Sharpening a Saddlers Awl

[@oldschooljack3479]

I never knew what a joy hand stitching could be until I got a sharp awl... When it's sharp enough it will slip through leather like it's the consistency of warm butter it makes life so much easier.

[@jonathanyates707]

A wonderfully informative yet concise video. To date, I have watched about four hours of your videos, every one is a gem of knowledge!!

[@warrentanner9097]

I can't even express how much this video helped my stitching! Thank you Sir!

[@MarkHulette]

Nigel- you must be reading my mind! After watching the stitching vids I was curious how you sharpen your awls and here it is!! You are so kind to share your knowledge and expertise with us all. I'm a woodworker that has pricey waterstones so thanks for the tip on not using them!!

[@adelsaid7261]

Thank you for sharing this wonderfully detailed instruction! So helpful!

[@RobertoDonatti]

Yesterday I bought an awl (very poor quality as there are no quality tools to be found here). I tried it on a piece of leather and was quite unable to pierce it. Saw your video and followed your instructions as best I could. The results were amazing! Now it goes through leather with complete ease. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.

[@JPMGRILOPT]

Hello Nigel First of all thank you for your fantastic videos. Keep them coming :) I use the same technique and materials for my awl and for my round knife. For intense grinding, 400 and 600 diamond plates. This is normally only done once to put a workable grind on the awl. After that i use a set of regular sand paper glued on a piece of just like a strop. 1200, 1500 and 2000 Grit and after that only use the leather stop for maintenance, or in the "worst" scenario the 2000 grit

[@richardichard4237]

Dear Nigel, thankyou for another great video..I guess you've been very busy, no doubt stitching, recently..!? but I think we all need a new vid from the Master ( er, thats you!)...perhaps on how to make a proper multi layered briefcase type handle...or rolled handles...something/anything on handles would be great....Im sure its not just me who would love to see a new vid from you, we learn so much from your rare knowledge and teaching skills. Many thanks. R.

[@lucklee1]

Hi Nigel, also what I use, and made a difference to my awls is micro mesh, which is a very fine type of sandpaper, also a spyderco double stuff does a fantastic job.

[@LacedMetal]

Thank you for sharing this wonderfully detailed instruction.

[@boozoochavis7506]

Well done that man - I have looked all over for this information and one would think this type of thing would be common knowledge but sadly, it is not! The difference in the various whetstones will make a huge change in the final surface. Carborundum is soft but not nearly as water stones so your suggestion of keeping a stone or two just for this is spot on. A bit of water or oil might help also? Thanks for posting this video!

[@rjmagoon560]

Thank you so much for posting! So helpful!

[@walterholmes4609]

For anyone new to stitching awls this video shows exactly how it is done by workers who do it all the time. Buy a cheap stone, set it aside for this job. I use Blanchard awls because they come just about ready to pick up where Mr Armitage begins his video, plus they will last years.

[@ArmitageLeather]

Awesome bit of info from Lee here, Cheers mate. Nige

[@nekselwonk]

Nigel, to polish the edge of the awl, you might try Autosol on your strop, it's a metal polish obtained from Halfords or Amazon, but will polish steel to a very high mirror finish in quite a short time, but works better with a small amount of a lubricant which can be water or even spittle. A lot of wood carvers use it to put the final polish on their chisels prior to carving. All the best

[@postitlabels]

You can use a wet stone, just use the edge of it. This way you won't create a ridge on the larger flatter surface. I also blackened my awl with permanent black marker. Two reasons, first so I know which edge I have sharpened, second I know how much of the rough edge has been taken off. W Voss, do you mean jewellers rouge for BBC?

[@danielnk2]

really helpful. thanks from brazil.

[@lindamellingen5977]

Great video. It sure changed my world! Thanks a lot. Could you tell me where you buy your awl handles, please?

[@robhite8885]

A different option if you are able that I used at first to sharpen knives is to get a flat piece of granite or sheet of steel and then just use sandpaper of various grits to refine the edges. It is extremely effective and amazon has packs that you can get that go from 400 to 3000 grit as well as packs that go from 3000 to 15000 grit for that mirror shine.

[@wvoss1661]

Hi Mr Armitage, Just thought I'd give you a quick FYI. I polish metals very frequently especially precious metals. I think, and I may be wrong, you said it takes you several hours? There is a method I use which can cut your time down to the lesser part of a half hour, and won't disturb the integrity of the angles on the awl. To me when it comes to sharpening or doing any other task, I like to be as quick and efficient as possible. What I've found is if you pick up an item called Buffing Bar Compound you will find that this particular item literally polishes off all the scratches and burs that occur in the machining on the awl's flutes allowing for a smooth glide into the leather. The means by which it works, is the carborundum chips in the compound begin as rough chips, but as you continue to work your awl in an up and down motion, the prior rough chips round out as they cut to give a smooth finish. I forgot to mention all the sharpening I do is performed on the flesh side of a leather remnant. Hones don't finish the sharpening and polishing to the extent that BBC and Tripoli do. When I'm finished using the BBC, I end up stropping it on the flesh side of a leather remnant. The Tripoli sharpens still further and polishes the awl to the point that the awl cuts easily through 10oz leather. I also use this on my bevelers, skiving knives etc. and the amount you get will probably virtually to infinity. W

[@Ravensworkshop]

Thank you very very much would you by any chance be willing to make a video of your method ? Cheers from Germany Markus

[@thejonathandoan]

Thanks so much, Nigel! What's the type of stone you're using in the beginning? Carborundum? Do you know if that's something readily available in the States?

[@andybrock100]

Hi Nigel, Thank you for another really helpful video,as a newcomer to leather craft I'm slowly building up my tools, could you give me an idea as to what make of awl I should go for? I don't mind spending money on decent quality tools even though I'm a beginner ( I'm of the buy once cry once brigade when it comes to quality tools of any sort 😀) thanks in advance. Andy

[@vonloganbrimhall9707]

I purchased a #6 Dixon Pricking Iron but it is not sharp at all. How do I go about sharpening it? Thanks. -Von

[@ArmitageLeather]

No problem Jonathan, you can get them anywhere. Just do a search, I've sent you an email with a link. Nige

[@achtungcircus]

Nil carborundunum illegitimo ?

[@beebable]

I didn't realise that buying my very first diamond shape awl and haft was going to be so confusing......I want a good quality steel and obviously eas y to hold haft...that would suite belt stitching....Not sure of the size of blade and Osbourne for example sell in dozens so i want to be sure..any help please

[@aod_fan]

What awl blades do you use?

[@mpgurevitz]

What type of stones are needed to sharpen the awl? Specifically?

[@numan1617]

The stones that Nigel uses in the video are: Carborundum stone with 2 sides, seems to be this one amzn.to/29yTqLz and a Fallkniven stone with diamond back which seems to be this one amzn.to/29xGTa3

[@craigslitzer4857]

any whetstone or blade sharpening stone that you have access to. it's not terribly important exactly which kind you use. whatever works for you

[@deepdiver849]

Craig Slitzer would a sand paper do instead of stone?

[@ArmitageLeather]

All part of the precognitive leather service Mark. Nige