Another "What size thread" question

C

Chris 54326

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Sep 13, 2017
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I purchased a box of waxed thread, some needles and a few other items from flea-bay recently. I'm a newbie, so had no idea the majority of the contents were useless for my purposes. Later I was told to purchase James Johns #1/0 Harness needles for my sheath making. Tried the waxed thread that came in the box of (mostly) junk only to find I'd probably have more luck pushing an Elephant through the eye in my needles! :eek: So what size thread will go through the eye of my #1/0 needles? I'm using Tandy Leathers Veg Tanned Shoulders for material at present.
 
Chris,
1/0 is sized for 1 mm tiger thread or equivalent. It is a flat woven thread which can make it easier to go through smaller needle eyes. It sounds like you might need 3/0 for what you have. You can also try stripping the end of your thread a bit, twisting the stripped end tight and then going through the eye. I use that approach on 5 cord linen thread although it is not waxed which makes the process a bit easier.
Randy
 
I use the same needles and by pure, dumb luck I bought 0.6 and 0.8 mm Ritza Tiger thread (noob here too) and they work beautifully. I may be wrong but I think Weaver leather has the best (or close to) prices for that thread. Good luck with your new hobby!
 
brewbear, I forgot to ask..............what mm size stitching chisels do you use with that combination of thread and needles?
 
I use 3 mm chisels with the 0.6 mm thread, tho it is a lot of sewing and if you use thin leather it might weaken it (just my gut feeling) and 4 mm chisels with the 0.8 and 1.0 mm thread. If I were to make something larger than a small knife sheath, I would give the 5 mm chisels with 1.0 or 1.2 mm thread a try to see how it looks. Most of the things I've done so far are small-ish sheaths and the 4 mm chisels with the above mentioned threads look best to my eye.
 
I would get more than one size of needles. Then you can match the needle size to the thread you want to used. Buying bigger needles is probably going to be cheaper, than buying new thread.

O.B.
 
Thanks, O.B. I already have a complete set of 3mm chisels, package of JJ 0/1 needles and only need to drop by Tandy's to get one roll of 0.6 Tiger thread and I should be ready to start on my first sheath. I think there was a needle in that cheap package of thread and such that should fit the bulky waxed thread. Don't know what I'd use it on, but it's available if I ever want to try it. I've been getting such good feedback from people about the Tiger thread, I don't think I need to look elsewhere.
 
I picked up a 100 yd spool of Black and one of White...........both Tiger thread and both 0.8mm.........at Tandy's earlier today. They fit my needles. They should get me started. Now to make a template of the knife I want to use as the "guinea pig".
 
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