Which size Harness needles for Hand sewing holster?

[bcraig]

I am going to hand sew a Pancake holster I am going to make for myself.
Which size and brand of harness needles do tyall use for doing this ?
I am also going to be using Linen thread ,what size and brand ?

I am thinking about using an awl as well
What would be a decent Awl to use that does not cost an arm and a leg ?
For use with 8 Oz veg tanned leaher and lesser weights.

Thanks
And thanks to all who shared their Ideas and Pics and Knowledge with me concerning making Pancake holsters.
I really appreciate it.

 

[sideforce]

Lots of questions, I'd suggest doing some research.  Al Stohlman has a great book on making holsters.

In the meantime:  Thread - I use 1.0mm Ritza Polyester "Tiger Thread" for holsters along with a Size 1/0 John James harness needle.
 

Awls: visit Tandy, in person or online for an inexpensive, but good quality awl.

[bcraig]

29 minutes ago, sideforce said:

Lots of questions, I'd suggest doing some research.  Al Stohlman has a great book on making holsters.

In the meantime:  Thread - I use 1.0mm Ritza Polyester "Tiger Thread" for holsters along with a Size 1/0 John James harness needle.
 

Awls: visit Tandy, in person or online for an inexpensive, but good quality awl.

Yesterday I went to Tandy Leather website ,I downloaded 3 of the free e-book downloads by Al Stohlman .
I am wanting to use Linen Thread
Do the Tandy Harness needles break easily?
Do you use a Tandy awl, if so what are your observations about the tool and its use?

Thanks

[battlemunky]

The Tandy needles are crap, IMHO. John James #2 needles are a dream. It's hard to think that something as simple as a needle can be that much better but they are. They aren't stupidly priced either.

I have a Tandy awl and used it for a few years. There are better ones but it works pretty well. It will need to be sharpened if it is anything like mine.

Any reason why you want to use linen thread, especially for a holster or sheath? Polyester or nylon will last for decades wet or dry. The linen will rot and/or snap long before then. Linen has its place but specifically for a sheath or a holster, I'd go with polyester or nylon. Tiger thread is super good stuff but not cheap. The "hand sewing thread" on Amazon, from China, isn't bad and they're damn near giving it away. Especially if you are new, it may be worth it to save a few bucks initially and then once you work out the bugs you can upgrade to higher dollar thread. Personally though, I'd use poly or nylon.

[RemingtonSteel]

Tandy needles are OK if you don’t have anything else on hand, but I also use John James needles as my primary go to needles. Also like the others, 1mm Ritza Tiger thread for me as well. Not only is it strong, but it is already waxed and comes in a great assortment of colors. 

Most sizing charts have you use size 0 harness needles with the 1mm Tiger thread, but I prefer to use size 2 as well. they are slightly harder to thread, but the smaller eye is easier to pull through multiple layers of 7/8 oz  (or thicker) veg tanned leather.  if you do end up ordering John James size 2 needles, make sure they are size 002 (2), and not size 2/0 (00) , which is a much larger needle 

Tandy Craftool Pro awl woks well for me, but you may want to invest in some nice diamond chisel sets. Pushing even the sharpest awl through two layers of 8 oz veg tanned can be challenging. I always pre punch my stitching holes whenever possible, and use the awl while stitching, to clean up the holes and allow the needles to pass through more easily.

[bcraig]

7 hours ago, battlemunky said:

The Tandy needles are crap, IMHO. John James #2 needles are a dream. It's hard to think that something as simple as a needle can be that much better but they are. They aren't stupidly priced either.

I have a Tandy awl and used it for a few years. There are better ones but it works pretty well. It will need to be sharpened if it is anything like mine.

Any reason why you want to use linen thread, especially for a holster or sheath? Polyester or nylon will last for decades wet or dry. The linen will rot and/or snap long before then. Linen has its place but specifically for a sheath or a holster, I'd go with polyester or nylon. Tiger thread is super good stuff but not cheap. The "hand sewing thread" on Amazon, from China, isn't bad and they're damn near giving it away. Especially if you are new, it may be worth it to save a few bucks initially and then once you work out the bugs you can upgrade to higher dollar thread. Personally though, I'd use poly or nylon.

Thanks for the information
I want to use as many natural Materials as I can to make the holster,thats the main reason for using the Linen.
I am thinking I can Rewax the linen thread a couple of times a year with beeswax and maybe get around the worry of the linen rotting ?
And as far as snapping I could just restitch ?

[bcraig]

1 hour ago, RemingtonSteel said:

Tandy needles are OK if you don’t have anything else on hand, but I also use John James needles as my primary go to needles. Also like the others, 1mm Ritza Tiger thread for me as well. Not only is it strong, but it is already waxed and comes in a great assortment of colors. 

Most sizing charts have you use size 0 harness needles with the 1mm Tiger thread, but I prefer to use size 2 as well. they are slightly harder to thread, but the smaller eye is easier to pull through multiple layers of 7/8 oz  (or thicker) veg tanned leather.  if you do end up ordering John James size 2 needles, make sure they are size 002 (2), and not size 2/0 (00) , which is a much larger needle 

Tandy Craftool Pro awl woks well for me, but you may want to invest in some nice diamond chisel sets. Pushing even the sharpest awl through two layers of 8 oz veg tanned can be challenging. I always pre punch my stitching holes whenever possible, and use the awl while stitching, to clean up the holes and allow the needles to pass through more easily.

Thanks 
Appreciate the info about the needle sizing

[billybopp]

13 hours ago, sideforce said:

Lots of questions, I'd suggest doing some research.  Al Stohlman has a great book on making holsters.

In the meantime:  Thread - I use 1.0mm Ritza Polyester "Tiger Thread" for holsters along with a Size 1/0 John James harness needle.
 

Awls: visit Tandy, in person or online for an inexpensive, but good quality awl.

I've heard good things about the Tandy pro awl, but I can tell you from experience, avoid the 4-in-1.  The handle is OK, but the blades might as well be made of butter.  Totally useless.  My preference for awls are Seiwa which are more straight sided than some, but they are relatively short blades so, not so useful for thick projects.  Most blades arrive fairly dull, so if you are not comfortable with shaping and sharpening the blade, you may want to consider one from Leatherwranglers they are made by CS Osborne, but are sharpened and shaped for you by leatherwranglers.   Whichever awl you choose, I'd suggest putting a small leather disk at the base of the blade.  Without that, as you push through the backside of the leather the awl tends to jump forward, leaving a nice little circle embossed into your leather if you aren't careful.

Tandy needles, particularly the "big eye" ones, do tend to break.  I switched to John James needles long ago and have not looked back.

If you are new to hand sewing, I'd also suggest using a woven polyester such as Tiger Thread. You need not buy full spools of Tiger, as there are a number of places that will sell you shorter lengths such as Rocky Mountain Leather Supply.  They also sell Fil Au Chinois linen thread, John James needles, awls, and quite a bit more.   It's considerably easier, particularly while you're learning.  Linen has a few bugaboos that require more care.  Linen picks up dye more easily, ends often have to be thinned to fit through your needles, it can fray on longer runs requiring that you splice it more often, and it's a bit easier to accidentally pierce it as you pass needles through.   That said, those may not be such a big factor on a holster which requires relatively little sewing compared to something like a briefcase.

Hope that helps

- Bill

[bcraig]

On 9/22/2019 at 7:02 AM, billybopp said:

I've heard good things about the Tandy pro awl, but I can tell you from experience, avoid the 4-in-1.  The handle is OK, but the blades might as well be made of butter.  Totally useless.  My preference for awls are Seiwa which are more straight sided than some, but they are relatively short blades so, not so useful for thick projects.  Most blades arrive fairly dull, so if you are not comfortable with shaping and sharpening the blade, you may want to consider one from Leatherwranglers they are made by CS Osborne, but are sharpened and shaped for you by leatherwranglers.   Whichever awl you choose, I'd suggest putting a small leather disk at the base of the blade.  Without that, as you push through the backside of the leather the awl tends to jump forward, leaving a nice little circle embossed into your leather if you aren't careful.

Tandy needles, particularly the "big eye" ones, do tend to break.  I switched to John James needles long ago and have not looked back.

If you are new to hand sewing, I'd also suggest using a woven polyester such as Tiger Thread. You need not buy full spools of Tiger, as there are a number of places that will sell you shorter lengths such as Rocky Mountain Leather Supply.  They also sell Fil Au Chinois linen thread, John James needles, awls, and quite a bit more.   It's considerably easier, particularly while you're learning.  Linen has a few bugaboos that require more care.  Linen picks up dye more easily, ends often have to be thinned to fit through your needles, it can fray on longer runs requiring that you splice it more often, and it's a bit easier to accidentally pierce it as you pass needles through.   That said, those may not be such a big factor on a holster which requires relatively little sewing compared to something like a briefcase.

Hope that helps

- Bill

I bought an Osborne from a seller on ebay,will sharpen it like katsass sharpened his.
Thanks