Stitching Chisel

A stitching chisel looks a lot like a pricking iron — a row of prongs on a flat head, struck with a mallet — but it's built to punch all the way through the leather in a single hit rather than just leaving a surface mark. That means a stitching chisel skips the follow-up awl step entirely: strike it, move to the next position, strike again, and the holes are ready to sew as soon as the row is finished.

This makes chisels faster and more forgiving for beginners, since there's one fewer skill to get right (striking straight and true matters, but you don't also need consistent awl angle on every hole). The tradeoff is a bit less control over the final hole shape compared to the mark-then-pierce approach with a pricking iron, and chisels can struggle to punch cleanly through very thick or hard leather in one hit.

How to use it

1. Mark your stitching line the same way you would for a pricking iron — with a wing divider, edge creaser, or groover.
2. Set the chisel vertically on the line and strike firmly with a mallet, aiming for one solid hit rather than several light taps, which tend to widen holes instead of cleanly punching them.
3. When continuing a row, drop the last prong of the chisel into the last hole of the previous strike before hitting the next set, to keep spacing consistent.
4. Use a scrap of leather or a cutting board underneath to protect your work surface and to help the chisel punch cleanly through.

Care

Like pricking irons, the prongs are fine steel and can chip if struck off-angle or onto a hard surface. Keep strikes square and use a proper cutting board or poundo board underneath. Sharpen carefully with fine stones or have the tool professionally sharpened; badly sharpened prongs tear leather instead of piercing it cleanly.