Tools of the Trade

[dw]

Gordon,

Do...repeat do...twist the taw. Just wrap it real tight, that should keep the wraps flat.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--HCC Membe

[dw]

Gordon,

Just to expand on my last post and to pick up on something else you mentioned...

When you twist the taw, you need to twist it tight. I am using dacron and I wax and then anchor about 12 inches of the taw and thread and twist just that area very tight. Then, while holding the twist, I burnish the wax into the twists with my finger and thumb, and continue holding the twists until the wax has cooled. This sets the twist.

That said, the last inch or so is not only one strand it is a tapered strand so any twisting up in the very extreme end is pretty minimalized just because there's nothing to add bulk to the twist. This applies to linen as well as dacron.

Which brings me to the next point...I always leave the "leader" strand longer than all the rest...by as much as 2 inches sometimes, although I shoot for inch inch and a half. The leader is tapered more than the other strands (works only for dacron--see video) but both of these factors contribute significantly to your ability to wrap tight and thin at, and beyond, the crotch of the bristle.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[gordy]

Thanks again DW.

Had a bit more success today using the split nylon bristle, though I've enlarged the holes slightly as well. So long as I can get the very first bit of the twist through without too much friction things seem to go OK.

Just one more question if I may. I'm testing on scraps using a diamond awl I made as they're quite hard to get hold of but I'm not sure how it should be sharpened. If you could just indicate which in the following pic is correct it would be much appreciated.

4200.gif

Cheers

Gordon

[dw]

Gordon,

Well...I guess I a dumb bootmaker--but I can't for the life of me figure out what I'm looking at there. Is it an end shot? A cross-section?

I don't know. Sorry.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[gordy]

DW wrote:
"Well...I guess I a dumb bootmaker--but I can't for the life of me figure out what I'm looking at there. Is it an end shot? A cross-section?
"

End shot

Gordon

[dw]

Gordon,

I have a Raischle (?--sp)--a German diamond sickle awl that I use all the time. I think that if "B" were rotated 45* it would come closest to the way the awl is sharpened. But, in truth, that's not it either. The trick is to sharpen the "faces" so that the point of the awl is needle sharp. That's really all you need...in fact, I am convinved that all four "edges" could be dull...rounded...and the awl would work fine if the point were sharp. Maybe better.

I hope that makes sense...ultimately, althougth we sometimes sharpen an awl so that it has a cutting blade, in my opinion, it would be better to not have that cutting edge at all. It too often leads to heartbreak.

If you inseam with a "bladed" awl, the terrorists win.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[gordy]

DW wrote:
"I have a Raischle (?--sp)--a German diamond sickle awl that I use all the time. I think that if "B" were rotated 45* it would come closest to the way the awl is sharpened. "

Sharpened to a chisel across the long diagonal?

"If you inseam with a "bladed" awl, the terrorists win. "

Not quite sure what you mean here. I'm not inseaming (or intend to) with the diamond awl, just practising stitching etc. That said, it's really difficult to know what a good inseaming awl should look like. I have three, supposedly the same, curved sewing awls and they're all different. One is pretty much oval at the tip the others are sort of spatula shaped (tip wider than shank) at the end and not what you'd call sharp. I'd make my own if I knew what I was aiming at but it's like juggling spaghetti in the dark[img]http://www.thehcc.org/forum/images/old_smilies/sad.gif"%20ALT="sad[/img]

Cheers

Gordon

[tomo]

Gordon,
If you want a diamond blade i.e. the type that a saddler would use go with 'B'. Which incidently,is about at the right angle when in use.

More Power to y'awl.
T.
PS if you do a search in this topic, you'll see a couple of pictures DW's posted on awls.
T.

(Message edited by Tomo on June 18, 2006)

[gordy]

Tom

Thanks for the confirmation.

re the pics.
If you know what they should be like the pics probably tell you all you need to know. To the uninitiated they're a bit dimensionless, even when they have 'foreign' coins beside them I'll dig my mic' out, get some dimensions and take some pics of the ones I have tomorrow (Monday).

Cheers

Gordon

[dw]

Gordon,

Again, I guess I'm lost. I thought you were inseaming...all this time...and again, I guess I don't really know what kind of awl you're referring to.

So ignore all my comments about the awl...and some of my comments or implications regarding stitching...and chuck them out the window. Advice based on misunderstanding and confusion is worse than no advice at at all...it'll give you a headache--"take two chocolate chip cookies and call me in the morning."

The business with the "terrorists" was just a rough attempt at rougher humour. Sorry if I confused things.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[gordy]

DW



Whatever I do I still have to get a bristle of some sort to stay on and I'm fixing it to a 7 strand hemp thread and saddle stitching some insole. To that end you've been a big help so please don't think your comments have been wasted. The question about sharpening the diamond awl was in passing.

"The business with the "terrorists" was just a rough attempt at rougher humour."

I realized it was humour, I just didn't get the joke [g]
I don't know what you mean by a "bladed awl".

Gordon

[dw]

Gordon,

I don't want to hijack your thread here but hopefully this will clarify what I am talking about...

In the image below figure "A" shows a cross section of a diamond awl --could be a curved German sickle awl...could be a saddlers awl--leastwise all mine are like this.

Figure "B" shows the awl looking at it dead on from the "business"end . The numbered quadrants are faces that run the length of the awl. The intersection in the middle is the point of the awl. Sharpening, if needed, would be on these faces to clean up and sharpen the "corners" of the diamond. These "corners"/edges also run the length of the awl but need not be sharpened the whole length.

Figure "C" depicts a section of the awl looking down on it from above. Here you see the point of the awl, the edges between face 1 and face 2 in figure "B" --the top central "spine"--and the corners/edges between 1 and 3 and between 2 and 4--these two edges form the outline of figure "C".

Hopefully this will help and not further muddy the waters....

4203.gif

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[gordy]

DW wrote:

"[...]In the image below figure "A" shows a cross section of a diamond awl [...]"

That clears it up a LOT, thanks. It's me that's asking dumb questions. I'd assumed they were sharpened to a chisel point.

Cheers

Gordon

[dw]

Gordon,

They can be sharpened...not to a chisel,perhaps, but to a spatula shape. But then they wouldn't be "diamond" awls anymore. They'd be oval or elliptical or some such.

Even though the diamond awl is already kind of a "bladed" awl, in my estimation, sharpening it to a spatula would definitely make it bladed. Wickedly bladed.

The problem there, is that even the oldest hand will, on occasion at least, wiggle or twist an awl to get it through a rough patch. If the awl is sharpened as a blade, that wiggling will cut the hole the awl is making wider and wider...certainly wider than the awl would ordinarily make. If the awl is not sharpened as a blade but has a needle sharp point, the awl will go through the leather just as, or almost as, easily as the bladed awl...BUT!!...as the awl penetrates the leather, it pushes the hole open rather than cutting it open. And when the seam is finished and the stitches are hammered or ironed or pressed, those holes will close back up...resulting in a neater, and tighter (more waterproof) seam.

This is important when inseaming...perhaps moreso than in saddlework...(the "tighter part," that is) and it is also why we always inseam from the inside out.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[gordy]

DW wrote:
"They can be sharpened...not to a chisel,perhaps, but to a spatula shape. But then they wouldn't be "diamond" awls anymore. They'd be oval or elliptical or some such.[...]"

The diamond awl is a separate issue really. I just made it to practise some straight stitching. I just needed to know how it *should* be sharpened. My camera's not really up to this sort of shot but below are the two curved sewing awls I was talking about. Dims in inches.

The first measures about 0.045*0.068 at the tip going to about 0.095 dia 1" from the tip.

4205.gif

The second is about 0.022*0.105 at the tip. Thinning to about 0.072 at the bend and about 0.095 dia 1" from the tip.

4206.gif

Photo taken against a 0.1" grid.

What would be a big help would be to know how these compare with what might be considered a suitable awl for inseaming. If I can get something to aim at I'm fairly sure I can make whatever. It might just avoid me making a complete dogs dinner of my first inseam

"[...]it pushes the hole open rather than cutting it open. And when the seam is finished and the stitches are hammered or ironed or pressed, those holes will close back up...resulting in a neater, and tighter (more waterproof) seam.[...]"

OK, thanks for the explanation. One step closer to getting my hands really dirty. Not sure whether to be terrified or excited

Cheers

Gordon

[dw]

Gordon,

In "Sources" > "Awls" > "Inseaming Awls" there is a series of phots showing both contemporary, handmade, custom inseaming awls and a bunch of manufactured vintage awls of probably English origin. While the photos aren't as precise and focused-on-one-subject as yours are, I think you can see them from all angles.

In your photos, if they were mine, I'd sharpen them both more like the diamond shaped sickle awl described and illustrated above. I prefer a narrow point and I prefer a needle sharp point. I particularly do not like the second inseaming awl in your photos--I don't like that spatula shape--and if, as the photo suggests, the point is actually wider at the tip, I think it will make a weaker inseam than the one above and substantially weaker than the sickle awl. Later today, if I get a chance, I'll post a photo of the sickle awl.

I'm probably in the minority (except for makers in Germany) on this issue however. Others may differ and your milage may vary.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[gordy]

DW wrote:
"In "Sources" > "Awls" > "Inseaming Awls" there is a series of[...]"

I try to look through the archives and I had seen these, most of which are excellent photos but there's not quite enough info to be able to make one from them. Width and thickness of the tip would be enough, assuming the taper is fairly even.

"[...]I prefer a narrow point and I prefer a needle sharp point.[...]"

As I recall from one of your posts. I'll give both a try once I know where I'm headed.

"Later today, if I get a chance, I'll post a photo of the sickle awl."

I'm sure you have lots to do and there's no screaming hurry so if and when you can it will be much appreciated.

Cheers

Gordon

[ttex]

Gordon

I was scanning what ya'll are writting. The first awl in the last set of pics shows an awl like the one I use alot. I just made a diamond shaped tip on the end so it is sharp and cuts through. the sharp tip is not more than .5 mm long. I have smaller shafts for ladies shoes. I measure the shaft on the mens awl and it is 3 mm wide.

CW

[dw]

Gordon,

Here's the photos I promised. I have no measurements and these are old photos before I learned to set the white balance...but the grid is .25" inch, I think.

4208.jpg

4209.jpg

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[gordy]

Chris W

Thanks. 3mm is close to the ones I have at the thickest part - 0.103 = 2.6mm.

DW

Thanks - but you wouldn't use that for inseaming? it looks like what you describe as a bladed awl.

Gordon

[dw]

Gordon,

Well, perhaps it's self deception, but I don't think so. Consider: what part of the awl is "working?" I would suggest that it is the tip. If the tip is broad and sharpened flat like a spatula, so to speak then as the awl is driven through the leather, the tip cuts its way through. And even more importantly, if the awl is wiggled it cuts the hole even wider. If the tip of the awl is sharpened flat, so that it is more than...say...three times as wide as it is high, the sharpened edges become a blade.

The first photo above is actually more representative of the overall shape of the German awls than the second photo, for the simple reason that in the second photo, both ends of the awl blade are curved upward toward the camera lens, effectively foreshortening the relative perpective. This awl has relatively dull edges the length of it. When it is driven through the leather, it punctures or pierces rather than cutting its way through. When the awl is wiggled back and forth it does not enlarge the hole significantly except by virtue of pushing or compressing fibers on either side. Not that I'm advocating wiggling the awl blade...quite the opposite--my pholosphy is that the awl blade should be driven through the holdfast with no wiggling whatsoever...but even I still catch myself wiggling the blade on occasion.

The German awl is an inseaming awl and I do inseam with it...not in every situation and not on every part of the inseam, but I like so much that I have sharpened my, now precious, Barnsleys to the same tip shape in preferance to the flat spatulate shape that you will see on some, equally precious, vintage awls...should you be fortunate enough to find them.

PS. I don't think that the measurements cited are relevant...to one degree or another it doesn't matter how thick the awl is at its thickest part. Such measurements may be a good indicator of relative size and length but only the diameter in the "working section" really matters. I have inseaming awls from Barnsley that may be as much as 4 mmm or more in the shank--the thickest part--but I have thinned them down from the tip backwards to half of that and sharpened them to a needle point at the very tip. I believe that if the hole left behind in the holdfast averages 2mm in diameter, it will be sufficient to get the waxed end through and result in a tight inseam, especially if the hole is pierced not cut. Some real experts with the sewing awl--like Master Saguto at Colonial Williamsburg might even want a smaller hole.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[gordy]

DW wrote:
"[...]both ends of the awl blade are curved upward toward the camera lens, effectively foreshortening the relative perpective[...]"

Yes, I had the same problem. 'Ordinary' cameras aren't really up to this sort of job. It isn't obvious in the cropped photos but the extremities of the grid were distorted to hell. I took it at 640*480 as it was only for the web but on reflection I might have been better taking it at 2048*1536, moving further away and using a smaller section of the lense. Same size image once cropped, less distortion and better depth of field - possibly.

"This awl has relatively dull edges the length of it[...]"

Right, it wasn't obvious in the photo.

"but even I still catch myself wiggling the blade on occasion."

It's OK I won't tell anyone"

"I have sharpened my, now precious, Barnsleys to the same tip"

Seems like I've come into the game at the wrong time, just as the only shoe tool manufacturer goes out of business Having said that, I find making the tools and jigs etc., half the fun

I originally had my straight diamond awl sharpened to a chisel as in 'A' in my message above. The result of sharpening it to a 4 sided point appears to be that of keeping the hole open better.

"PS. I don't think that the measurements cited are relevant...to one degree or another it doesn't matter how thick the awl is at its thickest part."

No not entirely. I was hoping for width and thickness at the tip but I don't suppose a micrometer is top of the bootmakers' shopping list!

"I believe that if the hole left behind in the holdfast averages 2mm in diameter[...]"

I'd guess the first awl in the pictures I posted would come somewhere near. It's just that the tip looks awful small (there's a limit to how far it can be pushed through as it straightens up) to be getting what look like a couple of thin shoelaces through. Looks at awl, looks at thread, shakes head. Time will tell.

Thanks for all the help everyone.

Gordon

[bjohnsonleather]

Quick question from a saddle guy with some shoe equipment. Noticed today on my Landis skiver that the blade is beveled on both sides, similar to a round knife in cross section. On my American 2 in 1, the skiver blade is beveled on one side like a miniature splitter blade. Any thoughts as to which way it is supposed to be? They both work fine, and I probably wouldn't have noticed except that I had them both off at the same time to sharpen. Thanks, - Bruce Johnson

[dw]

Bruce,

I have been around these machines for most of my career. I have never seen one from the factory...nor a new replacement blade...that was beveled on both sides. This is something that is done by the owner and usually in ignorance...ie., with no logical basis for doing so. Beveling both sides may add something but I don't know what. Personally I like a one sided bevel for all skiving knives--even the ones I use in hand.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[bjohnsonleather]

DWFII,
Thanks for the reply, that was my thought. The bevel on both sides, if sharpened to different angles on either side, would tend to dive or raise up I would think. Haven't noticed that with this blade, but that is now the kiss of death, it will start tomorrow.
As an aside, looking back through the archives, someone had a question regarding the Pro-Thermal pens that Shop Talk is selling to burn thread ends. What these units are intended for is to cauterize bleeding in surgery. I have used them for field surgery, and they are OK for that. I tried them on threads this weekend. They do heat up and cool down quickly. They cut through synthetics well in smaller sizes. Took a bit of time on my five cord cantle binding thread. The only real problem is that the tips are pretty fine wire, good for tight spots and small needle holes, but the tips do bend easily. If you are used to using a fine point soldering or woodburning pen, it leaves a little "knob" on the thread that resists pull through. The pens pretty much cut it off flush. They also heat up enough to "pop" fresh Barge fumes. (experiment done outside). Thanks,

Bruce Johnson