Stitching Awl? Or Torture Stick?

[FiftySix]

Well, they say the only stupid question is the one you don't ask - so here goes nothing!

Being brand spanking new to this hobby I hit the local Tandy Leather Supply for hide and a few tools. Now the goal is to make a holster, so I picked up books, patterns, leather, straps, dye and assorted tools - all of which I have no idea how to use. Sounds like a recipe for disaster huh?

At any rate, I actually had a good time creating a pattern to fit my pistol and I've got the hide for the first one cut out. I'm now ready to try a tool or two and here's where I hit a snag. The Stitching Awl "recommended" to me by the staff at Tandy is their 1 & 1/4 in blade unit that doesn't appear to have interchangable blades. So I go to stick a pratice piece of leather with the tool and it might as well have been a rock, cause the blade folded over like a cheap pocket knife first try out. So now I've got a 90 degree blade tool I don't think they even offer and I'm thinking the darn thing isn't even heavy enough to make a decent paper weight.

So I "reshape" the blade and get it back to something akin to straight and attempt to figure out what I did wrong. In looking at the tool it becomes painfully obvious that the red plastic cover for the blade is only there for looks - cause there is no edge on the blade that I can see. Matter of fact I'm pretty sure this tool - as delivered - would be safe to run up and down the stairs with. In other words - it ain't gonna punch nothin'. I now realize the "tool" isn't ready to use out of the package, so I'm off to Home Depot for a sharpening stone.

With sharpening stone in hand I attempt to put an edge on the blade and then repeat the "punch" process, only to find the blade still will not go all the way through without extreme effort. The leather is 7/8 oz and I'm only trying to get through one layer of a test scrap. But I still can not get the awl blade through the leather without using extreme pressure. It "starts" the punch but then hangs before exiting the other side.

My guess here is that the blade still isn't sharp enough, but I polished the blade for quite some time and while I'd hesitate to do open heart surgery with the tool it "ought" to go through one layer of leather. So what am I doing wrong?

[WyomingSlick]

I went to the Tandy internet pages to try to see what your stitching awl is like. I did not see any thing there that fits your description of an 1 1/4" blade. I hope they didn't sell you a fid to use for stabbing holes with.

Every awl blade I've ever bought was pretty much ready to go already. I only needed to resharpen them after much use.

Here's a picof a couple stabbing awls with a fid above them for comparison. Notice the diamond shaped holes (2 sizes) that the blades produces.

Did you get Al Stohlman's book on hand sewing leather. Like any of Al Stohlman's, books, it is worth way more than the cover price.

[FiftySix]

This is the one I purchased...

Tandy 1 & 1/4 Blade Stitching Awl

Yours look MUCH more solid than mine.

[JLSleather]

56 ... you had the right idea, ... it wasn't something YOU did wrong - they sold you some junk. Quite the trend these days, actually. I prefer to go to the store and SEE what I'm getting. 25 years ago I got everything through the mail. Can't do that any more.

In the end, lots of suppliers these days trying to rest on a "warranty". If I got something sub-par from you once and you fixed the problem, fine. If I got crap from you more than that, I figure there's another place down the road that will have what I wanted. That's a nice story suppliers tell you about how you can return it if you're not happy, but I'd rather just buy from the guy who sends me stuff I don't need to return.

From your post, I'm guessing you're a bit like me ... I want to get a fair price for a fair product. I don't care what your "reputation" is (I can buy a bunch of "fancy" ads, too). BP is a "trusted" supplier with years of "service".

An awl blade should NOT bend. They're supposed to be tempered steel ... as in heat treated to resist wear - and tempered to relieve forming stress and resist breaking.

[FiftySix]

An awl blade should NOT bend. They're supposed to be tempered steel ... as in heat treated to resist wear - and tempered to relieve forming stress and resist breaking.

I take it I should NOT have been able to bend the blade back to "straight" again either...

And yes, I much prefer to spend my money once. In looking at other Awl threads it appears CS Osborne, Bob Douglas, and Peter Main are 3 of the top brands. I can find Osborne in several places, but it appears the other two are special order only. Will I regret going the "easy" route and picking up an Osborne at Tandy?

[JLSleather]

I take it I should NOT have been able to bend the blade back to "straight" again either...

Well, I really DO like to see 'em, but I've got some Osborne tools that work pretty well. Awls specifically, I ordered from 3 different places (one the Tandy down the road) and got CRAP that wouldn't cut anything. In the end, I had to GO to the store, bought a side of 6/7 oz cow, told the kid to show me the awls, and STABBED the hide which was already mine.

I'm an obnoxious jerk (ask my wife), so when the kid's mouth fell open I explained to him that I spent $4,000 since buying those crap awls and blades, and the guys that sold them to me didn't get any of that money. Had they not produced an awl that GLIDES through 6/7, I would have stopped shopping there also. To be fair, I would have tried a second one in case some shopper had "buggered" that first one. Modern trend (I think) is to send the "buggered" ones to the guy who orders by mail

[TwinOaks]

The Osborne awls are certainly not 'top shelf', but I've had good luck with mine. One of them broke because of user error- it's worth getting one of the Poundo-pads, or some other soft surface to back your leather. I reprofiled the blade and turned it into a bridle awl. The other one is full sized (still) and will go through 3/4" leather and a finger tip with no qualms. It sounds like you may have one that wasn't hardened. Call it a QC problem. There's a thread around here somewhere that specifically addresses sharpening an awl, but here it is in a nutshell. The side edges of the blade shouldn't be all that sharp, only the point. You accomplish this by using a 'stabbing' motion on the sharpening stones. Be sure to turn the blade to maintain the diamond cross section. Then, strop, strop, strop. Your awl point should be 'scary sharp', to the degree that you will draw blood from a finger and wonder how it happened. Really. If I can't get more than halfway through a finger tip before it hurts, it's time to strop.

As to your specific problem- a non hardened awl blade, you have some options. Return it and hope the replacement is better, or fix it. To fix it, first have your blade profile where you want it. Don't try to sharpen it, just get the shape. Now, briefly heat the blade with a lighter to soften the epoxy/glue. Use a pair of pliers to remove the blade from the haft. Hold the blade with pliers by the butt and heat to beautiful cherry red. If you have a magnet handy, so much the better! You'll heat the blade to the point that it won't stick to the magnet. When you reach that point quench it in old motor oil, olive oil, vegetable oil, whatever oil you have handy. NOTE: DO THIS OUTSIDE OR YOUR WIFE WILL GET YOU!!!!!!!!!! The oil will catch fire when you put 900 degree steel in it....but should extinguish quickly. Take a file and run it across the edge lightly. If the file bites, the steel's still soft....get it hotter. If it just skates across without biting into the steel..... you have now hardened the steel. It will hold an edge very well and will snap in half at the first opportunity it has. When the blade is cool enough to handle (call it 15 minutes, but carefully check the temp) WASH the blade in warm soapy water to remove all the oil. Next, set a toaster oven to 400, and heat the blade for about 10 minutes and let it cool in the oven. Repeat. This tempers the steel and removes the brittleness. NOTE: If you bake the blade without removing the oil......YOUR WIFE WILL GET YOU! You should now be able to do the file check again with the same result of the file just skating across the steel.

Once you've fixed the steel, use an epoxy to re-insert the awl blade into the haft, and then follow the sharpening steps.

BIG IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER: EVEN WITH A PROPERLY HARDENED AND TEMPERED AWL, IF YOU SHOVE THE TIP INTO A HARD SURFACE ITS LIKELY TO BEND AT THE TIP. THIS WILL GIVE YOU A FLAT POINT THAT WON'T PENETRATE WET TOILET PAPER. If you happen to bend the tip, you can wear it down to a useable point again without having to redo the whole steel thing. I prefer a 'diamond' stone for blade profiling because it cuts quickly while still having a pretty fine grit to it. Always after sharpening, strop your blades. It polishes the steel and removes minor imperfections, resulting in a smoother puncture, or cut. Clean up and rack all the tools, and call it a good day of home remedies.

[Tkleather1]

Twin Oaks you crack me up. "If I can't get more than halfway through a finger tip before it hurts, it's time to strop."

I dont know a thing about hadn stitching really but I do know if your tools arent sharp things dont go the way they should. and that counts for everything from my head knives, swivel knives and my fillegree punches and chisels. and really everything in between.

Good luck

Tim

TK-Leather

[FiftySix]

TwinOaks - GREAT reply! Thank you!

And your right - my wife will kill me.

I believe I will "attempt" to take this one back (might even mention this thread) and order a better set of tools. For such a simple device it seems to me it should work without having to remanufacture it. Besides, I don't even own a toaster oven...

[jimsaddler]

Well, they say the only stupid question is the one you don't ask - so here goes nothing!

Being brand spanking new to this hobby I hit the local Tandy Leather Supply for hide and a few tools. Now the goal is to make a holster, so I picked up books, patterns, leather, straps, dye and assorted tools - all of which I have no idea how to use. Sounds like a recipe for disaster huh?

At any rate, I actually had a good time creating a pattern to fit my pistol and I've got the hide for the first one cut out. I'm now ready to try a tool or two and here's where I hit a snag. The Stitching Awl "recommended" to me by the staff at Tandy is their 1 & 1/4 in blade unit that doesn't appear to have interchangable blades. So I go to stick a pratice piece of leather with the tool and it might as well have been a rock, cause the blade folded over like a cheap pocket knife first try out. So now I've got a 90 degree blade tool I don't think they even offer and I'm thinking the darn thing isn't even heavy enough to make a decent paper weight.

So I "reshape" the blade and get it back to something akin to straight and attempt to figure out what I did wrong. In looking at the tool it becomes painfully obvious that the red plastic cover for the blade is only there for looks - cause there is no edge on the blade that I can see. Matter of fact I'm pretty sure this tool - as delivered - would be safe to run up and down the stairs with. In other words - it ain't gonna punch nothin'. I now realize the "tool" isn't ready to use out of the package, so I'm off to Home Depot for a sharpening stone.

With sharpening stone in hand I attempt to put an edge on the blade and then repeat the "punch" process, only to find the blade still will not go all the way through without extreme effort. The leather is 7/8 oz and I'm only trying to get through one layer of a test scrap. But I still can not get the awl blade through the leather without using extreme pressure. It "starts" the punch but then hangs before exiting the other side.

My guess here is that the blade still isn't sharp enough, but I polished the blade for quite some time and while I'd hesitate to do open heart surgery with the tool it "ought" to go through one layer of leather. So what am I doing wrong?

Hi 56

yes you got wrong Awl and wrong advice. That awl Blade is for soft Bridle sewing. But that said as I've mentioned before goof stitching consists of Practice, Practice and more practice. You must have the right Blade for the job and start with light Jobs first and work your way up to heavier work.

you know the shape of the blade now so make one for yourself out of any good piece of Steel but make a bit stouter 4mm ( good Motor Bike Spoke will be good) for sewing 7/8" and aprox 1 3/4" should protrude from the Handle. Temper is not the important part. Just don't burn the steel when grinding. Trial and error is the best way.

Kindest Regards.

Jim Saddler.

[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

[Sceaden]

I bought an Osborne awl from the cheapest guy on ebay when I first started leather work and it worked quite well out of the box and after watching Nigel's video and putting some elbow grease into it is great!

[alpha2]

I watched that video yesterday, sharpened my awl per his advice, and did some stitching today. Wow, good advice. HUGE improvement, glided through the leather. I don't think I could have put a 9mm bullet through the leather before. Hmmm, should've tried, could have been a good video!

Quote

 

 

[zuludog]

I, too, started with the Tandy 4-in-1 awl. Even after I sharpened it, it still wasn't very good, so I went the traditional way, and bought a John James blade which I mounted in a haft and sharpened myself

That  turned out quite good, but what a performance! It took hours & hours of tedious work with oilstones and a strop to get anything like a reasonable standard.

Surely with modern high tech and computer aided manufacturing techniques it should be possible to make a decent awl for a reasonable price that can be used straight away? Then subsequently just a bit of stropping as with any knife

For example Mora of Sweden make excellent sharp & strong knives in their 'Clipper' range, to retail for about £12. I'm not bothered about turned hardwood handles; I'd be quite happy with plastic as long as it did the job

Search Google for 'mora clipper' to see what I mean

Edited February 18, 2017 by zuludog

[Matt S]

@zuludog I like the CS Osborne awls. The blades and hafts are sold separately except that you can get the size 43 mounted on a comfortable haft for about £8. They don't come perfect but in a much better state than a John James.

[Wulfing]