Sup Gang,
I'm considering slot/french/european style punches in place for my current diamond japanese punches. The main reason I'm considering it is because with the diamond punches, the top stitch has a varied look depending on how thick the leather is. The best most angled stitching I get is from thicker leather, 3+mm. At or below that, the top-side for some reason just looks flat and sterile instead of nice and angled. The back side cast stitching always looks great however.
My primary money maker is weightlifting belts and accessories, but my wallets and smaller goods are getting more popular. I'm interested in the equivalent to my 4mm punch. I understand different irons are labelled differently, some measure from the end of one stitch to the beginning of the next, and others, like mine, are from the center of one stitch to the center of the next. I would love something like that so I can use my current existing templates.
My hesitation with purchasing slot punches has always been that I prefer heavier thread (MBT no. 1 w/4mm, and no. 0 w/5mm), and slots are thin and hard to shove the needle and thread through, which is just annoying. Does anyone know of slots large enough to get this thread through with relative ease?
I'm looking at WUTA and Kevin Lee as my main options but dont know if they'll handle the thread. Do I need a new awl as well?
A lot of questions I know, but thanks to anyone in advance willing to drop me their 2 cents!
Update: Kevin Lee irons are incredible and im super happy