Stitching chisels/irons and pricking irons reviews and information

[Rahere]

On 2/13/2020 at 9:02 PM, Northmount said:

@Tugadude has suggested we setup an area for stitching irons, etc.  It fits under Sewing Leather, so rather than a whole new forum area, here it is. 

For this thread, its main purpose is to collect and provide information.  Posts that go off topic will be removed.  So a couple rules for this thread.

Reviews and information should list manufacturer's names, locations and model or item description so they can be found by other members.  A link to the company website would be fine.  Don't link to a specific page, keep it at the top domain level so the link is less likely to be broken when someone decides to reorganize their website or offerings.  Photos should be posted here, not on 3rd party sites (includes vendors sites).

Tugadude has sent a PDF from Nigel at Armitage Leather to start this topic off. 

Armitage Stitching Iron Reviews.pdf 433.21 kB · 89 downloads

Hope you enjoy checking out reviews, both this one, and future reviews and hope you will contribute your knowledge and experience to this thread.

Tom

I agree, because the unnecessary dominance of true saddlery has thoroughly muddied the waters, not helped by copycat manufacturers whose ignorance may be matched by the poor design of their work. About the only thing they haven't done so far is apply the generic term "sexy". It's a wonder they reproduce at all.

My interest is temporary, as I like edge-channelling my work but my diamond cutters, offsetting the thread more than necessary, produce a line incompatible with the idea of slightly indenting the stitching.

What might be useful as a precursor is to review the terminology, to apply some plain English. "Pricking Irons" mean nothing: in horse-riding, stirrups. I'd prefer to xall them "markers" because that's what they do, they mark where the hole should be.

Next up, "Stitching Irons". Fine, the idea came from pricking irons, refining the points to give a constant awl angle - and here, you didn't mention that there are three different types, round, flat and triangular, with increasing amounts of damage done to the leather - but I think we need to add a third category to flat and diamond, namely hole, derived from the circular hole punch which has thankfully disappeared from these forums, only to be replaced by circular straight punches and now multi-head punches. These are fine in lacing and possibly for beginners (SteamPunkRo's patterns on Etsy, for example), but not for more advanced work: we recently saw a newby's thread-through holster on the "How Do I Do That" thread which was asking for the stitches to tear through the edge, dumping the bearer's line of last defence somewhere out on the lone prairie. He's learning and improving.

Then, "Stitching Chisels". Osborne use them generically as the encompassing class name for everything, with subgroups, thonging chisels, stitch chisels and pricking chisels. That makes a valid differentiation for thonging tools, I feel, but overstates prick markers/prickers, and omits punches.

We should equally consider the use of the right tool for the right job. The case for minimal disruption in a point awl in saddlery is well made, and also exists in shemaking welting, as it minimalises water infiltration. But as you say, we equally can use wider holes for tidier stitching on work which will suffer less tension. A lesson from sewing is relevant: contiguity of the fabric matrix on the stitching allowance edge isn't absolutely necessary, as long as it doesn't amount to completely unravelling it. On a reversed convex curve, ie one which, buried on the inside of the work, is actually concave, causing the fabric to bunch in an uncomfortable and potentially unsightly way, they will happily notch the excess away: shoemaking does exactly the same when wrapping the core of the shoe, the insole, with it's own cover and the lining and outer of the shoe itself. Generically, it's the art of lasting: although nails are the starting point, glue is the most common major binder, with some stitching.

So, as an offering very open to development and critique:

Markers:
     Temporary pen markers and chalk
     Permanent pen markers
     Pricking wheels
     Pricking markers
     Should the different types of creasers and channellers have a place here?

Stitching:
     Notchers
     Awls
     Straight punches
     Diamond punches

Thonging:
     Slit chisels
     Hole punches

Hardware:
     Hole punches
     Rivet setters

You'll of course observe that I'm treating leather as the oldest natural fabric of all, but still a fabric. It may be we can learn more from pattern-making, for example in transfering complex 3D surfaces to flat, but that goes beyond the question at hand.

Edited June 18, 2021 by Rahere

[Ingenero]

Bit of a gravedig - but I thought my $0.02 might help someone.  I'm a new leather crafter and thought my input might help someone.

I started my work with a decent set of diamond irond from Wuta - they definitely weren't the highest end, but worked well enough for me to determine that I loved leather crafting, and that I wanted to get something more refined.  They stuck in leather, even when I used a smidge of wax on them.  If you're starting the craft, I'd recommend them if you want to see if you like leather crafting, but also recommend sharpening them if you can do so.

So my first tool upgrade was to buy KS Blade irons in my favored stitch spacing.  They are night and day with my Wuta irons - incredibly tiny but clean holes, incredibly easy use without sticking.  If you do enjoy leathercrafting and want a first tool upgrade, I would highly recommend nice irons.  I'd also note that you probably won't need reverse irons with these - use them straight on and you get incredibly precise stitch marks on the other side to.  They're a thing of beauty.  Maybe not aesthetically, but definitely to use and in their result.

A word on stitch spacing - don't do what I did and try to figure out pattern size using standard French iron sizes so the stitches are all even.  Iron "SPI" numbers don't indicate stitches per Imperial Inch (the American one), but per Paris inch, which is equal to 27 mm rather than 25.4 mm like Imperial inches.  Hope that saves someone time they would have wasted trying to figure out why 10 SPI irons made less than 10 stitches in an Imperial inch or why your stitch lines were never precise regardless of how many times you run the numbers.  If you are fine making an uneven stitch now and then and aren't a math geek like me who wants things to line up nicely, ignore this and do what you want.  I can't imagine anyone noticing unless you're at the top of your craft (in which case, why are you reading stuff from me!).  But if you're a perfectionist, just get metric irons in 3 mm or 4 mm (or 5 mm if you dislike stitching) - they'll make the math SO MUCH EASIER.  I suspect anyone who isn't a master of leatherwork could tell any change from the standard French 2.7/3.38/3.85 mm (or 10, 8 and 7 SPI) irons.  

Good luck!