First Stitching Irons Advice

[wrz0170]

Hey everyone.   Another new guy here.  I am just starting to hunt and gather all the pieces parts I need to get going on my first project.  Cutting mats, cutters, knives,  dividers, mauls, hammers, threads, needles etc.  List goes on which may be another subject matter on specific purchases altogether.   

My first goal is to assemble the basic items needed to practice saddle stitching.  To that end, I built my first stitching pony which came out pretty nice.  So that’s out of the way.  

Seems like one of the baseline tools is a good set of irons.  No holes, no stitch.  With that said, I appear to be zeroing in on a set of Crimsonhide’s set (5,2 @ 3mm and 4mm specifically ).   On the outer stretch of the budget,  maybe KSBlades (6,2 in 3-4mm).

I’ve watched Nigel’s videos and read the data sheets and there certainly is no shortage to pick from.   I think I know well enough that I’m not ready to use awls in conjunction.  

Real world use.  Those who have these; do you still enjoy using them?  Any regrets?  If you switched to these from another set, did they make your life a bit easier?

Am I missing another set to look at around the same price points and quality?

Thank you! 

William

[chrisash]

There are plenty of very low cost Pricking and diamond point chisels available on ETSY that will do a reasonable job for a few dollars, a set of 3.38 mm would seem a nice starter in 2, 6, and a larger size 10. you can take a file and work the sides smoother between the blades so less friction as tha'ts the area most of the cheaper versions have manufacturing uneven area's

Many tools at the cheap end are actually quite well made and usable by hobby folk whilst the professionals obviously get more out of tools they use every day so worth paying for the better ones, mind price does not always mean a increase in quality, C.S.Osbourne seem to have the balance right on cost V Performance

[koreric75]

I would say try a decent cheap-o set first, get them in a few different off sets so you can zero in on what works for your projects.  My 4mm set I bought on Amazon for less than $15, I like them allot, but only use them for projects that for the smaller stitches, I prefer the 6mm spacing for bigger projects and thicker leather... The thing about the cheaper sets, you're probably going to need to fine tune them, maybe polish them some, but it will have a better effect when you set out to drop some serious coin in a better set.  Don't count the awl out for starting, the sooner you pick it up and start the sooner you'll learn it... Just my 2 cents

[battlemunky]

Yeah, I would like to echo the awl comment from @koreric75 above. The sooner you get your awl figured out, the sooner you can reduce quite a few tools. I, for one, love tools. I have a fair amount but it's a typical noob inclination to tool up too heavily when you really only need about a tenth of what you'll buy at the outset. Now that I know how to use awls I really only use my irons to set spacing  and then use my awl to make the hole. It takes some practice but it is pretty cool when it comes together.

[wrz0170]

On 9/1/2018 at 5:45 AM, battlemunky said:

Yeah, I would like to echo the awl comment from @koreric75 above. The sooner you get your awl figured out, the sooner you can reduce quite a few tools. I, for one, love tools. I have a fair amount but it's a typical noob inclination to tool up too heavily when you really only need about a tenth of what you'll buy at the outset. Now that I know how to use awls I really only use my irons to set spacing  and then use my awl to make the hole. It takes some practice but it is pretty cool when it comes together.

Thank you both I will revisit the iron selections and see what I come up with..  I’m right there with ya. I love tools too. But, I like to only get tools I will need to get the job done and more importantly the right tool for the job.  I also learned; Buy quality once or buy twice.  Within reason of course.

William 

[chrisash]

Unfortunately the old saying Buy Quality once or buy twice, whilst often very true, Often it can be only experience that tells you exactly what tool you really need and preconceived idea's of quality can sometimes be miss-placed by fact

 

[wrz0170]

6 hours ago, chrisash said:

Unfortunately the old saying Buy Quality once or buy twice, whilst often very true, Often it can be only experience that tells you exactly what tool you really need and preconceived idea's of quality can sometimes be miss-placed by fact

 

Very true as well.  A Yugo and a Porsche (your legs or a bike) will all get you to point B.   A $150k vehicle doesn’t always guarantee reliability.  

For me, a tool should simply do its job without having to fight with it or heavily modify it out of the box to coax it into its job.  Starting off in a new hobby is filled with frustrations enough due to inexperience and lack of skill. 

[bikermutt07]

I will chime in on this....

The cheap sets on Amazon are great for dialing in what you want size wise.

I have a set of Wuta 3.85 that I like well enough. They are nice and we'll thought out. 

But, if I had it to do over again I would go the crimson route.

Also, keep in mind just because they are chisels doesn't mean you can't use them as irons.

[480volt]

I own a set of the Osborne irons and find that the teeth are a bit too wide and the angle not accute enough (not parallel enough to the stitch line). The geometry of the teeth on Blanchard irons is much better. I can’t speak to Wuta, Crimson, or KS Blade, as I try to keep my purchasing to old line companies that I hope will stay in business. I imagine VB will eventually succumb to the downwards pressure from the Korean and Chinese competitors much like Dixon did.

[wrz0170]

7 hours ago, 480volt said:

I own a set of the Osborne irons and find that the teeth are a bit too wide and the angle not accute enough (not parallel enough to the stitch line). The geometry of the teeth on Blanchard irons is much better. I can’t speak to Wuta, Crimson, or KS Blade, as I try to keep my purchasing to old line companies that I hope will stay in business. I imagine VB will eventually succumb to the downwards pressure from the Korean and Chinese competitors much like Dixon did.

Interesting!   I’ve read the data sheets and watched the videos from Nigel A.  Even watched several other vids from others.  Seems like the Chinese and Korean competitors are coming on very strong in the iron and leather tool markets in general.  Doing a decent enough job at at it as the demand seems high for their products. 

William