Hello Leathercraft Community,
I am venturing into the use of Fil Au Chinois Thread. I have used it without waxing and experienced some twisting and knotting throughout. I have waxed it and used it and that was ok. I have heated the wax into the thread using a heat gun, that was different, the thread became a bit more stiff and any knotting that happened were bigger.
What is the recommended wax to use? The Bees Wax I have is relatively hard, not as hard a columbus wax, but not a lot softer. I use it alot for waxing my stitching chisels and it is great for that.
I have mostly used ritza tiger thread, is this the way the linen is or is there something that can be done to help reduce the knotting while stitching?
The attached image is some of what I have done. Leather is Korba Calf 2-2.5 (mango) oz plus 3-3.5 oz Brown, Thread is 632 Au Chinois. Stiching is 3.38 (pricking iron and awl), and 3.85 stitching chisel.
Thank you for your input!
I have found that Fil au Chinois thread is less consistent along any length compared to many other common threads used today. Perhaps that it some of its charm. I share the counsel to make sure that you are doing the best you can to remove the twist in the thread. That's the biggest help to mitigate knotting. One other thing I like to do is to run the thread through some paraffin wax after the bees wax. I have found this to help a little to make the thread pass through the stitching holes a little easier...which can also help decrease knotting. I think that might be rather anecdotal, but give it a try and see if it helps you.
I always just pull my threads through a block of beeswax and have good results. If you pull the thread through a bit quickly, it should generate enought friction heat to put into the thread.
The knotting can be frustrating, but in a some of Phil's Youtube videos he gives some insight in how to prevent this (insight that has made all the difference for me). The knotting is caused by the threads being twisted. Let your threads hang from the work piece (to either side of a stitching pony for example), and allow the needles to spin. It may require you to gently pull your fingers down the thread to encourage them to spin. Once you are sure there is no twist in the thread, continue stitching. You may have to do this periodically.
To check for twist in the thread, there is a technique: Bring both needles close to the work piece, and watch the hanging thread. If you notice that the hanging thread starts to turn around on itself at all, then you will need to drop the needles and untwist the thread. Properly waxing the thread may also stiffen the thread enough to help prevent some of the twisting, but not completely. Like I said before, I have good success with just a block of beeswax. Typically, all I find that I need is to quickly pull the entire thread through beeswax (so that the thread cuts into the block) a couple times - once in each direction.
Hope this helps!