Japanese stitching awls

[ScottEnglish]

Hi.

Are the Japanese stitching awls made by Kyoshin Elle and Seiwa sharp enough to use as sold?

Thanks.

Scott

[billybopp]

2 hours ago, ScottEnglish said:

Hi.

Are the Japanese stitching awls made by Kyoshin Elle and Seiwa sharp enough to use as sold?

Thanks.

Scott

I have Seiwa, have yet to try Kyoshin.  They arrive sharp enough to be usable, but barely.  A little touch-up and polishing will do them a world of good.

- Bill

[ScottEnglish]

Thank you Bill. Maybe the Kyoshin Elle ones are sharper.

[ScottEnglish]

I bought two Kyoshin Elle stitching awls. I like the small, bare wood handles. The awls are more finished than the saddler's harness awls made by George Barnsley. However, they are still not adequately finished and the arrises are rounded over. Lesson learned. I will have to master sharpening fiddly awls!

[zuludog]

It is fairly straightforward, and therefore cheap, to make leatherworking tools with a basic finish, but to make very sharp tools with a better standard of polish & finish requires more & more work, usually by hand, & skill, which all adds to the price, and you run into The Law of Diminishing Returns.

So most tools such as edge bevellers, awls & skiving knives are sold on the understanding that the customer must do their own final sharpening, which keeps the cost down

It is only custom made awls costing £50 to £100 each that you can use straight out of the box

I haven't used Barnsley's awls, but I have several others, by Tandy, John James, and Osborne. They all needed sharpening, though my favourite, an Osborne, didn't need much, only about half an hour's work, compared to 2 or 3 hours for some of the others

I also realised that I got the best results, both in terms of penetrating the leather and neatness of stitch, by using a narrow awl blade. My Osborne blade is a #42 or #43 (can't remember) that is < 2mm wide, compared to up to 3 or 3,5mm for some of the others. I got it from -

https://www.metropolitanleather.com  saddler's harness awl blade #42 or #43

Fitting an awl blade into a handle by knocking it in or drilling & gluing with epoxy is fiddly. If I was buying in the future I would consider an awl & haft that were already mounted, or a haft with a chuck, such as Osborne Palm Awl Haft #142

Even if you bought an awl that was sharp enough you would still need to learn how to resharpen it, there are several YT videos on fitting & sharpening awls. This is good but there are others -

Awl you need to know // What to consider when buying a new awl + sharpening guide // Tool Time - YouTube

Edited January 5, 2023 by zuludog

[zuludog]

5 hours ago, ScottEnglish said:

I bought two Kyoshin Elle stitching awls. I like the small, bare wood handles. The awls are more finished than the saddler's harness awls made by George Barnsley. However, they are still not adequately finished and the arrises are rounded over. Lesson learned. I will have to master sharpening fiddly awls!

What's an arris, please? Do you mean the tip?

The tip or point of a saddler's/harness awl does not come to a sharp needle point, it is more like a very small slightly rounded chisel point. Watch a few sharpening videos and you will see that

Although very often awl blades are supplied with a pointed tip so that you can shape & sharpen it to suit yourself, which refers back to the idea of finishing the blade yourself. You can round off the pointed tip on a stone or by cutting off the end with pliers or side cutters, then doing the final shaping with a fine stone, or abrasive paper, and a strop

George Barnsley make good tools, I have a few of their knives, so I think it would be worth persevering with their awls before you buy anything else

I like the bulb/pear shaped awl haft more or less as it comes, but as they are usually made of wood, you could shape them to suit yourself, such as making them flatter on one or both sides

Oh, yes; I agree that sharpening an awl is fiddly! But it's all part of the fun!

Though you only usually need to do it once; after that awl blades stay sharp for a long time, perhaps with an occasional touch up on very fine abrasive paper and/or a strop

Edited January 5, 2023 by zuludog

[ScottEnglish]

Thanks for the posts zuludog. An arris is a sharp edge at the meeting of two surfaces at an angle with one another, as at two adjacent sides of a stone block. So says Collins.

 

[TomE]

On 1/5/2023 at 4:23 AM, ScottEnglish said:

I bought two Kyoshin Elle stitching awls. I like the small, bare wood handles. The awls are more finished than the saddler's harness awls made by George Barnsley. However, they are still not adequately finished and the arrises are rounded over. Lesson learned. I will have to master sharpening fiddly awls!

Sharpening and stropping an awl is a good excuse to have a cup of coffee (tea) and rest shoulders from pulling up stitches.  The Osborne awl hafts feel good in my hand.  I use the big peg awl haft with a new/thick awl blade for really heavy projects because it goes where I point it.