Awl

[Holsterguy]

Anybody here made their own sewing awl? Gonna be using some 3 cord thread and can't find an awl small enough. (10 spi), or do you recommend just taking the smallest I can find and reshaping?
Thanks a lot!

[greyhawk]

Anybody here made their own sewing awl? Gonna be using some 3 cord thread and can't find an awl small enough. (10 spi), or do you recommend just taking the smallest I can find and reshaping?
Thanks a lot!

I dont do things how ya sposed to - for fine work I put a stopper (drill a neat hole through a piece of dowell or such) on the awl blade so it cant go full depth - but that means the holes in the second layer of leather are too tight - I fix that by marking and punching the two stitch lines separately. My methods raise some hackles with traditionalists but my work turns out neater than most I see so I tend to ignore the raised hackles.
I'm thinking reducing the size of an awl blade would be a longish chore - would need very fine emery cloth and some polishing compound - the big plus of a well used old saddlers awl is its smooth shiny finish make using it so much nicer than a new one.   

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I made one that I used for years. It's just a blade pushed into a handle I fashioned out of wood with a copper band.


The one I use most now is this Vergez-Blanchard 38mm awl. It has a nice narrow handle at the tip and gets into almost any tight place.


I still use the other one when I need to stitch through 4 or more layers of 8oz leather.

[Holsterguy]

Thanks guys. I sure don't know how the old English saddlers did (do) it. I heard some of the fine tack was made at like 13 spi. (Or more) That would take a fine craftman.

[Trailrider]

Don't know what to tell you. I drill mine on a drillpress using a #56 bit, or punch the holes on my Juki sewing machine using a #160, 180 or 220 needle depending on the thread thickness.

[Hamburglar]

Save yourself a ton of trouble and just get a Douglas blade. Learn how to sharpen and POLISH it and saddle-stitching will be a breeze!  https://www.facebook.com/DSCTools/

[Holsterguy]

Thanks everybody. Ended up takin the verges-blanchard that I had and easing the entry angle and thinning the blade to my liking. Then polished it real good on a strop. Slides thru 7-8oz hermann oak like butter and leaves a tiny trapezoid hole.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Perfect, pard. That's a good solution.