Pricking iron and Awl size

[Nikos]

Hi, I recently bought sanjou 632(0.51mm) thread and it's too thin for the 3mm chinese diamond pricking irons that i have, but i like the thread so i thought about buying new pricking irons. I'm thinking about the basic 2.7mm(10spi) french pricking irons from kevin lee and from what i understand, for better results i should also buy an awl. Kevin lee has 2mm and 2.5mm awls. Other shops have 3+mm. What size should i buy?

Edited July 12, 2019 by Nikos

[zuludog]

I started out using Tandy stitching chisels and an awl with a blade that was 3,8mm at its widest (just measured it with my micrometer) and 18/3 or 332 & 432  linen thread

Then I moved to some finer thread; Tandy's Hemp Carriage Thread, which is 0,55mm thick and I wanted thinner tools. I've settled on Seiwa European stitching chisels and a Number 42 Osborne awl blade, which is 2,3 mm wide. That works OK, but I could probably have gone to a thinner awl blade, like a #41 happily enough

Incidentally, I've had 4 awls and each time I've mounted them in the traditional way, by knocking them into the wood of the awl. This is fairly tricky to get the blade correctly fitted and aligned. If I ever buy another awl I'll get an Osborne or similar haft that has a chuck or collet for mounting the blade; or already fitted by the supplier

Edited July 14, 2019 by zuludog

[bikermutt07]

I don't have much experience with the finer thread sizes, but from what I have seen 3mm should be good for .55mm thread. I haven't seen an example of .51mm thread, but I know it looks good with .44mm thread as well. 

Wuta has a 3 piece awl set that should cover what you are needing in an awl for a reasonable price.

But, after all that, it's all about how it looks to you.