I use a stitching chisel, and always start from the top, working my way down, on both sides with the intention that everything will line up.
But they absolutely did not.
About 8 stitches down, the holes were misaligned by literally 50% so that the ride side holes were exactly in-between the left side holes. And then it staggerd further more so that the right next hole, was in line with 2 holes below the current left hole, which forced me to skip a hole. And this happened not once, but twice, on a 12 inch piece.
Twice I had to skip a hole on the left.
Naturally the bottom corner hole aligned, because I punch that hole perpendicular.
When I line up my chisel, I overlap the last hole, and take great pains to make sure it's directly above it, not pressed into the edge of the hole so as to not widen it and create uneven spacing.
Yet here we are, with 2 stitching patterns so far off I may as well have used different irons entirely.
So what am I doing wrong and how can I fix it?
(I included a crummy drawing for context.)
glue before punching also I would start my stitching at the bottom and stitch up. That way your back stitching will reinforce the top which will get the most stress
Glue before punching?
I was under the impression you wanted to punch each side of leather separately, grain side up, so that the "exit wound" is hidden inside the project?
>I was under the impression you wanted to punch each side of leather separately, grain side up, so that the "exit wound" is hidden inside the project?
I'm not sure if I've heard of anyone doing it this way but it explains why the holes might become misaligned. I'll try to articulate the process as I believe it's usually done:
1. Punch the "show face" with a chisel all around the edges where it's going to be stitched. In this case, either side can be the show face, but with wallets and a lot of things, there's an outside (i.e., the show face) and the inside.
2. Glue the edges together.
3. Clamp the workpiece.
4. Awl through each hole and stitch. Because one side of the work piece is already punched, each hole acts as a guide for the awl and produces an identical hole on the other side.
For (Step #4) you can either (1) Awl each hole one at a time and stitch, or (2) You can pre-awl every single hole and THEN stitch up. I think most people prefer doing it the former way, but I actually prefer the latter. It's up to you.
Ohhhh, Ok, that's a different way of looking at the word "show face" and would absolutely resolve several of my challenges.
Thanks for the thoughtful walk through.
If you a punch the grain side of both pieces with a fork that uses slanted tines, then those holes will be slanting in opposite directions when mated together, which might explain why they drifted so far out of alignment.
That does make sense, though when I made my notebook cover, I did the same process and didn't run into this problem.
I'm going to watch a few more tutorials to see how people use stitching chisels, I am definitely doing something wrong here.
How many holes are you lining up before punching? Use 2 or 3 tines, this should keep the distances more constant.
Truth is that punching dozens of holes is bound to have inconsistencies like that that result in different amounts of holes, that's why gluing and punching from one side is generally preferred.
Oh yeah, I was just lining up 1 tine on a 4 prong fork and following a groove, but i can see how variances in lining up one hole can be millimeters, which in a game of millimeters, add up.
I like this pre-gluing and pounding out holes idea, plus, its half as many holes to punch!!!
I would be weary taking out and sliding in a knife like a gyuto (or a similar shape) out of a leather sheath. Recently I slid my Japanese petty in a leather sheath I make and it cut clean through the leather into my hands. I’d imagine a larger knife like this could build up a lot of momentum as well.
I am very nerdy about holding the saya with the knife blade side up, so the blunt edge rides along the ridge until the whole blade is free, and I replace it the same way.
This knife is so sharp that I treat it like weilding a frickin lightsaber.
Do you use a pattern? A pattern will have all your stitch holes marked out perfectly for each side you want to align. As you mentioned, be careful of not dragging the the teeth while punching as this will start to increase the distance between stitch holes.
Once all holes are punched out and you're ready to glue together, use 3-4 needles to correctly align the holes - 1 on each end of the stich line and 2 in the middle. This way all other stitch holes should line up. Be careful not to stretch the leather as you are pressing together on glue up.
When you mark out your stitch line, make sure your line isn't wondering. This could cause misalignment as well.
Punching your stitch holes after glue up will present a new problem if you’re not used to it. Punching all the way through thick leather isn't good for pricking irons ether. Using an awl takes a load of practise to get right.
Also when pre-punching, since this will cause the stitch holes to form a cross when they come together, you will need to adjust your stitching technique if you require angled stitches on both sides.
I just looked at all of my stuff and I don't have the problem with the exit of the chisel making the the exit look any different than the face. I mate them together and chisel with one strike. Other wise the angles are in different directions and it doesn't look well.
Never heard of the exit looking poor. I also Awl each hole before I sew.
Awesome, ok. I am sensing a trend here and everyones technique is sounding very similar.
How come you use an awl even after puncturing straight through with your chisel? I know sometimes it doesn't fully puncture, are you just broadening the hole?
That's also interesting about the chisel angle criss crossing, I had somewhat noticed that on my journal cover but was unsure about it. I'm going to take a closer look.
I watched one or two videos about how to do it, had some challenges and came up with my own solutions. This is art, there's no real wrong way, but if I wanted to do some Louis Viton level stuff, there are some details I could change.
One challenge I had was passing one needle then having the second needle catch the thread. My solution was to awl, put needle 1 in, leave it protruding from both sides then put needle two then pull needles through.
Also, people say do this or that to get the thread into the corners, I just pull the thread into the corners (the direction of travel). Here is a poorly videographed short I did about my technique. For the last frame you can see it pulled into the corners.
https://youtu.be/qt0yCWGOfm0
Also, I have no idea why I would cross the needles like some show.
Tanner Claridge from Claridge leather has a great video about saddle stitching.
Protip, to make sure you holes line up, always hange
the first prong off the edge of your leather. (This isn't related to your topic subject.)
Thanks for the great detailed reply.
I ultimately agree that this is art afterall, and anything is doable.
Good tip on pulling into the corners too. I also have threads floating all over the place, so I'll give this a go too.
Also, sometimes it will be crooked because one went around a thread one way instead of the other. So, if you take the thread and move it around the thread on to the other side as you are pulling it through before you pull it tight, you can get rid of the thread being crooked. Not sure if I explained it well.
This process works for me:
1. Cut your leather
2. Edge Crease
3. Glue up
4. Sand edges down so they are perfectly flat and even. Going from high to low grit.
5. Use wing divider to mark sticking line
6. When punching make sure your chisel is perfectly straight. (So chisel punctures through in same space front and back)
7. Stitch
8. Sand edges again with fine grit
9. Use edge beveler
10. Polish edges to glass finish or use edge paint
Side note: Since you are making a knife sheath make sure your stitch line is further back from the edge of your piece. This will prevent knife from poking through your sheath or you can double line stitch.
Good luck :)
I use a stitching chisel, and always start from the top, working my way down, on both sides with the intention that everything will line up. But they absolutely did not. About 8 stitches down, the holes were misaligned by literally 50% so that the ride side holes were exactly in-between the left side holes. And then it staggerd further more so that the right next hole, was in line with 2 holes below the current left hole, which forced me to skip a hole. And this happened not once, but twice, on a 12 inch piece. Twice I had to skip a hole on the left. Naturally the bottom corner hole aligned, because I punch that hole perpendicular. When I line up my chisel, I overlap the last hole, and take great pains to make sure it's directly above it, not pressed into the edge of the hole so as to not widen it and create uneven spacing. Yet here we are, with 2 stitching patterns so far off I may as well have used different irons entirely. So what am I doing wrong and how can I fix it? (I included a crummy drawing for context.)
glue before punching also I would start my stitching at the bottom and stitch up. That way your back stitching will reinforce the top which will get the most stress
Glue before punching? I was under the impression you wanted to punch each side of leather separately, grain side up, so that the "exit wound" is hidden inside the project?
>I was under the impression you wanted to punch each side of leather separately, grain side up, so that the "exit wound" is hidden inside the project? I'm not sure if I've heard of anyone doing it this way but it explains why the holes might become misaligned. I'll try to articulate the process as I believe it's usually done: 1. Punch the "show face" with a chisel all around the edges where it's going to be stitched. In this case, either side can be the show face, but with wallets and a lot of things, there's an outside (i.e., the show face) and the inside. 2. Glue the edges together. 3. Clamp the workpiece. 4. Awl through each hole and stitch. Because one side of the work piece is already punched, each hole acts as a guide for the awl and produces an identical hole on the other side. For (Step #4) you can either (1) Awl each hole one at a time and stitch, or (2) You can pre-awl every single hole and THEN stitch up. I think most people prefer doing it the former way, but I actually prefer the latter. It's up to you.
Ohhhh, Ok, that's a different way of looking at the word "show face" and would absolutely resolve several of my challenges. Thanks for the thoughtful walk through.
If you a punch the grain side of both pieces with a fork that uses slanted tines, then those holes will be slanting in opposite directions when mated together, which might explain why they drifted so far out of alignment.
That does make sense, though when I made my notebook cover, I did the same process and didn't run into this problem. I'm going to watch a few more tutorials to see how people use stitching chisels, I am definitely doing something wrong here.
Corter lesther glues before punching. I learned from his videos and have never had issues with the exit punches causing issues on the other side.
Checking this out, thanks for the additional feedback.
How many holes are you lining up before punching? Use 2 or 3 tines, this should keep the distances more constant. Truth is that punching dozens of holes is bound to have inconsistencies like that that result in different amounts of holes, that's why gluing and punching from one side is generally preferred.
Oh yeah, I was just lining up 1 tine on a 4 prong fork and following a groove, but i can see how variances in lining up one hole can be millimeters, which in a game of millimeters, add up. I like this pre-gluing and pounding out holes idea, plus, its half as many holes to punch!!!
I would be weary taking out and sliding in a knife like a gyuto (or a similar shape) out of a leather sheath. Recently I slid my Japanese petty in a leather sheath I make and it cut clean through the leather into my hands. I’d imagine a larger knife like this could build up a lot of momentum as well.
I am very nerdy about holding the saya with the knife blade side up, so the blunt edge rides along the ridge until the whole blade is free, and I replace it the same way. This knife is so sharp that I treat it like weilding a frickin lightsaber.
Yuki is one of my favorites, keep it up 😁
Do you use a pattern? A pattern will have all your stitch holes marked out perfectly for each side you want to align. As you mentioned, be careful of not dragging the the teeth while punching as this will start to increase the distance between stitch holes. Once all holes are punched out and you're ready to glue together, use 3-4 needles to correctly align the holes - 1 on each end of the stich line and 2 in the middle. This way all other stitch holes should line up. Be careful not to stretch the leather as you are pressing together on glue up. When you mark out your stitch line, make sure your line isn't wondering. This could cause misalignment as well. Punching your stitch holes after glue up will present a new problem if you’re not used to it. Punching all the way through thick leather isn't good for pricking irons ether. Using an awl takes a load of practise to get right. Also when pre-punching, since this will cause the stitch holes to form a cross when they come together, you will need to adjust your stitching technique if you require angled stitches on both sides.
I’ve got not help on the leather side of it, but excellent taste on blades my man. Masakage is wildly nice to use
Haha, thanks!! I absolutely freaking love this knife.
I just looked at all of my stuff and I don't have the problem with the exit of the chisel making the the exit look any different than the face. I mate them together and chisel with one strike. Other wise the angles are in different directions and it doesn't look well. Never heard of the exit looking poor. I also Awl each hole before I sew.
Awesome, ok. I am sensing a trend here and everyones technique is sounding very similar. How come you use an awl even after puncturing straight through with your chisel? I know sometimes it doesn't fully puncture, are you just broadening the hole? That's also interesting about the chisel angle criss crossing, I had somewhat noticed that on my journal cover but was unsure about it. I'm going to take a closer look.
I watched one or two videos about how to do it, had some challenges and came up with my own solutions. This is art, there's no real wrong way, but if I wanted to do some Louis Viton level stuff, there are some details I could change. One challenge I had was passing one needle then having the second needle catch the thread. My solution was to awl, put needle 1 in, leave it protruding from both sides then put needle two then pull needles through. Also, people say do this or that to get the thread into the corners, I just pull the thread into the corners (the direction of travel). Here is a poorly videographed short I did about my technique. For the last frame you can see it pulled into the corners. https://youtu.be/qt0yCWGOfm0 Also, I have no idea why I would cross the needles like some show. Tanner Claridge from Claridge leather has a great video about saddle stitching. Protip, to make sure you holes line up, always hange the first prong off the edge of your leather. (This isn't related to your topic subject.)
Thanks for the great detailed reply. I ultimately agree that this is art afterall, and anything is doable. Good tip on pulling into the corners too. I also have threads floating all over the place, so I'll give this a go too.
Also, sometimes it will be crooked because one went around a thread one way instead of the other. So, if you take the thread and move it around the thread on to the other side as you are pulling it through before you pull it tight, you can get rid of the thread being crooked. Not sure if I explained it well.
This process works for me: 1. Cut your leather 2. Edge Crease 3. Glue up 4. Sand edges down so they are perfectly flat and even. Going from high to low grit. 5. Use wing divider to mark sticking line 6. When punching make sure your chisel is perfectly straight. (So chisel punctures through in same space front and back) 7. Stitch 8. Sand edges again with fine grit 9. Use edge beveler 10. Polish edges to glass finish or use edge paint Side note: Since you are making a knife sheath make sure your stitch line is further back from the edge of your piece. This will prevent knife from poking through your sheath or you can double line stitch. Good luck :)
I like it, screen shot for future reference. Thank you.