Diamond Shaped Awl
Diamond Shaped Awl
Diamond shaped saddle stitching awls
The awl is an important tool in the art of leather craft, it allows to punch a
hole in order to pass the needles for saddle stitching.
There are two types of awls:
- the round awl, with a round and conical section blade. They are used to
open or enlarge an existing hole.
- Diamond awls, which cut the leather rather than pierce it. The hole
obtained is actually a slit, which allows to obtain angled stitches in saddle
stitching.
In this article, I show you how to create diamond awls, and in particular the
most delicate part, which is the blade.
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- 1 -
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I use as a base hardened blue steel concrete nails (3.5 mm in diameter)
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- 2 -
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Using a clamp vise, I draft the four faces on the high speed grinder.
It is necessary to dip frequently the blade into water to avoid loosing the steel’s temper.
- 3 -
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Then I refined the faces to the water grinding wheel.
- 4 -
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The blades are then sharpened onto the diamond stone using progressive grit, up to 2000 grit.
Lubrication with water.
It is important not to leave a pointed blade, but on the contrary the tip should be flat, rounded and sharp.
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The edge is finally honed on a leather strop.
Here is a first ebony handle and brass ferrule. It is important to adjust the volume and the length of the handle to the size of your hand.
- 6 -
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A second curly ash handle.
The flat handle avoids the tool from rolling down the table.
The biggest awl at the top of the picture is an old harness awl that I restored. (Big model, for harnesses and horse tackles).
Example of use on the sewing of a belt loop using the clamp.
Do not hesitate to react to this article in case of any question. You can
contact me
also on my Facebook page.
Good work !
Christophe
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