Scratch Awls!

[Bennyleather]

2 hours ago, dikman said:

There are quite a few vids on youtube (of course) on making awls.

Have you seen the vid where the guy uses a drill bit? It looks super cool, I may try it some time.

[zuludog]

I got a 4-in-1 awl with a Tandy beginners kit when I started, but quickly replaced it with something better

On the grounds that you can't do much wrong with a round awl, I fitted the round awl blade into a fixed handle, and it works well enough. I don't use it much as a scratch awl for marking patterns, but I use it for enlarging holes when I'm back stitching, and generally poking around

It's easy enough to make round awls and similar pointy things. I've used a dart head mounted in an old file handle, and one of the best I had was the steel axle off one of my son's toy lorries, which I rescued and ground & mounted it into a round/scratch awl

Ask your dentist. They usually have a boxfull of old & broken tools, and will be glad for them to find a good home. Fiddle about snapping off the angled tips and grinding them on an oilstone

[dikman]

Benny, I watched that last night, it looks pretty neat.

An awl is probably one of the simplest tools you can make as there are all manner of things that can be used, but a bit of nous is needed. One chap on youtube made one by cutting the eye off a very long needle and pushing it into a wooden handle. It was far too long and I cringed when it started flexing as he pushed on it!

There's no need to spend copious (ridiculous?) amounts of money on one - unless you must have a brand name.

Edited April 14, 2019 by dikman

[Bennyleather]

4 minutes ago, dikman said:

Benny, I watched that last night, it looks pretty neat.

An awl is probably one of the simplest tools you can make as there are all manner of things that can be used, but a bit of nous is needed. One chap on youtube made one by cutting the eye off a very long needle and pushing it into a wooden handle. It was far too long and I cringed when it started flexing as he pushed on it!

There's no need to spend copious (ridiculous?) amounts of money on one - unless you must have a brand name.

Yeah, I saw the vid with the needle as well; I would not have been satisfied with that level of workmanship lol, but to each his own. 

I agree, one does not need an expensive awl, it's just a matter of preference.

Thanks for the input!

Benny

[bikermutt07]

I have an awl haft made from some exotic wood turned by a member here. It was too small in the hand so I ordered another from him.

I took the small one and snapped off a JJ needle and screwed it in. That was three years ago. Works fine for fine marking and I enjoy using it.

[dikman]

My three awls. The one on the right I made (can't remember what I used for the pointy bit) the other two came with the heap of stuff recently given to me and are probably 40-50 years old. Like I said, an awl doesn't need to be fancy (unless you want it that way).

 

 

[Bennyleather]

2 hours ago, dikman said:

My three awls. The one on the right I made (can't remember what I used for the pointy bit) the other two came with the heap of stuff recently given to me and are probably 40-50 years old. Like I said, an awl doesn't need to be fancy (unless you want it that way).

 

 

Nice! Did you already have the handle lying around or did you turn it?

[dikman]

I honestly can't remember , but I've made a lot of assorted handles so probably did.

[Bennyleather]

4 minutes ago, dikman said:

I honestly can't remember , but I've made a lot of assorted handles so probably did.

Nice. I've never made a handle myself, but I plan on making a head knife eventually and it will need a handle.