Crimson Hide Pricking Irons

[zuludog]

At the moment I'm using Tandy Craftool, Tandy Craftool Pro, and Seiwa European stitching chisels, but I'm thinking about getting some Crimson Hide Pricking Irons

Although described as pricking irons, Nigel Armitage's review shows that they will penetrate a thin layer of leather, and as I intend using them mostly for wallets, I think that would be just about right

Crimson Hides website shows Japanese and French pricking irons. What's the difference, please, and which would you recommend?

I'm thinking of the French type with 3,25mm spacing, 2 & 5 prong; but as I estimate that the total cost will be about £108  I'd like to be sure

[KJD2121]

I have the Japanese 2-5 prong sets of 3.0 and 3.85. I dont know what the difference is, but these are a quality iron.  The 3.0 are very unforgiving if your line is not exactly straight.  The stitches will show any deviation, where the 3.85 don't show as much.  Still getting better each project

 

[zuludog]

Thanks for your comments, but I've had a change of plan

I've been looking at Nigel Armitage's Pricking Iron videos #1 & #10 on Tandy Craftool Pro stitching chisels, and he thinks they're reasonable enough

I have a 2 prong, 3,5mm spacing chisel that I have been using straight out of the box, but he shows that they can be improved by polishing the prongs

So I will order a 3,5mm 4 prong chisel, and polish the prongs on both of them with fine abrasive paper,.

The new chisel will be about £38 including delivery. I'll see how I go on with that

[jcuk]

Hi there,  would you not be better getting the 8 prong chisel?  If you use the 2 prong chisel you already have twice there's your 4 prong

just a thought. Also have you looked at Abbeys new pricking irons look ok for the price although i have not used them.

Here is a couple of reviews https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKjidt-4gr8

                                               https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHP-nM2YAAs

Hope this helps

JCUK

 

 

 

[Tugadude]

2 hours ago, zuludog said:

Thanks for your comments, but I've had a change of plan

I've been looking at Nigel Armitage's Pricking Iron videos #1 & #10 on Tandy Craftool Pro stitching chisels, and he thinks they're reasonable enough

I have a 2 prong, 3,5mm spacing chisel that I have been using straight out of the box, but he shows that they can be improved by polishing the prongs

So I will order a 3,5mm 4 prong chisel, and polish the prongs on both of them with fine abrasive paper,.

The new chisel will be about £38 including delivery. I'll see how I go on with that

Zuludog, I own two sets of the Tandy Craftool Pro Fine Diamond Chisels and I really like them.  I have not polished them at all and they still function fine for the stuff I do.  I wish the angle of the teeth was closer to 45 degrees, but it still provides a nice stitch.  The 3.5mm is my preference of the two sets.  The other set is 2.5mm and is great for fine work such as card wallets and such.  

If I took the time to polish them, I'm sure it would help, but I use a block of wood to help pull them out and dip them in beeswax when needed.

For the money (and they are on sale now, I think) you can't go wrong.

 

Here's an old thread I started on the irons.

 

[zuludog]

JCUK, TUGADUDE, and others; thanks for your comments

I've spent about a week Surfing t'Net, and must have looked at just about every pricking iron/stitching chisel on the market. The situation was similar to that when I was looking for a new tent a couple of summers ago - you can go round and round, but sooner or later you've just got to settle on something. My decision to go for the 4 prong Craftool Pro was due to the good review it got from Nigel, and that it would match the 2 prong that I have already. It was about £38 inc delivery from Identity Leathercraft

I don't usually bother with Abbey England as they don't publish prices on their website, which I see as a hangover from the old secretive and restrictive practices of British Industry; perhaps I should in future, read on

I went for 4 prong and not 8 as I want to use this mainly for wallets, and I thought that if it was difficult to pull out it might distort the thin leather. Also, I haven't used an 8 prong yet,  I might find it fiddly to place 8 prongs on a stitching line; though admittedly, other people seem to manage (yes I know - how am I going to find out if I don't try?)

Besides the links from JCUK I have found a review of Abbey England pricking irons by JH Leather, including prices, and they look fairly good

If I want to go to more prongs, my choices would be to -

Get the 8 prong Craftool Pro, about £40 inc delivery

Get the Abbey England budget set of 2, 5, & 10 prong irons  which  at about £36 delivered is cheaper than the single Craftool Pro

Get the Abbey England better quality set of 2 & 9 prongs, which would be about £100

Tandy had 2 shops in Britain, but these closed with Tandy's recent re-organisation. Identity Leathercraft has been an agent for Tandy for years; I've visited their shop, and they are pleasant & helpful, but they don't have any of the official Tandy sales or offers

If we want to buy any Tandy products in Britain, they are shipped from USA, and by the time you've considered the exchange rate, import duty and handling charge, it's not worth it. But I never thought about a sale, that would definitely have made importing worthwhile.

Edited January 24, 2020 by zuludog

[jcuk]

Hi again you may want to look at Tandys EU site the irons are on offer not sure how much shipping would be but could work out cheaper for you. https://www.tandyleather.eu/en/product/craftool-fine-diamond-chisel-3-5-mm

As for keeping the 8 prongs straight instead of of placing the iron into the last last stitch mark go back  2 and place it there it should help you keep it straight.

The more expensive pricking irons from Abbey are more traditional irons used in the saddlery trade so using your awl to stitch if i was in the market for new irons think i would give them a try should be good enough to last a life time and some.

 

Hope this helps

JCUK

PS you may want to order before the 31st January if you go with Tandy think you know why

Edited January 24, 2020 by jcuk

[clraven]

Does anyone know where to get Crimson tools in the USA? Looking for a supplier here

[DJole]

10 minutes ago, clraven said:

Does anyone know where to get Crimson tools in the USA? Looking for a supplier here

Perhaps these folks down in California have what you need? <https://www.fineleatherworking.com/leather-tools/>

[Scootch]

On 4/17/2020 at 1:21 PM, clraven said:

Does anyone know where to get Crimson tools in the USA? Looking for a supplier here

I ended up buying mine directly from Crimsonhides.com.  I had to contact my bank and have them open up a transaction for that part of the world.  I'd also like to try his stitch groover.

Scootch.

[chrisash]

I am looking at getting some of these with removable blades, so if a blade brakes you can just replace them and also turn them 180 degrees for reverse pattern at UK £108 a set  they seem unbeatable in versability and the way i guess all pricking irons will go in the future as replacement blades a lot cheaper than replacement tool

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32924186429.html?spm=2114.12010615.8148356.6.754162e93kV5ZY

Edited April 29, 2020 by chrisash