Stitching Holes... with a drill??

[fredk]

I just discovered that Tandy does a stitching chisels adapter for use in their press;

https://www.tandyleather.world/products/press-die-for-hand-press-diamond-chisel

for use with their set of inter-changeable chisels

https://www.tandyleather.world/products/diamond-hole-chisel-set

When I'm rich again I might buy the adapter and chisels sets. I have the press already

Edited March 11, 2022 by fredk

[toxo]

18 hours ago, MtlBiker said:

YouTube is full of helpful videos and I admit that most of (the little) I've learned about leather working and sewing in general has come from those videos.  Plus of course the outstanding help and advice of members here.  But often there are completely opposite views and for a novice it's hard to figure out the best approach.

For example, one of my next projects is to make a sheath for an axe.  No big deal, right?  This was going to be mostly for practice with hand stitching which I'm just getting into.  Anyway, I'm going to have three layers of leather... front and back pieces plus a gusset, and I'll be using either 6oz veg tan or 8oz (I have pieces of both).  So it's going to be pretty darn thick!  Either 18oz total, or 24.

I just watched a video which showed a way of making the stitching holes that I hadn't seen before... they used a drill press with a 1/16" drill!  Round holes of course, but all neatly lined up.  That was of course after marking where the holes should be.

All I've done so far is to use stitching chisels to punch through all layers if I was able to, or just part way to then finish the holes with an awl.

Would any of you even consider using a drill (press) to make the stitching holes?

(The only time I ever did something this thick before, I used my Techsew 2750 and it came out very well, but I am trying to improve/learn my hand stitching.)

 

Assuming you mean a welt rather than a gusset to give three layers. You could of course have a bit of faith in yourself and punch all three layers separately . All you need is a stitch line and a starting point for your chisels. Just be sure to do exactly the same for all three layers. If you have the slightest doubt in yourself then glue em all together before stitching.

[MtlBiker]

54 minutes ago, toxo said:

Assuming you mean a welt rather than a gusset to give three layers. You could of course have a bit of faith in yourself and punch all three layers separately . All you need is a stitch line and a starting point for your chisels. Just be sure to do exactly the same for all three layers. If you have the slightest doubt in yourself then glue em all together before stitching.

Thanks for catching my novice error and understanding that I'd really meant "welt".  But I'm nowhere near competent enough at this stage to punch through three layers perfectly aligned.  Which is why I liked the idea of using a drill as per the Weaver Leather video.  And if I do glue all layers together first as I'd planned, I'm back to the problem of being able to punch my chisel through them all, in perfect alignment.  I'll get there... but it'll take a lot more practice and experience first.  I'm really liking the idea of pre-marking where each hole should be and then using an awl held in a drill press to keep the holes perfectly perpendicular.  I'm going to bring an awl in to work with me tomorrow (yes, I work on Saturdays) to see how/if I can fit it into our drill press chuck.

[chuck123wapati]

1 hour ago, toxo said:

Assuming you mean a welt rather than a gusset to give three layers. You could of course have a bit of faith in yourself and punch all three layers separately . All you need is a stitch line and a starting point for your chisels. Just be sure to do exactly the same for all three layers. If you have the slightest doubt in yourself then glue em all together before stitching.

i used to do it this way and it works great too, I used small brass 1" brads to line up the holes before gluing about every inch or so along the stitch line.

Edited March 11, 2022 by chuck123wapati

[toxo]

2 hours ago, MtlBiker said:

Thanks for catching my novice error and understanding that I'd really meant "welt".  But I'm nowhere near competent enough at this stage to punch through three layers perfectly aligned.  Which is why I liked the idea of using a drill as per the Weaver Leather video.  And if I do glue all layers together first as I'd planned, I'm back to the problem of being able to punch my chisel through them all, in perfect alignment.  I'll get there... but it'll take a lot more practice and experience first.  I'm really liking the idea of pre-marking where each hole should be and then using an awl held in a drill press to keep the holes perfectly perpendicular.  I'm going to bring an awl in to work with me tomorrow (yes, I work on Saturdays) to see how/if I can fit it into our drill press chuck.

Chuck knew what I meant. not all three layers together. One layer at a time. It's amazing how accurate you can be when you tell yourself it has to be spot on. As Chuck says line em up when glueing with nails/toothpicks, whatever, cotton buds cut in half are a nice tight fit for round holes.

[Squid61]

Or, you could punch, or glue and punch, a managable thickness then glue the remaining piece(s) and punch them with your awl.

[Hags]

How about using a drill press or punch to do a "pilot hole" so it would be straight,  then using the awl to angle the hole as desired? 

[chiefjason]

I use an awl chucked into a drill to punch my stitch holes in most of my stuff. 

On thick welts I do use a drill for the holes.  I doubt an awl would go through that many layers straight.  Actually don't see much of a difference in the two.  

[Bert03241]

I've tried all these methods, Laser cut holes which works great but leaves a char on the inside of the hole, I know how to get around that but also takes a lot out of the laser cutting tons of holes. Chisel thru 2 layers of 7to 8oz vegs lots of pounding and trying to get the chisel out is a pain Dremel with a 1/16 bit thats the ticket. 7 to 8 oz your using a thick thread so fills the holes and I think looks great. But like everyone says to each his own. If you like it and it works for you go for it.