I apologize in advance if I am missing something fundamental in my question but...let me explain. Here is a diamond shape awl 🔶. Let’s say needle A (flesh/wrong side) and needle B (grain/front side). In Philip stitching video he show that A starts the course and needle B goes over the top (North point) for the casting on the flesh side. Why do we then need the East/West points of the awl and make a bigger slit in the leather than needed? If a pricking iron marks a 45 degree straight slit / then why not do the same with an awl? This would imply that the awl should be flat/parallel sides, sharp point with sides width = to 2-3mm or match the pricking irons used. Also, I see tapered edge awl blades too. I just think those are garbage because, unless you stop at exactly the same spot after puncturing leather, it will create inconsistent sizes of holes.
So....when pricking irons alone are not enough, why not just use a flat/parallel sides/sharp point awl? This would also make the sharpening way easier.
Another part of my question, has anyone tried to flatten out their diamond shape awl (east/west sides) with a whet stone or diamond plate?
Thank you!
I am just going to say that y’all are amazing and I am grateful for your responses and tips! I am happy to report that I have a couple awls that seem to work for me thanks to my friend (Jon @mimisugi on this forum). Jon made some flat awls (small, medium, large) with curved/edged hafts which help me pick the awl in a certain way each time. I have practiced stitching for over 80 inches with each inch getting better; there may be hope for me! My goal was to get a decent looking stitch using a stitch marker wheel and an awl. So, here is a small sample of my current progress with more practice to follow. We all know there are many elements to consider when stitching with an awl. The biggest adjustments that made a huge difference for me was to keep my elbow up and aligned at 90 degrees (thanks Philip) AND keep the leather super low on the clamp edge. Having a good awl is a must (thanks again Jon)!
P.S. Will be experimenting with different threads next!
I made a Awl using phillips guide, that I some days still use. I call it "snob nosed" :P Gun people will understand I guess
Hi Veronica. I’ve recently purchased through Tandy Leather a TandyPro Awl that has a “French” shape with a width of 2.2mm, which is just that, flat top and bottom and sharpened edges on the side. This awl was designed to match their European style pricking irons, while they also offer a diamond shaped awl to match their Japanese style pricking irons. So far in using this combination, I’ve found it works quite well. I just need to improve my overall stitching, but that is a different story completely.
Regards, Rob
hi veronica, the video is 'details make perfection - awl sharpening' when you get awl blades which are sold individually and have to be inserted into awl handles, they seem to have a diamond profile, also some other awls like wuta are like this as well. if you watch the course video, he goes through shaping the awl using diamond plates, although wet and dry sand paper on a flat surface also does the job nicely. i find myself going back every now and then using fine sandpaper and just profiling a bit more and lots of stropping, they seem to be getting better the more i do this.
Hello,
to answer your "has anyone tried to flatten their awl blade". Yes, we all have (at some point I expect). Philip has a very very very good mini course about it. He explains how to do it properly and, more importantly, WHY to do it. I think the video will answer most of your questions.
The course is called "My connection is garbage and the video page is currently not loading. It is one of his earlierish courses, it most definitely has the word "Awl" in it".
As a side note, will not exactly flatten the sides, you will make them rounded and polish them so that they can glide into the leather.