Jig for my pricking irons

[JamesR]

Made this jig to aid in using my Crimson Hides pricking irons. It is a plywood platform with an aluminum angle edge. I use the edge as a stop for my leather pieces to be worked on. It has a thick leather backing piece which the workpiece rests on. It also has a Poly guide strip which fits over the aluminum stop and presses down on the leather piece. The guide strip is grooved for two different stitch spacings to the edge of the work. With the work against the stop, the guide piece presses down on the work and provides an edge to align my iron vertically. The guide also keeps the stitch holes evenly spaced along the edge of leather. I can punch the grain side of one piece  and then the flesh side of it's mating piece and my edges stay very closely aligned. This also keeps the angle of the holes parallel to each other which is not possible when the holes are punched from the grain side on both. If the leather is not too thick I can also punch through both pieces at the same time.  This jig keeps long stitchlines quite straight. Also these Crimson Hide irons are very fine tools.

[billybopp]

That's a very clever idea!  I like it!

- Bill

[Tugadude]

I like it!

[Scoutmom103]

I also like it.   Would you mind sharing how you made it? 

[RockyAussie]

Well done and thank you for sharing with us all.

[Allotment17]

Very clever idea.

 

[JamesR]

Thank you all for the kind words.  

Scoutmom103    I used a piece of plywood and screwed an aluminum angle to the bottom of one side. The aluminum angle is 1/8" thick metal with 1 1/2" legs. One of the legs sticks up to form a stop for the leather.  I then used a piece of UHMW poly board. (Similar to cutting board material which could also be used) I cut two grooves (1/8" saw kerfs). The grooves provide the spacing from the edge of the leather for the stitch line. I used two different spacing for thin or thicker leather. The poly board provides an edge for the iron to press up against when using the iron. I use a 10 OZ leather backing piece under my work which can be changed as required. The metal angle is 1/8" thick which is also the thickness of most table saw blades. This makes cutting the grooves easy. Here is a better photo of the bottom showing the support blocks. I hope this helps.

[HeatherAthebyne]

Great idea! I've wanted to design one of those for a while now. My Kyoshin-Elle chisels have round handles, so that complicates things a bit I love how the poly board presses down on the work. It sounds like that helps a lot to counteract the chisel sticking in the work.

[Scoutmom103]

Thank you for sharing info regarding how you made it.

[JamesR]

HeatherAthebyne,

The poly does press down and holds the work quite well. Although the chisels do get stuck sometimes. 

Scoutmom103,

You are welcome.

[JamesR]

Also, because the aluminum is 1/8" and the saw kerf is also 1/8" it is a very snug fit. The poly does not slide around at all, it really stay put.

[NeilMott]

impressive!  Thanks for showing us how it's done!  I was thinking of ways to achieve this result, but would never have thought of this kind of jig!

 

Neil

[Miss Denise]

I love this idea!  Thank you for sharing. The pictures help a lot

[JamesR]

Neilmott, Miss Denise

You are welcome. 

 

 

 

[Rockoboy]

You could also use this jig to stamp a border along an edge. A friend showed me his design, which was a simple version of this. Pics to follow when I get a chance to take some.

[JamesR]

Rockoboy,

Yes, I like that idea. 

 

[Rockoboy]

Here you go @JamesR.

Pics hereabouts, of my basic edge stamping guide.

You can see the two rebates on this little piece of timber. One side is a little deeper so that makes the edge stamping a little further from the edge.

 

[noobleather]

Some great ideas there guys,thankyou both for sharing 

[GeneH]

What an awesome jig for straight lines.  I hadn't thought of a guide to keep the chisel vertical. Expand on the versatility a little for curves by using a square block sitting on top of the 2 layers of leather and hold a 2 prong chisel to the block with your thumb. I am thinking the straight (lateral not vertical) side of the block is needed instead of a curved side because if the chisel isn't on the vertical apex of the curved block it will be angled, not vertical. I could be wrong in the head though.

Edited September 3, 2019 by GeneH

[JamesR]

GeneH

Not sure if I follow about the curved vs straight block. I like the idea though of a movable block with a recess (rabbet)on the lower edge to keep the stitch line uniformly spaced from the edge. 

Edited September 8, 2019 by JamesR