Awl Problem Solved

[MorningStarL]

I bought some good Douglass awls, but with a combination of arthritis in some fingers, trigger finger recurring in another, and some kind of repetitive strain thing starting down the back of my right thumb into my wrist, I couldn't use them.

Someone here suggested I drill a hole in a piece of 1/4" hardwood dowel, insert the blunt end of the awl into that, and chuck the dowel into my drill press. Then I could use just the lever to push the awl through the leather. Except the blunt end of the awl was so non-blunt that when I reached the woodblock behind the leather, it pushed the awl up into the dowel and I had nothing left to go into the leather.

My knifemaker was putting together a sculpture of a dragonfly this week and bought some steel rods for the legs. I had a Eureka! moment and got him to cut about 1/2" of the rod for me, inserted THAT into the drillpress chuck, then the dowel with the awl in it. Boy HOWDY! I am now stitching belt loops onto knife sheaths through perfect diamond-shaped holes and I'm very happy.

[TwinOaks]

great way to innovate!

[MorningStarL]

Thanks, Mike. I'll have some pictures to post by the end of the week.

[Paramedic04]

That's how I do my holes as well. Takes the guess work out of whether or not the awl blade is level or not!

[MorningStarL]

I got the best-looking line of stitches on the third sheath I did today that I've ever done. I also got two punctures in my right index finger and a deeper, messier one on my left. And for good luck, the least of the punctures on the right hand then took a buzz with 180-grit on the belt sander. Sigh. But I have three sheaths done through to dying, and they'll be dry enough to finish-coat and take pictures of tomorrow.

[TinkerTailor]

Try to drill a hole in your wooden backer board big enough to jam in 1/2 a wine cork flush with the surface.. Hot glue works to hold it in the hole. The cork will be much easier on your awl point than the wood, when it comes through the backside of the leather. The other thing i have seen done, is to drill a small hole in the end of a steel rod, and a threaded cross hole. You put a machine leather needle into the hole in the end and hold it in place with a set screw in the threaded hole. Then chuck it up into the drill press.

I have an old home class treadle that just does 6 spi, and i use it with no thread loaded for punching holes in anything that will feed. With no thread the machine punches evenly spaced holes really good, just use a big leather needle.

Edited April 3, 2015 by TinkerTailor

[MorningStarL]

We were talking about sewing machines last night, Tinker, because I stabbed my fingers a couple of times when the awl caught the leather tight and I pushed the sheath down off the awl and my hand rebounded. A foot that held the sheaths down, instead of my hands, would fix that.

I like the idea of the cork. Two of the sheaths yesterday were very narrow. I had them on the backer block to hold them flat so the awl would be vertical, but the awl didn't touch the block -- it went through just beside.

I'm bad at visualizing, but I've shared what you said about the threaded rod and the set screw with my partner and he'll know how to do that. Thanks a lot!

[TinkerTailor]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=895pVicyZ0E @ 3:33

[MorningStarL]

I'm letting it load now -- thanks, Tinker.

[MorningStarL]

This is one of the three sheaths I worked on yesterday. It's the one that has the best stitching I've ever produced: holes made with a diamond-point awl instead of a drill bit; very straight and even, enough that I could this time have done a stitching groove down the back cuz it looks like I'd have hit it. This has other problems, and I'm going to post about one, but I'm SO much happier with the stitching than I've ever been -- it's just been getting better and better since I joined this group in December. Thanks, everyone.