Marshal Will Bares Awl

[Marshal Will Wingam]

If you've ever hand stitched your leather, you know the benefit of a good stitch awl. I have to give thanks to Major 2 because he got me thinking about my awls and motivated me to fill in a couple blanks. Here's a photo of my selection of awls at this time.



From left to right:

Before listing them there are a couple points to mention (no pun intended). NO WAY will I use an awl that takes a lot of force to penetrate. I use a diamond awl for stitching. I always work over the tips to be a long taper with a sharp point that will go through leather with ease. I strop them now & then and keep a cake of beeswax handy to stick them in if they start to drag when stitching.

1) This is my go-to and has been for a number of years. It's a Vergez-Blanchard 38mm awl. I like it because the brass bezel is narrow, .295 " diameter or therabouts. It's small and fits nicely into the palm of my hand. There is absolutely no finish on the wood so it doesn't take any effort to grip. Of course, when you get some beeswax on your fingers, that isn't a problem anyway.

2) This is the newest one as of yesterday. The handle I made (the toilet plunger handle is now a few inches shorter) with a similar bezel diameter to the V-B. It has a CS Osborne #43 tip in it. There are times when I need a longer awl so this fills that need.

3) This is one was made for times when a larger hole is required. The tip is probably half again bigger across than the V-B. I kind of copied the Tandy handle shape but mistakenly made the bezel the same diameter as a Tandy one.

4) A Tandy awl and the first diamond awl I every had. The tip is too short to be useful for anything but I keep it around for sentimental reasons, I guess.

5) A round awl for those times when a round one is needed for something. I recently got this one from Amazon. It's a WUTA brand and feels like a good quality item for the price. Time will tell how 'quality' it is. The bezel is also narrow, like the V-B one. It has flats on two sides of the wood but they're a bit small to be very useful. It still rolls away when I set it down. Maybe I'll sand them flatter one of these days.

[Major 2]

In an effort to improve my stitching, I've been in contact with Marshal Will.
He is the Professor; I am the freshman. 

[Marshal Will Wingam]

In an effort to improve my stitching, I've been in contact with Marshal Will.
He is the Professor; I am the freshman.

You also got me going on straightening up my own awl situation. It's interesting how easy it is to get by with something that could be improved on until someone gets you thinking about it.

[Advertising]

[Major 2]

I'm looking forward to my new Ozborne awl.

 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L6M39I6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Marshal Will Wingam]

There you go. That awl is a top quality item.

[Johnny McCrae]

Marshall Will,

You are to be commended for posting articles like this one. The sharing of your knowledge and expertise in Leather Woking is greatly appreciated.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Thanks, John. Remember, this is just what works for me. Hopefully some others will chime in with what they like and use.

This morning I was re-arranging my work space and staring at me was a jar of brown+ leather dye. I dunked the new awl up to the bezel and gave the handle some color. It doesn't look so anemic, now.