awl Inexpensive awl? Kyoshin-Elle, Vergez Blanchard, Springfield Leather,LeatherCraftTools?

[GeneH]

I probably should get a diamond shaped awl to help stitch 2 or 3 layers of 8 oz leather, and thinner leather in upcoming projects. Steel and comfort I suppose matters most. Sharpening and finishing is a side-hobby of mine.

From reading threads here, I found these in my $ comfort zone.

Which should I purchase later this week? What size?

-   LeatherCraftTools dot com   PRO Diamond Awl 3 Tools Set    $21.50

-   Rocky Mountain  Kyoshin-Elle Awls    $18.00

-   Rocky Mountain  Vergez Blanchard Awl - Diamond  $21.99

-   Springfield Leather  Stitching Awl   $11.99

- Adding Wuta, good price, long shipping...

This might have been my first mistake - (incorrect size?)  I have a 2 prong Tandy Craftool Pro 3.5 mm chisel (wow did I actually spend that much on it?), Tandy waxed thread and some needles.  

 

Edited November 20, 2018 by GeneH
addendum title

[canonitr]

have you considered the awl from wuta? 

they are fairly cheap.. regarding awl size, they would classify small as 3mm, medium 3-4mm and large as 5mm

[GeneH]

1 hour ago, canonitr said:

have you considered the awl from wuta? 

they are fairly cheap.. regarding awl size, they would classify small as 3mm, medium 3-4mm and large as 5mm

...adding to the list. The pictures of the stitching awl look good, hope I can find then CONUS and not wait for a month from China.  [sometimes that's ok, this time I'm a little less patient.  :-)  ]

[canonitr]

you might want to try banggood then.. they have a US warehouse, tho i am not sure if they stock the item. Thing with banggood's "Wuta Awl", is that it has a non tapered brass ring, whereas the Taobao/Aliexpress one shows a tapered brass ring .. 

i got me quite a bit of stuff during Taobao's (China's Amazon) 11.11 sales period ( 4 orders between 12/11 - 16/11) and 3 of them are already in my country within 10 days.. previous 11.11 shipping was hell, where items could take up to 2 months before being delivered..

not sure how it would be for wherever you are tho ..

while Aliexpress is in english and sells the same items from the same vendor, I find that the prices on Taobao is cheaper.. only problem is that the Taobao site is entirely in Chinese... google chrome with auto translate helps a bit, but sometimes, you get funny translations..

[immiketoo]

I have all kinds of awls.  Leather Wranglers, Douglas, Osborne, some custom ones and the best by far for most of my work is one made by Lederlouis in Switzerland.  You can buy a prepared blade or a complete awl.  He is a master at shaping them and they make the neatest hole and are easiest to use.  I opted for the 45mm complete awl, but if you have a haft waiting for a blade, get just the blade.  

[canonitr]

but @GeneH want an inexpensive awl.... 

i have leathercrafttools 3 awl set, as well as Wuta awls... but, I don't use them much, except once in a while to widen holes..

[immiketoo]

Lederlouis is inexpensive, for a working awl thats good.  Leather wranglers is 200 bucks, Douglas awl is 120, so for a good awl, 20 bucks for a blade is pretty cheap.

[bermudahwin]

1 minute ago, immiketoo said:

Lederlouis is inexpensive, for a working awl thats good.  Leather wranglers is 200 bucks, Douglas awl is 120, so for a good awl, 20 bucks for a blade is pretty cheap.

Does anyone know if they have an English language website? My German is pretty much limited to food and drink, I know archetypal English man.

[immiketoo]

6 minutes ago, hwinbermuda said:

Does anyone know if they have an English language website? My German is pretty much limited to food and drink, I know archetypal English man.

Click the english or american flag on his website at the top right corner for mostly english.

[bermudahwin]

Cool, thanks, it does not show on my tablet, so I 'll check on the pc later.

Best

Harry