Personally, I have tried most methods myself and have come down to the bare-est of tools necessary to get the job done. No more jigs to hold the line, no more special needles, no more sato crimps, no more latch needles.
The tools that I need is a sharp razor, a nail file, single strand wire puller and some cheap plastic coffee stirrers. I do splurge and own a Owner spectra scissors but that is not absolutely necessary but nice to have. The tools sans scissors cost less than two dollars.... that's all you need to invest in tools.
Here is the link on how to do it.
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Oh.... I still have the old tools and I still use them to make top shots. This method just seems too easy to do. I can't seem to make the link work but just click onto tackle tutorials and the nail knot tutorial.