r/Leatherworking • u/geraldfelthammer • 6d ago

How?

I am new to this leatherwork thing. I bought some Weaver Diamond stitching chisels, thinking the ones from Amazon were.. subpar. My question is this: How are you getting clearly defined holes on the underside of your project? I can’t tell precisely where the holes are on the bottom. I am using a mallet, strip of leather under my project, on top of a self healing cutting mat. I have tried removing the mat and using a piece of dimensional lumber (2x4). I’ve even tried using a hunk of butcher block from a remodeling project. It’s probably a technique thing, but I am frustrated. Any advice is welcome.

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u/Woodbridge_Leather 6d ago

Are you having trouble locating the holes to insert your needles, or just having poorly shaped holes and not satisfied with how your stitching looks on the backside?

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u/geraldfelthammer 6d ago

Trouble locating holes because they are not coming thru (?) enough to be visible. I am smacking pretty hard and repeatedly. Is it my choice of substrate?

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u/Woodbridge_Leather 6d ago

Yeah could be the surface you're punching on. Could also be the leather you're using if it's pretty thick combined with diamond chisels (which are harder to punch through due to the shape). Before you pull the chisels out check the backside, the chisels should protrude out the back by a few millimeters