Diamond chisel round corners

[Tugadude]

1 hour ago, Retswerb said:

@LionCrownLeather, I think it’s just an optical illusion. Here are your two edges next to each other, the angles look consistent. Ignore the spacing difference, I just zoomed differently on the two sides.

thanks for taking the time to do that.  It shows what I was saying, the angle of the slits is consistent with respect to the lines.  

[LionCrownLeather]

6 hours ago, Retswerb said:

@LionCrownLeather, I think it’s just an optical illusion. Here are your two edges next to each other, the angles look consistent. Ignore the spacing difference, I just zoomed differently on the two sides.

Thank you for taking the time to do this! What I have learned from the comments here so far: start punching holes from the bottom center and work my way up one direction and then start from bottom center punching holes towards the other direction. 

I got to say having consistency in angled holes like these around corners requires good skills, I used a two prong diamond chisel around the corners but to get that slow turn to look professional a one prong would maybe be ideal but then again the risk of punching bad angled holes increases as they number of punches increases. 

Now my keychain consists of two pieces of 4-5 oz leather folded and glued on top of eachother. I punched through both pieces directly and the back side did not turn out any good, a quite common problem.. Probably need to punch through each side seperatley and then fold on top of eachother. 

[billybopp]

Here's a little trick that might help you.  When you are going making your holes in a straight line, putting the last prong or two in the previously punched holes works well.  The angle isn't changing, so it's totally un-noticeable and works really well.   We're going to refer to that previous completed hole the reference hole. When you get to a gentle curve as you have here, that begins to cause some problems.  Putting the prong of your two prong punch into the reference hole and punching through is at a different angle than the reference hole because of that curve, and it is noticeable because it "wallows out" the that reference hole (which is what it looks like happened here).  One good solution is to put one prong of your two prong punch into the reference hole and press it LIGHTLY to leave an impression for where the next hole will go then move the punch to that mark and punch through your next two.   A very well trained eye looking closely MIGHT detect that the holes are made in pairs .. Maybe.  Nobody else will notice and the result will look really great!

I totally agree with the above comment about starting from bottom-center to ensure that both ends are equal at the top.  Just be aware that there is a bit of an optical illusion that the two end may not LOOK equal.  That should disappear when you get thread in the holes, though.

As the curve gets tighter, approaching ninety degrees, this technique doesn't work as well and other techniques are the order of the day.  But that's another story for another day!

- Bill

 

[HondoMan]

What exactly did you buy for chisels?  Either tell us or post photos.  From your photo, it appears more pricking iron than chisel.

Edited September 11, 2020 by HondoMan

[Tugadude]

1 hour ago, HondoMan said:

What exactly did you buy for chisels?  Either tell us or post photos.  From your photo, it appears more pricking iron than chisel.

I agree and pointed out that they look like slits and not diamond-shaped holes.  

[fredk]

I think they look like 3mm lacing slits

[chuck123wapati]

4 minutes ago, fredk said:

I think they look like 3mm lacing slits

me too!

[LionCrownLeather]

4 hours ago, HondoMan said:

What exactly did you buy for chisels?  Either tell us or post photos.  From your photo, it appears more pricking iron than chisel.

https://crimsonhides.com/products/french-style-crimson-irons

4 hours ago, HondoMan said:

What exactly did you buy for chisels?  Either tell us or post photos.  From your photo, it appears more pricking iron than chisel.

What is the difference between the french style Irons and diamond chisen exactly? 

[Tugadude]

Those irons are pricking irons and do have straight, not diamond teeth.  I helped start a topic in the 'Sewing Leather" part of the forum to help folks like you to differentiate between stitching irons and pricking irons.

The ones you bought are high quality and can be used as stitching irons or chisels on relatively thin leather.

 

Edited September 11, 2020 by Tugadude
Added link

[HondoMan]

16 hours ago, LionCrownLeather said:

https://crimsonhides.com/products/french-style-crimson-irons

What is the difference between the french style Irons and diamond chisen exactly? 

Goodness....  Pricking irons are to be used in conjunction with an awl.  One simply makes wee 'pricks' or marks on the leather and then using an awl, sews the two pieces together.  A diamond chisel is ment to combine a pricking iron and awl.  One can punch through both pieces of leather (depending upon the combined thickness). 

You need to spend time watching Nigel Armitage videos to get a better grasp on this topic.