Advice Wanted On Pricking Irons/stitching Awl

[Hi Im Joe]

Maybe it's just a bad angle on the picture, but that looks as though you would get 6 and a little bit SPI with that iron, not 7.

I'd have returned that, guess this is the issue David has seen with his.

For comparison , I just checked a few Dixons irons and they are absolutely spot on

I think he needs to center the slits on the line instead of lining it up at the outside edge. That would help a bit but you are right that seems pretty off.

[Oldtoolsniper]

Here it is from a better angle.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Oldtoolsniper

[DavidL]

I believe vergez measures using Teeth per inch the same way saw's are measured. Unless they recently changed it to Stitches per inch, or they could be defects like you said.

[Oldtoolsniper]

I must be lost. I count seven holes from the zero line to the 1 inch line on the ruler. That would give me seven holes to fill with thread in one inch. That says there are seven teeth to the inch or seven stitches to the inch.

What am I missing or not understanding? I am new to this and I'll admit it is a little confusing to me. The fact that most if not all pricking irons come from countries who use the metric system of measurement, but then they have teeth per inch or stitch per inch measurements.

If you ask how big the teeth are most everyone gives that as a metric measurement. This is also how I see the gaps between the teeth are measured.

DavidL I'm an avid woodworker with hand tools, I sharpen all of my handsaws by hand with a file. I'm not sure how they are counted different. A five point per inch rip saw has five points per inch, the saw is stamped 5 or listed as 5PPI.

[Hi Im Joe]

I must be lost. I count seven holes from the zero line to the 1 inch line on the ruler. That would give me seven holes to fill with thread in one inch. That says there are seven teeth to the inch or seven stitches to the inch.

What am I missing or not understanding? I am new to this and I'll admit it is a little confusing to me. The fact that most if not all pricking irons come from countries who use the metric system of measurement, but then they have teeth per inch or stitch per inch measurements.

If you ask how big the teeth are most everyone gives that as a metric measurement. This is also how I see the gaps between the teeth are measured.

DavidL I'm an avid woodworker with hand tools, I sharpen all of my handsaws by hand with a file. I'm not sure how they are counted different. A five point per inch rip saw has five points per inch, the saw is stamped 5 or listed as 5PPI.

It takes two holes to make a stitch. So if you have 7 holes in a one inch span you got six stitches.

[Grey Drakkon]

Thanks for clarifying, because I was stumped after counting the tines a few times and still coming out to 7 per an inch. Maybe that's the issue between the suppliers, when one says "7 per an inch" one is talking about stitches, the other is talking about tines. Neither one is wrong, they're just talking about two different things.

[Oldtoolsniper]

When I measure the Blanchard number 9 It gives me 9 Teeth per inch and 8 stitches, my number 7 dixon gives me 7 stitches. Anyone else get the same thing?

I posted the pictures to clear up the confusion. My apologies, I assumed seven holes meant seven stitches. Seven holes makes six stitches.

Perhaps DavidL can post pictures showing us his so we can see the difference between Dixons and Blanchards. I think that would make this a very helpful post for everyone looking at pricking irons in the future..

[Hi Im Joe]

I posted the pictures to clear up the confusion. My apologies, I assumed seven holes meant seven stitches. Seven holes makes six stitches.

Perhaps DavidL can post pictures showing us his so we can see the difference between Dixons and Blanchards. I think that would make this a very helpful post for everyone looking at pricking irons in the future..

See though what Macca was saying was correct. For that iron to give you seven stitches per inch it should have 8 prongs to an inch. It does not appear that way to me from the pictures.

[Oldtoolsniper]

See though what Macca was saying was correct. For that iron to give you seven stitches per inch it should have 8 prongs to an inch. It does not appear that way to me from the pictures.

There are only seven prongs to the inch on my Blanchard 7 8 iron. So on Blanchard made irons everything is counted by the prongs not the stitches.

I trust DavidL can post pictures of his tools so we can see.

If I understand this correctly Blanchard counts prongs per inch and everyone else counts stitch per inch.

[Macca]

so blanchard are tpi, dixons are spi

means the blanchards are even more expensive than the dixons as you have to go up a size to get the same spi.