would be like the Tandy one but for 8oz or around that size. If no one makes such a chisel I suppose I will have to rig something up. Any ideas? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
electrathon Report post Posted June 10, 2014 Punch slits, not round holes. Round holes for round holes, flat holes are for flat lace. A four slit punch is good, many more and the punch tends to get stuck and you can not pull it out of the leather. Aaron Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwight Report post Posted June 10, 2014 I don't know what is available to you, . . . but one of the things I have to do occasionally is hand stitching (boo, . . . hiss, . . . ugh). When I do, . . . I run it through my Boss sewing machine first, . . . without thread, . . . to make the holes, . . . make them perfectly perpendicular, . . . evenly spaced, . . . and it makes hand stitching go sooooooooooooooooooo much faster. May God bless, Dwight Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hi Im Joe Report post Posted June 10, 2014 I don't know what is available to you, . . . but one of the things I have to do occasionally is hand stitching (boo, . . . hiss, . . . ugh). When I do, . . . I run it through my Boss sewing machine first, . . . without thread, . . . to make the holes, . . . make them perfectly perpendicular, . . . evenly spaced, . . . and it makes hand stitching go sooooooooooooooooooo much faster. May God bless, Dwight That's a great idea. I was going to say if you have a drill press you could drill the holes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
St8LineGunsmith Report post Posted June 10, 2014 That's a great idea. I was going to say if you have a drill press you could drill the holes. on thick projects that is what I use with a round awl blade on slow speed, then I will follow up with my stitching awl as i stitch to make the actual stitch hole. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwight Report post Posted June 10, 2014 (edited) I have used the drill press in the past, . . . it, in my opinion, is a bad choice. Why? Because on the bottom of the project, . . . there are always little leather goobers dangling from the holes. If you are going to use a drill press, . . . put an awl blade in it, . . . unplug the machine, . . . and simply use it to make the holes, . . . WITHOUT turning it on. Your holes will be MUCH prettier, . . . and your stitching will also reflect that. The only time you can get really nice ROUND holes with a drill press is when you use a piece of metal tubing, . . . sharpened so it looks like a punch, . . . then you simply bore the tubing through the leather with the machine running, . . . it makes wonderful little holes. A regular drill bit was made for wood or metal, . . . May God bless, Dwight Edited June 10, 2014 by Dwight Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hi Im Joe Report post Posted June 10, 2014 I have used the drill press in the past, . . . it, in my opinion, is a bad choice. Why? Because on the bottom of the project, . . . there are always little leather goobers dangling from the holes. If you are going to use a drill press, . . . put an awl blade in it, . . . unplug the machine, . . . and simply use it to make the holes, . . . WITHOUT turning it on. Your holes will be MUCH prettier, . . . and your stitching will also reflect that. The only time you can get really nice ROUND holes with a drill press is when you use a piece of metal tubing, . . . sharpened so it looks like a punch, . . . then you simply bore the tubing through the leather with the machine running, . . . it makes wonderful little holes. A regular drill bit was made for wood or metal, . . . May God bless, Dwight I agree its not the best solution. But for really thick leather it's do-able. I like your workarounds a lot! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
St8LineGunsmith Report post Posted June 10, 2014 the only reason I use a drill press is to make the inital hole then I follow up with a dimond awl blade works great for me a little slower having to make the holes twice but makes heavy projects easier to stitch up. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
