[Leather Working] Saddle stitching awl (diamond shape blade)

Here are a couple of stitching awls I have made, build from scratch, blade and handle.

The two awls I have made are the two at the front, the one at the back is a vintage commercial one, for heavy duty leather work.
One of the handles is made of ash, and the other from ebony.
http://www.labellenote.fr/file/homem...sange_0006.jpg


Here is how the blades are made, starting from a hardened concrete nail :
First, roughing out with a high speed grinder (I frequently dip the blade in a jar of water before it looses its temper).
I grind four faces, in a kind of sword shape.
http://www.labellenote.fr/file/homem...sange_0001.jpg

I made a small batch blades of different width
http://www.labellenote.fr/file/homem...sange_0002.jpg

Then I switch to the wet slow speed grinder, and I refine the edges. The tip is quite flat and cutting, and the body has a diamond shape, more intended to expand the hole than to cut it.
http://www.labellenote.fr/file/homem...sange_0003.jpg

http://www.labellenote.fr/file/homem...sange_0004.jpg


And here is the mounted awl, in the ebony handle. The blade is carefully honed on a strop, it must cut leather like butter.
http://www.labellenote.fr/file/homem...sange_0005.jpg


And here is how it is used, with the stitching clamp I will show next time.
http://www.labellenote.fr/file/homem...sange_0007.jpg

Is that a stitching horse or pony?

Hey. Christophe, nice, neat job. Did you use 2 part epoxy to attach handles to blades? & how did you finish handles? Resin, wax, buffing compound?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Drew1966

Is that a stitching horse or pony?

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Hi, not a pony, it's a French style clamp, will show it next

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stevohdee

Hey. Christophe, nice, neat job. Did you use 2 part epoxy to attach handles to blades? & how did you finish handles? Resin, wax, buffing compound?

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Hi Steve, no epoxy in this case, just a press fit, I wanted to be able to change the blade without too much difficulty, in case of breakage.
The ash one is finished with Danih oil, and the ebony one just polished. A very quick pass to the buffing wheel with Carnauba wax for both.
Note that the brass ferule has it's edge smoothed, in order to avoid hurting the leather.

Nice work Chris

Doug

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Thanks Christophe Mineau! We've added your Stitching Awls to our Leathercraft category,
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<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-stitching-awls-2"> <img src="/uploads/217692/homemade-stitching-awls-2.jpeg"/> </a> </div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-stitching-awls-2">Stitching Awls</a> <span> by <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/builder/Christophe+Mineau">Christophe Mineau</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href='http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/awl'>awl</a>, <a href='http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/leather'>leather</a> </div> </div> </div> </div>
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Christophe Mineau,

Very, Very nice work on those beautiful hand tools.

Beautiful made Stitching Awls, great pics and write up, Christophe! Thank you. Look forward to your "French Style Clamp" post.

PJ

Christophe Mineau,

What is that beautiful wood that was used in the dark handle? That is really set off nice with the brass ferrule!

Hi Dick, this is Macassar Ebony, simply fine sanded and polished

Christophe Mineau,
Ebony sure has a large range of color. It is a very pretty wood to use as a handle. I have used Ebony for accent pieces in the past but it very black. It seems to have it's own natural oil.

Very nice ! Is there someplace that explains the shapes and their uses ? I have looked and found nothing satisfactory.

Very nice work, love that gloss. I'm surprised you found hard concrete nails that where long enough.

What I like about this forum is that I learn something new almost every day. That little point about the awl expanding the leather and not cutting it instantly explains the awls shape.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mbshop

Very nice ! Is there someplace that explains the shapes and their uses ? I have looked and found nothing satisfactory.

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Hi, yes there are numerous videos showing the saddle stitching process using these awls.
My preferred one is this one, sorry in French, you can use the English sub-titles to get the comments, but it keeps visual.
https://youtu.be/cy3fzMMWqfs