Awl in the Family

[Marshal Will Wingam]

something a little bigger and easier to hold on to just might do the trick.

I say that exact thing every time I stick myself.

[Antipaladin]

10 Wolves...great idea about the ball! I just tried it and it works like a charm.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

10 Wolves...great idea about the ball! I just tried it and it works like a charm.

        That's great Pard, I'm happy you like it and took the time to try it, it works well for me, and is easy to hold and hang on too.


                                                               Regards

                                                            tEN wOLVES 

[Hank Rugerman]

What's all this talk about stabbing yourself....are you guys trying to come up with another natural dye material...

I like the rubber ball deal too..I'm gonna giver er whirl...thanks TW..

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Another device that sailors use is called a 'Sailor's Palm' ... essentially it is a buckled strap that goes around the hand with an enlarged 'palm' that holds a sort of 'anvil' that is used to push needles through several layers of sailmakers canvas or leather. In the old days, sewing a 'crinkle' (i.e., heavy duty grommet) into the corner of a sail could mean sewing through four to six layers of canvas with leather reinforcements  ..... and always done by hand!



Here are a couple of links:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Sailmakers-Palm-how-to-make-one./

http://www.shophistoryisfun.com/Sailors-Palm-11730.htm

This one has a good shot of one 'in use':

https://www.knotandrope.com/catalog.php?r=view&prod_id=51

[saddler]

Hi All

Interesting to read through some of your posts & get taken back 20 years or so when I first started out "learning" a.k.a. making some real doosie mistakes & seeing what worked best for me

My first "sewing awl" - I'd misunderstood what the nice man in the supply shop said about all the tools I'd eventually need for even just a basic set...so I was buying them as my miniscule funds allowed...
On one of my visits he asked what size sewing awl I was using & was horrified to learn I'd been sewing with a round scratch awl  OOPS

Now, I'm normally on my sewing pony 6 days a week, a WW1 vintage Saddlers Chest; and I normally use 2 or at most 3 awl types.

Various folk have given advice over the years which I take on board, try, then see how it goes...

My favourite awl is about 2 to 3 times the length I first started out with, polished, not sharpened...with a small notch cut in the handle to rest my thumb on so the awl is always at the same angle to the line I'm sewing.
Too small an awl (lenght OR width) will mean the needles/thread are dragging in the stitch hole & require more effort to pull through...also remember: dont rotate or flex the awl blade when its IN the leather - they snap in a milisecond & leave you stuck with a piece of blade that takes quite a while to free up.

MY method is the type that took about 6 months of daily practice to get up to any sort of decent level/speed on -
English Saddle Stitching.
This means I'm sewing with a long thread that has a needle on each end.
I then take needle in each hand AND an awl in the right hand...
Hole 1 is made with the awl from the right hand, the left needle follows the awl out to the right as its withdrawn... the right needle is then used to pull the left needle out, before itself being put through the hole.
The loose loop of thread to the left of the item being sewn is then looped onver the emerging right needle once, before all the thread is pully tight with equal pressure.
This should cause the thread to form a small knot which will be inside the work-piece (if you've got the tension right when pulling the thread)
Then Hole 2 is a repeat of Hole 1
...this method mean only your fingers are near the needles, never other parts of your hand. It also doesnt require use of a palm, so your hands are less restricted
The above method I use every day, and have sewn through upwards of 1.25 to 1.5" thickness of leather with no problems...and without breaking an awl 

Another method to try when using single needle techniques is to use a piece of linen or canvas cloth, folded several times, placed on the underside of the work; this will allow you to apply pressure to resist the awl but pad your hand against possible punctures

Hope I haven't wandered too far off topic here...just thought I'd chip in about how I do things in case its of use to someone out there

Jon

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Howdy, Sattler. Thanks for the informative post. Welcome to the forum. Looking forward to seeing more of you.

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

Santee......
I use the osborne with the awl inserts....that way you can change different size blades when needed.

When I sew leather I use a stitching horse and the two needle, two awl method for sewing.

I think Marshal Wingam is right, you've got to get them really really sharp. I use a flat diamond hone and the a fine ceramic....so sharp you can shave with it, yes an awl.

Same thing with your Round Knife, must be sharp as a razor blade. I use mine not only to cut saddle skirting but I use it to skive leather too.

Bill

[Springfield Slim]

Speaking of sharpening, I actually sharpened and stropped my swivel knife the other day. I don't do much carving and was always cursing the swivel knife 'cause it wouldn't cut smoothly. Man, stropping it really made a difference. Now it works like the one in the video I watched. Don't know if my carving ability will improve, but at least it won't be so frustrating. And I too have to file, sharpen and polish all my awls before they will work how I like them. I have only broken one, was workingon some dried outl eather that I probably should have just thrown out. I don't use a pony much, just my fingers, but I don't get stabbed too often.

[saddler]

Santee......
I use the osborne with the awl inserts....that way you can change different size blades when needed.

When I sew leather I use a stitching horse and the two needle, two awl method for sewing.

I think Marshal Wingam is right, you've got to get them really really sharp. I use a flat diamond hone and the a fine ceramic....so sharp you can shave with it, yes an awl.

Same thing with your Round Knife, must be sharp as a razor blade. I use mine not only to cut saddle skirting but I use it to skive leather too.

Bill

Hi Bill

Whats the 2 awl method? New one on me!...interested to red more about it...

Asw an aside, I use my head & round knives for ALL my work...cutting, shaping, edge skiving: even putting "English point" ends on straps, as long as you have done a bit practice beforehand...saves finding strap-end punches that the dog has run off with, or just for odd jobs where the strap width isn't standard or its just a "one-off"

The saddler who trained me had been taught at the Walsall School & their techniques; this school has now closed. The other main School was based in London - the techniques they taught differed from the Walsall methods slightly

As to awl blades being sharpened - I was told NOT TO...
The hole made by the awl is purely a temporary one to allow the needles/thread to pass through...using a sharpened awl will prevent the leather "sealing" back up again (bit like a temporay wound cavity).
We were told to make sure the awl had a SHARP POINT, but BLUNT EDGES: that way the awl would pierce easily, but not cut the thread in the adjacant stitch hole.

Also - the BEST shaped awl would have a very gradual taper to allow better control, the worst type were those with an acute almost chisel point & paralell sided edges...a bit like the difference between a dagger & a Roman Gladius

I've seen some AMAZING awls recently in a German catalog - hope to be able to buy one as soon as the langauge barrier has been sorted out

Jon

[saddler]

Howdy, Sattler. Thanks for the informative post. Welcome to the forum. Looking forward to seeing more of you.

Hi Will

Thanks for the kind comments - I look forward to seeing what you guys are making & comparing notes. Not enough resources on the 'net for us humble hide-stitchers in my opinion 

Once I get more time  I'm gonna make a holster for my newest purchase - an Uberti 1861 Navy; not decided on which style yet...my copy of Packing Iron has had more attention than is healthy these last couple of weeks...

(This week, so far I've made 20 cartridge belts, 6 Swedish M41b slings, 4 M1907 slings, about 4 cartridge slides in 357- double stacked rows of 15, and done a WW2 holster repair and fixed up a couple more items. STILL got quite a bit more to do before heading to Normandy on Tuesday; about 10 M6 scabbards, some leather Corcoran laces, er, and probably about a dozen other things I'll only remember once I'm ON the ferry  )
...may have to take a few basic tools with me for running repairs...but space will be tight in the jeeps, we're not even taking tents 

Gimme a holler if I can be of any help anytime

Jon

[RollingThunder]

Now that the pros have spoken, here's is what a Joe Schmo like me does.

I use a diamond sewing punch, and after marking my holes with a wheel, I punch the holes. Mine is set for 6 stitches per inch. I then sew (usually with a dense 3-cord waxed thread) with one needle. I start with the second hole, go back to the first, then on the backside skip up one (past the initial hole), and put it through there. Then I put it back through the initial hole, and continue like that, almost in a loop-di-loo pattern if you look at it from the side. I like to lay the excess thread into the stitching groove so that the stitches hold the excess into the stitch groove making it seamless, and knot-less. When I reach the other end, I wind the thread back through the previous stitches, about  4-5 deep, and snip the excess. Looks nice, no knots.

I suppose that's the oddball way of doing it, but I recently had the displeasure of undoing one of my stitches to alter Bruce Camp's gun belt. They don't back out evenly. Each stitch has to be individually cut, because they bind on the one they loop with. Which is great if you ever break a thread, but a real pain in the butt if you have to alter something.