Pricking chisels for knife sheaths

[KennethM]

Hey everyone,I want to make a few knife sheaths..What pricking chisels would you recommend to go through all layers cleanly?

[chiefjason]

You want stitching chisels.  Pricking chisels just prick, mark, the leather.  Stitching chisels punch through.  As for brand, I have some from Springfield coming today.  I've been punching mine with an awl chucked into a drill press till now.  Going to see if this is faster/better.  I'm sure it will be with some items.  This vid will explain the differences.  

 

 

[chrisash]

Most chisels and pricking irons these days are built much stronger than older versions, and are happy to punch right through average veg tan so you dont need a awl

[zuludog]

I make knife sheaths from 3 to 3,5mm vegetable tanned leather

At first I used Tandy Craftool Stitching Chisel # 88046 - 02 which is 2 prong, 4mm spacing, but recently I've changed to Seiwa European 2 prong 4mm spacing as this has slightly thinner prongs

I ordered the Seiwa from Goods Japan, which took a few weeks to arrive. The Tandy would be easier to get hold of, and probably cheaper

But there are several other makes available, some more expensive. Search the Net and see what you fancy. Nigel Armitage has several review videos on YouTube

A sheath has a front, a back, and a welt, which means the total thickness will be around 9 to10mm; so you might still have to do some additional work with an awl

Briefly, this is my method -

After I've cut out my leather I glue the welt to the front of the sheath, then mark the line of stitching and make the holes through those two thicknesses with a chisel

Glue the front & welt to the back

Make holes through the back of the sheath with an awl, using the holes in the front as a guide

Finish the sheath - trimming, burnishing, sewing etc.

I no longer use a stitch groover, I mark the line of the stitching with dividers

[battlemunky]

Yeah, there are some really good stitching chisels out there these days but 10 mm is a pretty tall order. Sinabroks or KS Blades is probably about as long as it gets and you'd be hard pressed to get through >10 mm. I'd be afraid of bending them on the way out maybe.

If you want to see Nigel's iron reviews, they are also on his website in print so you can see them all in one doc instead of all the videos. https://www.armitageleather.com/pricking-iron will get you there, then click on the pdf icon. 

[KennethM]

Thank you everyone for the replies 

 

I am thinking of going with the sinabroks punches..they look about as long as I can find ,and sturdy .

 

I mostly machine sew but obviously my machine can't handle this thickness.

 

I want to buy some thicker bonded nylon thread..what thickness do y'all think is necessary?

[Tugadude]

Remember you can punch through layers separately and then line them up.  Nigel demonstrates this on a youtube video.  Or as recommended above, punch through two layers and then use an awl to finish up.  

[Alisdair]

2 hours ago, Tugadude said:

Remember you can punch through layers separately and then line them up.  Nigel demonstrates this on a youtube video.  Or as recommended above, punch through two layers and then use an awl to finish up.  

Exactly: trying to whack through several layers at once if you're going through more than 3.5 mm or so is a sure way to misalign holes, break your chisel, and all sorts of other disasters...

[zuludog]

6 hours ago, KennethM said:

Thank you everyone for the replies

I want to buy some thicker bonded nylon thread..what thickness do y'all think is necessary?

You want some thread that's about 0,6mm diameter

Ritza 25, aka Tiger Thread, is popular and frequently recommended but I don't like the way it feels/handles. You might, and there's only one way to find out. Rocky Mountain Leather Supply sell smaller reels

Mostly I use linen thread but when I want to use synthetic I use Tandy's Waxed Nylon Thread, which is twisted, not braided. I find this easy to use, and I think it's underrated

Recently I've been using Amy Roke 0,55mm braided polyester and I quite like this; I may well change to this in the future

Search YouTube for 'how to make a leather knife sheath'. There are lots of videos, and you'll see how different people make the same sort of thing

[Tugadude]

Here is the video I spoke of.  He mentions techniques on other videos too, but this one is specific to the issue at hand.

 

 

[KennethM]

Awesome thank you brotha

[Mattsbagger]

19 hours ago, battlemunky said:

Yeah, there are some really good stitching chisels out there these days but 10 mm is a pretty tall order. Sinabroks or KS Blades is probably about as long as it gets and you'd be hard pressed to get through >10 mm. I'd be afraid of bending them on the way out maybe.

If you want to see Nigel's iron reviews, they are also on his website in print so you can see them all in one doc instead of all the videos. https://www.armitageleather.com/pricking-iron will get you there, then click on the pdf icon. 

He also has a video on how to stitch thick stuff with chisels if I remember correctly.