Stitching Awl? Or Torture Stick?

[dirtclod]

Jim using a spoke to make a blade is great ideal ! I want to try that along with making a edger out of a hay rake tooth.

[FiftySix]

I bought a new awl from Tandy (against my better judgement). The new tool has replaceable "blades" and comes with four different ones in the package. While it certainly doesn't go through the leather "like butter", it DOES go through. So it would appear my first awl was simply awl-ful to begin with...

Thanks for the help guys!

[TwinOaks]

56, I hope your planning on lacing with that awl, because that's what it's sized for. The awl blade is way too large for standard stitching. I don't know if a standard awl blade will fit in the haft, but you might get lucky.

[Hilly]

Most of the time "you get what you pay for" rings true.

I've had trouble with the Osborne awls, as well. First off, they do not come sharp from the box. You need to tune them up, and keep them stropped. Also, a quick jab into a cake of beeswax before a stitch helps. If all else fails, get yourself an awl from Robert Douglas tools. They are quite pricey, but they are very good tools. If you break a blade, you can just get a new blade, in stead of the whole awl. You can also use others' blades in the Douglas haft. They are super nice people, and easy to work with. Here's their phone number, as they don't have a website:

Douglas tools

(307) 737-2222

[longlivealfred]

i haven't been stitching too long but i have to agree with hilly about getting what you pay for.

i started off with a Osborne awl which wasn't upto much. i then bought some jo dixon awl blades (being British and wanting to buy local-ish) which needed a fair bit of work to get the profile into a decent shape. I then bought a vergez blanchard awl, a 38mm and its easily light-years better than the two other awls ive used.

Whilst i think you should try support the decent tool makers close to home, if you're ever buying from the blanchard factory i think its worth a punt.

good luck with the stitching, bye

Edited June 9, 2010 by longlivealfred

[woodandsteel]

I had the same luck with a similar awl from Tandy. The blade pulled out of the handle the first time I used it. I glued it back in and sharpened the tip. The next time I used it the blade snapped off at the handle.

[hivemind]

I've been using a 50 year old icepick that I sharpened up for an awl for a while now. Seems to work for me. I also do my stitching (what little I do) on a piece of 2" blue foam insulation board. If something gives me a hard time, I can just slam the butt of the awl with the palm of my hand and it drives right through and into the insulation.

[chouinardragon]

Hello,

Do you know where can I get the Blanchard's awl except it's website?

i haven't been stitching too long but i have to agree with hilly about getting what you pay for.

i started off with a Osborne awl which wasn't upto much. i then bought some jo dixon awl blades (being British and wanting to buy local-ish) which needed a fair bit of work to get the profile into a decent shape. I then bought a vergez blanchard awl, a 38mm and its easily light-years better than the two other awls ive used.

Whilst i think you should try support the decent tool makers close to home, if you're ever buying from the blanchard factory i think its worth a punt.

good luck with the stitching, bye

[levinus]

rmleather.com (rocky mountain leather) sells Vergez Blanchard awls and hafts!!

On 6/28/2011 at 9:52 PM, chouinardragon said:

 

Hello,

Do you know where can I get the Blanchard's awl except it's website?

 

 

[Boriqua]

Its really to bad what has become of tandy Tools. I have a couple of awl blades that are favorites of mine that I got maybe 15/20 years ago from tandy and gets used 3-4 times a week and they are just wonderful. I bought some awl blades from them a couple of months ago just to have some as back up and they were awful. I brought them back and I am not one for going back to a store for a few bucks. Nothing I have gotten from them that was supposed to have an edge has one. I am usually unsatisfied with a factory edge on most things regardless of manufacturer so I am OK with sharpening and sharpen everything I get before using it but it has to be a good enough quality steel to make it worth the effort.

Having said that ... You would do yourself a service by checking out this vid by leathertoolz. I  posted it once before because the reprofile of the tip he demonstrates and the sharpening technique really really made my awls a pleasure to use. Now I just strop them before each use and haven't reshaprened them in ages and I use it on two layers of glued  8/9 oz leather consistently.

Below is part 1 of 2. You can just fast forward to the meaty parts. I now have only one Vergez Blanchard with a pointy tip for delicate work and use almost exclusively my old re profiled tandy. Holds an edge like no ones business. I like the Seiwa awl blades too but I find they need touch up more often. were my two old tandy awls burn in a fire I would probably get another Blanchard and reprofile the tip. They are a good hard steel

 

Edited January 5, 2017 by Boriqua