Awl Blade Size

[Chavez]

Hi!

Just a quick question:

I'm getting a good quality awl (Joseph Dixon)and I'm wondering what size of the blade to go for. Valerie Michael suggests 2 1/4" in her book but as I understand, the blade's width depends on its length (am I right btw?).

I've only been using tandy 4-in-one blade sanded to nearly half of its width so far and one of the problems was that the blade would cut the leather outside the groove. I'm trying to improve my stitching quality, so I would really prefer the blade cut to stay within the groove.

I've got a standard craftool groover.

PS For those of you who own a Dixon pricking iron, can you please tell me if its marks fit within the craftool groove? I'm getting a No 7.

Thank you!

[katsass]

Hi!

Just a quick question:

I'm getting a good quality awl (Joseph Dixon)and I'm wondering what size of the blade to go for. Valerie Michael suggests 2 1/4" in her book but as I understand, the blade's width depends on its length (am I right btw?).

I've only been using tandy 4-in-one blade sanded to nearly half of its width so far and one of the problems was that the blade would cut the leather outside the groove. I'm trying to improve my stitching quality, so I would really prefer the blade cut to stay within the groove.

I've got a standard craftool groover.

PS For those of you who own a Dixon pricking iron, can you please tell me if its marks fit within the craftool groove? I'm getting a No 7.

Thank you!

From the old grump; I use an old Osborne awl with a blade of 1 1/2 long and about 1/8" wide.It fits well within the groove and works well for the #1 and #0 needles that I use. Mike

[TwinOaks]

I use the same Osborne as Katsass, but I also modified another one. I accidentally broke the blade, so instead of tossing it out, I just epoxied the rest of the blade back into the handle and filed/sanded it down to the proper dimensions for it's size. Now, it's my "bridle awl", with a blade length of 9/16ths inch and a width of about 3/32nds.