Tandy Pro Stitching Chisels

[fredk]

I have several sets of those chisels from China. Once sharpened and polished they are the bees knees. Nary a prob with them. I think I got them for about an average of £5 per set of 4 - a 1, 2, 4 & 6 prong. 

I bought them to see if they suited me. My intention was if they suited what I wanted I could replace with 'better quality' ones but they've proved to be excellent and not needing replaced.

BTW, I punch through into a piece of scrap leather not any sort of board, if this makes any difference

[Gulrok]

Honestly I'm a weaver fanboy. Weaver has wonderful chisels. They're priced good. Cheap enough to throw away when destroyed.. but honestly I don't use chisels that often today anymore with the laser cutter. 

[PastorBob]

27 minutes ago, Gulrok said:

Honestly I'm a weaver fanboy. Weaver has wonderful chisels. They're priced good. Cheap enough to throw away when destroyed.. but honestly I don't use chisels that often today anymore with the laser cutter. 

What size holes are you making with the laser cutter?  Are you only using black thread?  If not, how to you prevent the "char" from getting on lighter color thread?  What is it you are making using the laser cutter for your patterns?

[Sheilajeanne]

Chisels have arrived! The prongs are thinner than the Tandy black chisels, and therefore should be sharper/easier to punch through the leather! They also match the 8 stitch per inch width I need for this project.

Fred, how did you sharpen yours?  

Edited October 16, 2021 by Sheilajeanne

[fredk]

12 hours ago, Sheilajeanne said:

Fred, how did you sharpen yours?  

Very carefully,  

I started with a smooth cut jewellers file, on each side and the angles of the tip of each prong. Then I progressed to a used * card & grit nail file. After this I used a slip of a broken 'India' stone from my sea-fishing days - that was used for sharpening the hooks. * used cos its very, very smooth, almost just polishes the prongs

BTW. I've been experimenting with this, as a punching block for stitching chisels only

Its a flat block of wax, about 4 inches x 5.5 inches by 1 inch deep. Made from all the scraps from incomplete burnt candles and some wax I had left over from when I made candles to sell. I think I heed to add some carnauba wax into it to increase its hardness. When I find a: a bigger tray and b: more wax I'll remake it with a bigger surface area.

It does multiple things - it'll take the stitching chisels points without damaging them and also they get a wee bit of wax on them, for lubrication. Its almost self-healing - after doing some punching the surface is a bit chewed up with holes but I just put it onto a little electric cooking ring I have, heat it up and the wax melts and smooths out and a short time later its ready for use again.

[Sheilajeanne]

Cool idea! I think I have some paraffin blocks, as someone recommended them for finishing edges.

I have some small files, but they aren't as fine as jeweler's files. Will see if I can find some. And, of course, nearly all women own that type of nail files. Wonder if jeweler's rouge would also work for the final polishing.

[zuludog]

3 hours ago, Sheilajeanne said:

Cool idea! I think I have some paraffin blocks, as someone recommended them for finishing edges.

I have some small files, but they aren't as fine as jeweler's files. Will see if I can find some. And, of course, nearly all women own that type of nail files. Wonder if jeweler's rouge would also work for the final polishing.

I have sharpened the prongs of stitching chisels. I used #2 cut Vallorbe needle files, but only for a brief and first  go, as I thought that even those might be too coarse or rough, and I didn't want to risk damaging the prongs by doing more harm than good

So I made up some files or wands by gluing wet & dry paper to lollipop sticks - 400, 600, and 1,000 grit, and work through the grades. You could use slivers of aluminium sheet or stiff plastic instead of lollipop sticks

I expect you could make a similar, miniature strop; I used green chromium dioxide compound just on the wood, with no leather, but I found the 1,000 grit paper was fine enough

It's a bit of a tedious job, but as with sharpening a head knife, you only need to do it once, then occasionally on the fine grade or strop as required

There are a few YouTube videos about polishing stitching chisels

Edited October 16, 2021 by zuludog

[chuck123wapati]

3 hours ago, zuludog said:

I have sharpened the prongs of stitching chisels. I used #2 cut Vallorbe needle files, but only for a brief and first  go, as I thought that even those might be too coarse or rough, and I didn't want to risk damaging the prongs by doing more harm than good

So I made up some files or wands by gluing wet & dry paper to lollipop sticks - 400, 600, and 1,000 grit, and work through the grades. You could use slivers of aluminium sheet or stiff plastic instead of lollipop sticks

I expect you could make a similar, miniature strop; I used green chromium dioxide compound just on the wood, with no leather, but I found the 1,000 grit paper was fine enough

It's a bit of a tedious job, but as with sharpening a head knife, you only need to do it once, then occasionally on the fine grade or strop as required

There are a few YouTube videos about polishing stitching chisels

i use the sticks from popcicles the same way  and sharpen my awls also  with them. i imagine they are the same thing they can also be purchased unused at craft stores

[zuludog]

OK, as far as I can tell, Lollipop = British and Popsicle = American for the same thing, but I'm willing to be corrected

[Sheilajeanne]

I save popsicle sticks for spreading glue, so the sandpaper sounds like the best way to go.

Popsicle is actually a brand name that's become generalized, like Hoover for vacuum in the U.K. In N. America, lollipops are hard candy on a stick, popsicles are frozen flavoured water or ice cream.