Sheath Makers and Leatherworkers: How do you do your stitching?

[jmflem]

Everything in store was on sale for wholesale prices so I bought quite a lot of stuff. For tools I got a multiple size hole puncher, an overstitch wheel, a groover, and an awl. I also purchased some more leather as well as some dye, gum tragacanth, and some contact cement. They were also having a sale on belt blanks so I picked up a couple of those as well.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Nice pick up. I wonder if their online sales prices are the same. It's times like this I wish I still had the gold club membership.

 

[leatherman]

The 20 dollar coupon is well worth skipping out on work for! I got a free 100 count package of line 24 snaps!!!!

 

[SixStringSamurai]

@Strigamort
That is some great CS! Good to hear it from one of my old favs-SOG.

Yeah, after writing,reading,and replying on this thread I thought I'd give my powerlocks sheath the once over and did notice a tad bit of looseness in the rivets. Its going on 5years of m-f carry, so I guess that's not too bad. And I definitely agree, hostile environments are one thing, but the human body is generally the toughest on tools!

And, I'm definitely jealous of the leather store sales! My local Tandy hasn't had one yet!

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Well, I mentioned it in another thread, but the Tandy sale prompted me to place an order with Springfield.

I'm betting that some of the sale prices are better at their store locations. I bought my overstitcher kit at Hobby Lobby the other day for $20. It's the Tandy brand. I found the same kit on sale today for $24... I went and filled the basket with the same items at SL and the price ended up being less.

(edit- oh yeah, forgot to mention that SL is sending some free Kydex samples to play with too)

$20 coupon? Man, I wish I could have gotten in on that. I really want some of that button hole hardware like Paul uses to keep straps. Not sure if I'm calling them by the correct name, but I'm sure y'all know what I'm talking about. Springfield has similar, but their screw post items have balls that look more like an m&m than the spheres on the Tandy hardware. Just don't look as appealing to me.

Worth taking the day off? Tell that to my wife! I get 4 weeks vacation, but by this time of year I've gotta be pretty darn strategic about using them.

 

[Ebbtide]

Those belt blanks can be a ton of fun.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Those belt blanks can be a ton of fun.

I bought one today to use for straps. Seems pretty inexpensive to buy belt blanks (b grade Hermann Oak blanks for $5) than to cut strips off a good small piece of expensive top quality stuff. The dangler I made from a low quality Tandy blank seems about perfect for that role.

Good for lots of stuff besides belts I reckon. :thumbup:

 

[jmflem]

Those belt blanks can be a ton of fun.

Yeah I've already made a belt out of one. The belt blank had pre-installed snaps too so it was pretty easy. (I know, I didn't make it 100% from "scratch", but those were the ones on sale. The others were like $20 each.)

 

[Skystorm]

I started out using the drill press method but I got tired of uneven back holes on thicker sheaths so I picked up a Boss stitcher and ripped all of the thread hardware off of it and just use it to punch holes then groove it afterwards. Use the guide attachment for it and you will have a perfect stitch row every time and far faster than anything else.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

I started out using the drill press method but I got tired of uneven back holes on thicker sheaths so I picked up a Boss stitcher and ripped all of the thread hardware off of it and just use it to punch holes then groove it afterwards. Use the guide attachment for it and you will have a perfect stitch row every time and far faster than anything else.

Woah that's cool. Tippman got a lot of my $$ when I first started playing paintball, I had forgotten that they made leather equipment too.

Seems kinda expensive for a hand operated machine. Couldn't you get an old Singer for that kinda money? On the other hand, I've seen people just turn the flywheel on powered sewing machines by hand.

Question. The only stitches that I'm aware of (I'm sure there are dozens) are the saddle stitch, and the stitch that the Speedy Stitcher creates. Is the stitch produced by the Boss the same as the SS? I've never cared for the look, and I thought it was a lock stitch, but your stitches don't look the same.

Do you also use their clicker press?

 

[Skystorm]

I don't use it to sew anything, It's just an overpriced hole puncher for me but it does that job exceptionally well. If you've ever used one you would know how maddening they can be to actually sew with. I've used their clicker press, It is an under powered machine for what we do. I suppose on textiles or paper it would be great but for leather it is no where near their 15 ton rated capacity except over maybe a 1 inch square. It is also expensive to maintain and a royal pain to adjust. I sold it and sent some designs to Weaver and they built me something much better for my purposes.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

You clearly stated that you ripped the sewing hardware off the machine and only use it to punch holes in your first post.

Shows how much I'm paying attention.

Uh yeah, that would be a very expensive machine just for punching holes, but it makes sense. At first, when I saw knifemaking shops that had a few belt grinders, I couldn't understand why one person would need duplicate expensive machines, especially when I realized that they were redundant in order to keep from having to swap belts, but time is money in that case. In yours, time and consistency is paramount and I can get behind that.

I don't know how everyone swings the price tag on a shop, but then I use many millions of dollars in equipment every day. The difference between the full timer and hobbyist is huge.

 

[leatherman]

Tippman maddening, nah, try a big ol machine with a clutch drive. I now know the clutch is the worst idea ever for a stitcher.

 

[Skystorm]

Well I do have this Cobra 4 sitting here that I am still trying to think of something to sew with it, if you were closer I would let you borrow it. I usually plan equipment spending way ahead of when I actually have a need to use it. When I first got the Boss I tried stitching a few, I spent more time adjusting it and swapping thread and filling bobbins than if I had just hand stitched it instead.

Tippman maddening, nah, try a big ol machine with a clutch drive. I now know the clutch is the worst idea ever for a stitcher.

 

[ausher]

What is the stitching prong for and or do?

 

[harronek]

I am a beginning leatherworker and I was wondering how you guys do your stitching. As of now I have only made a total of three sheaths, so I have limited tools. I am planning on getting a groover and a stitching marker in the future. My problem with stitching is that the back side of my sheath usually has a pretty bad stitching job, while the front side is nice and consistent. I use a two-prong awl like this one:

Here's what the stitching looks like on the front of my most recent sheath:

Now here's the back:

How do you guys get the back to look nice and consistent? And if I were to get a stitching marker, what kind of awl would you recommend?

This thread has wandered off track a fraction , so I'll throw my uneducated opinion in to straighten it back up
I applaud you for recognizing and admitting the back side of your sheath isn't up to your expectations and your want to improve .
I haven't been doing this long , but like you quickly realized the back of my sheaths were really detracting from an otherwise good thing .
I did two things .
I practiced on scraps and quite honestly you cant beat time and experience .
Secondly I realized that if I'm stitching through 4 or more layers of leather I'm not good enough to use an awl and still achieve really straight lines .
I now drill all my holes and cant see myself changing .
I you drill you must set yourself up perfectly so that the sheath is absolutely horizontal and not tilted . Make yourself a jig out of wood or leather that the sheath sits on in the correct position ( it takes a little time to get this right , and every sheath is different , but 20 minutes spent sorting this out is the difference between success and failure ).
While drilling I don't turn the sheath around and change its position on the drill press , I start at the furthermost hole and work my way towards myself trying to move the sheath as little as possible .
I personally use a stitch groover on both the front and back . The back groove is done after the holes are drilled .
Also something else I've really been trying to get right is starting and finishing the stitching in the right place . I spend time lightly marking out my stitching to make sure it will finish on a full evenly spaced stitch . Sometimes you see where people have run out of room and either have to stop early or finish on a shorter stitch . It looks horrible to my eye and early on I made that mistake a few times . Again spend an extra 10 minutes marking it out before committing yourself . Its small things like that , when combined add up to a huge quality improvement to the overall sheath .
The sheath you made looks really good , if each one you make is fractionally better then soon you will be a master

Ken

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Suuuuure, here's comes Ken to get things back on track. Boo!



One thing that I found to be good advice (something I'll pay closer attention to) was out of the Art of Hand Stitching, by Al Stohlman. I'd been kinda eyeballing where I set my groover. He says (said) that a good rule of thumb is to groove at the same thickness as the total of what you are stitching through. So if your project is .250" thick, then groove your channel .250" in from the edge.

Yup, small details.

 

[harronek]

So how far in from the edge should I have stitched this one

Just kidding , that's not a bad rule and guide and is something I will more thought to , but as we all know rules are there to be broken .



Ken

 

[jmflem]

This thread has wandered off track a fraction , so I'll throw my uneducated opinion in to straighten it back up
I applaud you for recognizing and admitting the back side of your sheath isn't up to your expectations and your want to improve .
I haven't been doing this long , but like you quickly realized the back of my sheaths were really detracting from an otherwise good thing .
I did two things .
I practiced on scraps and quite honestly you cant beat time and experience .
Secondly I realized that if I'm stitching through 4 or more layers of leather I'm not good enough to use an awl and still achieve really straight lines .
I now drill all my holes and cant see myself changing .
I you drill you must set yourself up perfectly so that the sheath is absolutely horizontal and not tilted . Make yourself a jig out of wood or leather that the sheath sits on in the correct position ( it takes a little time to get this right , and every sheath is different , but 20 minutes spent sorting this out is the difference between success and failure ).
While drilling I don't turn the sheath around and change its position on the drill press , I start at the furthermost hole and work my way towards myself trying to move the sheath as little as possible .
I personally use a stitch groover on both the front and back . The back groove is done after the holes are drilled .
Also something else I've really been trying to get right is starting and finishing the stitching in the right place . I spend time lightly marking out my stitching to make sure it will finish on a full evenly spaced stitch . Sometimes you see where people have run out of room and either have to stop early or finish on a shorter stitch . It looks horrible to my eye and early on I made that mistake a few times . Again spend an extra 10 minutes marking it out before committing yourself . Its small things like that , when combined add up to a huge quality improvement to the overall sheath .
The sheath you made looks really good , if each one you make is fractionally better then soon you will be a master

Ken

Thanks for the advice! I'd definitely want to try drilling instead of using an awl, but I don't have a drill press .

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Good point Ken.

Even if I didn't use my little drill press for knives, I'd still want one for the sheaths and the other million things I use it for.

A little Harbor Freight press has gotta be under a bill, no? Definitely worth the price of admission.