KJD2121 Report post Posted January 21, 2020 I have the Crimson Hides set (2 prong and 5 prong) of both the 3.0 and the 3.85. The 3.0 are very demanding of being punched in a straight line. 1/2mm off and it will show on the stitches. I have been using the 3.85's and really enjoy them. The quality is high (Very well polished) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NeilMott Report post Posted January 22, 2020 I was thinking somewhere around 8 spi, as it's not too fine, not too big....As far as Japanese vs French/European style punches...I am really on the fence. I don't know what's normally done. I was leaning towards the Japanese irons as they have a point. So after marking the lines, the point goes in and lining up the punches is a dream. French ones would take a bit more care to line up. According to Ian Atkinson, 8-9 spi should use between 0.6mm to 0.8mm thread. For watch straps he suggests a higher spi with 0.5-0.6mm thread. My straps are a bit thicker so I think a slightly thicker thread is more appropriate... I used 0.6mm on my last strap and it looked good but I didn't want to go smaller... I'll revisit Kevin Lee's irons and watch Nigel's video again. I imagine I'll eventually end up with more than one set of irons, but for now these will need to be the "ones". Best, Neil Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NeilMott Report post Posted January 22, 2020 8 hours ago, KJD2121 said: I have the Crimson Hides set (2 prong and 5 prong) of both the 3.0 and the 3.85. The 3.0 are very demanding of being punched in a straight line. 1/2mm off and it will show on the stitches. I have been using the 3.85's and really enjoy them. The quality is high (Very well polished) Ah, great to know. I was thinking of ordering the 3.85mm irons. Nigel really really liked them and if people have a hard time telling them from Blanchard pricking irons, then it's a real well make product. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NeilMott Report post Posted January 24, 2020 I've reached out to a few people about diamond vs French style irons, but they are super tight lipped about what they use... Here are a couple screen captures. Can a trained eye tell what type of irons they're using? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chrisash Report post Posted January 24, 2020 (edited) The top image shows what looks like a diamond cut on the first stitch to the right and some of the others also show a straight edge towards the top right of the stitches Second imaGe looks like a french style pricking iron you can see the little slits Edited January 24, 2020 by chrisash Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
