What’s the point?
Needles. We all use them, but I have to confess to having not the slightest clue about them. The thread fits, usually. They’re pointy and long and stiff enough to make their way through the awl hole. So that’s it right? Wrong. I‘ve got John James mostly plus a bunch of Chinese ones thrown in free with the odd (crap) tool I’ve bought. Can anyone shine any light on this? Is ignorance bliss? What am I missing here?
Cheers 👍🏿
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The main difference is that needles designed for leather work, at least when creating holes with pricking irons/awl/stitching chisels. Is that the needles have a rounded end, this minimizes the risk of your needle piercing your thread inside the hole it's going through.
That being said there are also needles for other types of leather work such as upholstery and glove making where the needles are sharp. In most cases in such work there is no other tool "pre-making" holes for the needle and thread to pass through.
John James is probably the most well known and popular maker of needles for leather work and they offer a couple of sizes. In addition they also make a myriad of other needles for other types of leather/textile related crafts. John James usually covers most sizes of thread but there is another company which produces good quality needles which makes a size even smaller than JJ's smallest one. System S+U needles.
Hope that helps!