BunglerDownUnder

It's apparent that acrylic is the default recommended paint. I'm quite familiar with the properties of all kinds of paint so I can see why, but are there any reasons other than what I might guess against oils? The biggest, I'm assuming, is the drying time. Possibly followed by cost, then perhaps cracking if it's thick (though I imagine acrylic wouldn't be much better if you slapped on that much). I do wonder about the surface preparation, but eh. Everyone's meant to test dye or paint on scraps first. So, anyone ever tried artist oils on leather?

Thanks everyone! It is almost scarily pointy—if I ever drop it I hope my foot isn't in the way, because if it's blade down I'll be a shish-kabob. The side edges are sharp enough they might cut into rather than stretch the leather, which is why I asked about rounding. Still haven't used it yet though, and it probably won't make much of a difference on the thinner stuff I'm using at the moment anyway. Pretty sure it's chrome tan, and the rebound on any piercing that's not enormous is very high.

Here is the repaired awl! It may not be 100% perfect but it’s far better than it was. I ground the blade on my diamond stone to get all the faces perfectly flat and hopefully even. It’s certainly very sharp. Relating to that, should it be? I saw another thread about diamond awls that said only the French kind were sharp. I also noticed that many other awls were only diamond-shaped near the point, then become much more rounded. At the moment I would only be using this awl to make holes in relatively thin chrome tan leather. Dunno the ounce definition but most I’d say is between garment and upholstery thickness.

Ahh, that’s a bit of an optical illusion from my dodgy polishing. I was grinding the faces on my diamond stone and sort of gave up before they were all perfectly flat. There’s a veeeery shallow mitre from the perfectly flat middle to the side edge. I’m going to have another go at it before epoxy glueing, it’s just a very fiddly piece. Re the end being from a lathe, seems obvious in retrospect. I’m just used to handles where it’s been smoothed off. Interestingly though, the handle is definitely not perfectly circular. Don’t know if the subtle oval-ness is wear, deliberate shaping, or mysterious wood morphing over time.

The blade, if that’s what the pointy metal diamond part of the awl is called, seems pretty straight to me. I.e the tip lines up with the middle of the bottom. There may be some slight asymmetry in the curves but I don’t think it’s enough to make a difference during use. This would explain a lot, actually. The top of the handle has a bit of a recess at the centre and a small hole about 5mm deep and I just couldn’t understand the point of it on an awl. Could have been a sort of logo pin fake tang originally, perhaps? Attached a photo, bit dodgy looking because I decided to sand it back a bit. Normally I like patina but there was an almost hard line of grime around the “waist” or whatever you call it. Couldn’t get it out without going in hard so now I’m forced to do the whole thing This is the advice I was looking for, I wasn’t sure if it being off centre served some sort of purpose I couldn’t fathom. Any tips on what to use to gouge it out? I don’t have any chisels. Do have a wide assortment of craft blades and a Dremel.

Thanks Chuck, I suspected epoxy would be the go-to. I’m not a woodworker so probably shouldn’t attempt the other method. Still would like to know more about why the shaft is at that angle

Hi all, I’ve got this awl (pun stubbornly intended). Picked up fairly cheap from something between a junk and antiques shop. I ground and polished the tarnish away on my sharpening stone if you’re wondering why it looks a bit strange. As you can see from the photos about 1/4 of the wood intended to hold the shaft (right term?) is gone. So the obvious question I have is what is the best way that doesn’t involve replacing the whole handle to secure the shaft and collar? Related to that, what’s with the angle of the shaft? I’ve tried it all four ways, and obviously due to the diamond shape it only fits in two, but it’s never centred. I don’t think this has to do with the bit that’s broken off, because to be centred there would have to be less material on the side that’s still there. In fact that’s probably why there’s that bit missing, because it would have been a fairly thin wedge. Is there some reason this awl is asymmetrically angled? And if so, which way is it meant to be held? I’ve got no idea what’s stamped on the shaft, it’s very worn. I’d be interested if anyone recognises it.