drill my sewing holes?

[TrooperChuck]

On page 95 of his book, Saddle Maker's Shop Manual, Harry Adams Jr. says this about drilled holes:

"Drilled holes are used only by the motivationally challenged, the uninformed, and the ignorant."

When I was first learning about leather work I experimented with using a drill, but I was never satisfied. Not only do drills remove leather, they remove it REALLY fast! Usually too fast to correct a misplaced hole.

An awl pushes the leather aside, so it closes up around the thread, AND if I see my awl is not coming out where I wanted it, I can back out and reposition it without leaving a big ugly hole.

[MADMAX22]

Pardon me but doesnt an awl cut the leather. The only thing that pushes the leather out of the way is a round pointed like a scratch awl. A stitching awl is sharpened on its edges so its like a four bladed knife allmost. This still cuts a hole in the leather however you do it in a fasion so that the hole is slit at a angle and when the thread is drawn thru you are (if the correct size awl is used) filling this slit with the thread. The leather doesnt really close back up.

Now is removing a small amount of leather completely or just cutting it make any difference in structeral ability I am not sure but I am thinking if you drill the proper size holes that it wont effect it any more then cutting the same size hole. In theory a round hole would be less prone to tearing then a slit like say from a awl but awls have been used for some time and the things seem to hold pretty darn good so.

[tonyc1]

With a drill you're actually removing a small amount of material whereas with an awl you wont.

[MADMAX22]

With a drill you're actually removing a small amount of material whereas with an awl you wont.

Understood thats not in debate. However Im wondering if just because you remove a small amount or cut it which one effects it more. If you cut a small hole even if you push those fibers aside they are still not attached to anything so what good are they doing.

Im a more scientific person so sometimes things like this I like having a reason or some proof OTHER then someone saying that it is this way just because he was taught that way by someone else who was taught that way. In most cases the handed down method works the best however sometimes we have a more modern way of doing something that could work as well if not better. Not allways the case but sometimes.

[Rawhide]

Understood thats not in debate. However Im wondering if just because you remove a small amount or cut it which one effects it more. If you cut a small hole even if you push those fibers aside they are still not attached to anything so what good are they doing.

Im a more scientific person so sometimes things like this I like having a reason or some proof OTHER then someone saying that it is this way just because he was taught that way by someone else who was taught that way. In most cases the handed down method works the best however sometimes we have a more modern way of doing something that could work as well if not better. Not allways the case but sometimes.

A point of clarification. A scratch awl is not the same as a diamond awl. The scratch all is completely round and tapers to a point. The diamond awl is specifically for stitching. The awl pushes the material to the side and it will close some, not completely, but it will close....which is one reason the 'proper' technique is to pierce & stitch one hole at a time. the strength of the different holes has been debated to death, however my argument would not be the hole itself, but where it ends up on the back of the project. I can't control a drill like I can an awl. I tried the drill, but found that my holes were all over the place on the back side and my stitches looked like connect the dots. In this case, for me at least, the old fashioned method works best, hands down. I don't even use a four prong punch anymore on thin leather.

[bruce johnson]

Another mechanical thing to consider is that drilling will scorch or at least heat the holes up enough to harden the edges of the holes. Those hard corners will fray thread as you pull them through. You can avoid this to some degree by drilling slow, and allowing the bit to cool between holes, but still happens. Also the drill holes have to be large enough to allow the passage of the needle, and like has been already pointed out, won't close back up to any degree. There won't be as much binding on the threads to help keep them in place or to keep grunge from collecting in the larger holes and degrading thread faster. The awl holes will allow passage of a needle and then the next stitch if properly placed at an angle will help to close the slit up due to pressure from the flat side of the blade opening up and then the thread in the next hole.

All this said it still comes down to technique. Some guys can drill small holes, use smaller needles and make thinner waxed ends and look alright. It looks better than the guy who shoves a larger awl to the hilt and makes a hole you could throw the needle through with a doubled up loop of binder twine.

[TrooperChuck]

Bruce:

Are you saying I WASN'T supposed to recycle all my used hay baling twine???? Dang! Now I guess I gotta go buy some real thread....

LOL Your analogy about needles and binder twine was great.

[ClayB]

A stitching awl is sharpened on its edges so its like a four bladed knife allmost.

Verlane DesGrange used to teach a lot about hand stitching. In one of her files on awls, she showed how an awl is supposed to be sharpened. Only two of the edges are sharp and actually cut the leather, the other two edges just push the leather out of the way so that a needle and thread can be pushed through the hole.

(if Johanna reads this, and says it's ok, I'll attach Verlane's pdf file on awls here)

[MADMAX22]

A point of clarification. A scratch awl is not the same as a diamond awl. The scratch all is completely round and tapers to a point. The diamond awl is specifically for stitching. The awl pushes the material to the side and it will close some, not completely, but it will close....which is one reason the 'proper' technique is to pierce & stitch one hole at a time. the strength of the different holes has been debated to death, however my argument would not be the hole itself, but where it ends up on the back of the project. I can't control a drill like I can an awl. I tried the drill, but found that my holes were all over the place on the back side and my stitches looked like connect the dots. In this case, for me at least, the old fashioned method works best, hands down. I don't even use a four prong punch anymore on thin leather.

True, sorry I wasnt sure if I described it properly but was just trying to use it as a example.

Another mechanical thing to consider is that drilling will scorch or at least heat the holes up enough to harden the edges of the holes. Those hard corners will fray thread as you pull them through. You can avoid this to some degree by drilling slow, and allowing the bit to cool between holes, but still happens. Also the drill holes have to be large enough to allow the passage of the needle, and like has been already pointed out, won't close back up to any degree. There won't be as much binding on the threads to help keep them in place or to keep grunge from collecting in the larger holes and degrading thread faster. The awl holes will allow passage of a needle and then the next stitch if properly placed at an angle will help to close the slit up due to pressure from the flat side of the blade opening up and then the thread in the next hole.

All this said it still comes down to technique. Some guys can drill small holes, use smaller needles and make thinner waxed ends and look alright. It looks better than the guy who shoves a larger awl to the hilt and makes a hole you could throw the needle through with a doubled up loop of binder twine.

That makes alot of sense on how you described issues that could happen with the drill. Thanks for your input.

I would like to add that I have tried both and I use the awl method or traditional method. I usually get really good results. I have however used the drill method when I was sewing a multi layered project and I must say using a 5/64" drill gave me a very nice looking stitch just not the same style as the awl does. Ill still use the awl for 98% of my projects. I just like to figure out more I guess on somethings.

[D.A. Kabatoff]

Anyone who doubts the memory of leather to close up around the thread needs to try and sew a cantle binding or three layers of 15oz leather (two to represent the seat and cantle back and one to represent the two layers of the cantle binding). If you try and make five or six holes with your awl and sew through them, by the time you get to the third or fourth hole you will need pliers to pull your needle through. This happens in a matter of seconds and is why proper handsewing requires making one hole at a time. It is pretty much guaranteed that you could drill a hundred holes in leather and not have to use pliers once! As Bruce mentioned, this will allow dirt to accumulate in the holes around the thread and will eventually erode your thread. On top of that, there is nothing prettier and more professional looking than finely handstitched leather.

Darc