Tandy Fine Diamond Chisel

[whipstitchwallets]

anyone seen or used this? it actually looks pretty nice. http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/search/searchresults/88056-632.aspx

I'm considering buying; i'd appreciate any insight you might have.

[Hi Im Joe]

They look pretty nice. I may have to buy some of those. It's a shame they don't have a two prong option. That seems like a huge up in the marketing department. I mean you look at every high end pricking iron maker and they have a two prong option for going around corners.

[whipstitchwallets]

Joe -- I'd have to agree with you on the missing two prong. I would have liked to get a 6 and 2 prong. I may just use the old black two prong craftool chisel to go around the edges, or maybe to a circular hole with my scratch awl as a pivot point.

Do you think the holes look more slit like than the cheap ones? Do you think the "fine point" 3mm lines up the exact same as the cheap 3mm?

If the mm numbers equate, I also wish they had a 2mm option.

[Hi Im Joe]

I have no idea how they compare to the old ones. However, if you look at the description the last sentence tells you how many sti they are. My guess is they do not line up exactly.

[whipstitchwallets]

I think you're right. I'm out of the shop right now, so I can't check and I could be wrong, but I think my old 2mm (just the cheap standard black one) is about 6 spi. They have the new 3.5mm as 7spi. What the hell?

[Hi Im Joe]

They are measuring them differently for sure. The 2mm black one I think is like 6.4 sti.

[tanda4]

I have to try them out.

[BigMatt]

Yeah, they measure them differently than most places I have seen. Tandy measures the width of the prong in mm and most other places give the distance between the points in mm.

The one I got that said 2mm is about 6 SPI.

The 3mm I got from leathercrafttools is about 8 SPI. The 4mm from leathercrafttools is about 6 SPI.

[whipstitchwallets]

So say I have the 2mm tandy chisel that we say is 6spi. If I got a Euro style pricking iron that's measured in teeth/marks per inch a "7" should be pretty close to lining up. Is that right?

[BigMatt]

From what I understand, a chisel that is 7 SPI gives 6 stitches per inch.

Edited October 9, 2014 by BigMatt

[Hi Im Joe]

You are thinking of teeth per inch or prongs per inch or w/e. If you have 8 prongs in an inch that means you have seven spaces between the prongs (aka stitches). Which would give you 7 stitches per inch.

[whipstitchwallets]

ok-- so my statement was correct

[Hi Im Joe]

There is no standard measurement. All the companies seem to do it a bit differently. You have to find out exactly what they are measuring when they say 3mm or w/e.

[pgivens]

According to my local Tandy, these are the stitches per inch of the older "standard" crafttool diamond chisels and the new Fine Diamond Chisels:

STANDARD DIAMOND CHISELS:

• 4mm - 4 stitches per inch
• 3mm - 5 stitches per inch
• 2mm - 6 stitches per inch

FINE DIAMOND CHISELS:

• 3.5mm - 7 stitches per inch
• 3mm - 8 stitches per inch
• 2.5mm - 9 stitches per inch

[CrazedLemming]

Has anyone else tried these chisels?

I grabbed the 3mm 9-prong (88056-09) to play with. The handle feels nice but the prongs are so coarsely ground that it's like stabbing the leather with a barbed spear. It works, but the rough texture on the prongs makes getting the chisel in and out of the leather harder than it should be. I felt like I was spending as much time wrestling the chisel out of the leather as I spent actually stitching my test pieces.

[NVLeatherWorx]

I have been using the 2.5mm on all of my wallet interiors and other fine stitched areas and a fine waxed thread and just love how much better it comes out. In fact, I have been double stitching the fine areas and it comes out really balanced. It is also the perfect combination (the fine stitch and fine waxed thread) for all of those out of the way/hidden stitched areas (such as the pocket bottoms when layering the pockets).

The inner stitched lines of the card pockets are done with the 2.5mm chisel and fine thread (double stitched).