Stitching tool ?

Mark Barone

Mark Barone

Well-Known Member
Now that we are on the subject of stitching. I have a 4 prong pinging tool but it seems to create big holes. I want a more professional look but still want to punch. I have seen diamond hole punches. Or something like that. Do they cut out holes like my current one or make slits . Either way I don’t want to see spacey holes. What is that tool?
 
Mark - I have used a small drill bit and a dremel, and a drill press, a small round punch tool, an awl, and several other methods for stitching holes. This is by far the best method I have used. It is a cheap diamond hole chisel set from Tandy. It allows 3 different hole spacings 3/32, 1/8, and 5/32.

I prefer it because it gives me very consistent hole spacing. Also I can control the front to back hole slanting much better.

I have not made many sheaths with stitching lately but I threw in a couple of examples to see the stitches after completion.

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I've switched from punching to drilling with a 1/16" bit. It takes some working out to get a "perfect" stitch line, but I can't punch through the thickness without doing it in two or more steps. E5F38910-8A6A-43A8-9FC6-4CF0F3AA85DE.jpeg
 
Another option, that I used prior to purchasing a sewing machine.....

I'd use a #5 Star Wheel/Overstitch tool, to mark, and then I used a drill press with a bit slightly SMALLER then my needle diameters.

After drilling the holes, I then either "V" or "U" gouge them out, and saddle stitch the sheath. (Saddle stitching is using a needle on both ends of your thread).
I chose not to use the hole chisels just out of personal preference. The ones that I used were not long enough to pierce through 3 layers of 8-9oz, which was frustrating, and the round/drilled holes just looked better IMO when using waxed artificial sinew (which is what I chose to use for thread)

There's a lot of options, and I think your choices will depend on what fits you best..... things like leather types and thicknesses, all the way through the order you do things in.
 
I glue the sides together with the welt and sand the edges even. Then I use my grooving tool to make a stitching grove on both sides and lay out my stitching pattern with a stitching wheel. I then chuck up a curtain needle in my drill stand and use that needle to pre-punch the needle holes. I don't even run the drill: I just use the handles on the drill to push the needle through. To make sure that the needle goes straight through I made a jig out of some thin wood just big enough to clamp to the drill press table. It has a hole near the edge as close as I can get it so I can get the edge of the leather flat and, for when I am dealing with flat leather I have a hole in the center of the board. You really don't need to make the holes in the board large.

If I do happen to get a hole that isn't straight with the grooves I get a leather tooling spoon and rum the hole out and use an awl to adjust it. Then it's upstairs to the couch, clamp the work into my stitching pony and watch something mindless on the TV as I saddle stitch the sheath together. Just a hint, make sure that you've sewn the belt loop on before sewing the sheath shut. I've never done it but I understand others have. :rolleyes:

Doug
 
Doug Lester said:
I then chuck up a curtain needle in my drill stand and use that needle to pre-punch the needle holes.
Click to expand...
I have done something similar where I have used a spinning finish nail in the drill press that I have ground the head off of and tapered. Seems to separate the fibers rather than removing material like a drill bit and doesn't leave tearout on the back side.
 
And now it's worth mentioning that I do some variation of some of steps that every person that's responded here does. That has been the most frustrating part of learning to make even acceptable sheaths, much less nice ones. I think a lot of it comes down to how you use the tools you have, and what process suits the way you feel the best about doing it.

Except stitching the belt loop over. Everyone needs to do that before the sheath gets closed up.
 
I'm probably a gluten for punishment, but I punch the top layer to give me my starter hole, then drill the rest of the way through. This is after gluing, sanding the layers even, and putting a stitching groove on the top side. I tried using a stitching wheel, but found I like having the initial hole as a guide. After drilling through, I'll put a stitching groove on the back by tracing the hole pattern. That's just my way. I found that I can't reliably put a stitching groove on the back, then actually hit that line by either drilling or punching. If I have a little goof grooving the hole line, at least it's on the back, and I try to clean it up the best I can. Oh, I use the stitching wheel on my stitches at the end. Lays the thread down and gives a good look. Make sure your stitching wheel matches your fork pattern (learned this the hard way first time).
 
EdCaffreyMS said:
Another option, that I used prior to purchasing a sewing machine.....

I'd use a #5 Star Wheel/Overstitch tool, to mark, and then I used a drill press with a bit slightly SMALLER then my needle diameters.

After drilling the holes, I then either "V" or "U" gouge them out, and saddle stitch the sheath. (Saddle stitching is using a needle on both ends of your thread).
I chose not to use the hole chisels just out of personal preference. The ones that I used were not long enough to pierce through 3 layers of 8-9oz, which was frustrating, and the round/drilled holes just looked better IMO when using waxed artificial sinew (which is what I chose to use for thread)

There's a lot of options, and I think your choices will depend on what fits you best..... things like leather types and thicknesses, all the way through the order you do things in.
Click to expand...
yes I’m going to try some or all suggestions. I won’t be making many knives I. The next month or so, so I want to practice my sheath making skills.
 
Pretty much sums up my process, described in various ways above. One difference though. I use a stitch groover on the front side of my sheath, and run the stitch wheel in that grove. Then I drill, instead of a drill bit I just got a piece of drill rod and sharpened it to a point. This tends to burnish the hole, makes it easier to pull through the thread. After I do that, I connect the dots on the back with a v-gouge, and then run the stitch groover over that. For good measure I run my bit back through the back side, to make the holes nice and round.
 
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