Stitching thick leather question

I know some guys will use a drill to drill the holes but I like the homemade look of an awl. But, I'm working with some reall thick leather on my newest project and was wondering if anyone has tried this. After spacing use a smaller drill (1/16th) bit and then open it up the rest of the way with an awl. Seems like it would work, and make punching with the awl a litter easier.

Thanks

Mark

 

[BrownBear]

No reason it shouldn't work, but I'm wondering why you need holes bigger than 1/16". Heavy lace or thread? I'm of the school that likes a tight fit when I sew or lace, in order to assure a tighter joint.

BTW- We had an ancient saddle maker on our place when I was growing up in the 50's. He didn't drill, rather he used a really sharp awl and a small billet as a "hammer" to drive it through. Even taking his time (he never seemed to hurry at anything), he could turn out a saddle in amazingly short order. And that included hand-carving his trees from mesquite.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Do you have a drill press of some kind? If not, drilling thick leather with a hand drill- even an electric hand drill, becomes very heavy hard work. I have drilled thick skirting leather- once!-- and choose not to make projects that use that thick leather again! The stuff I used was 1/4" or thicker, and I don't think an ordinary Awl would be very practical for punching holes through it .( I tried using an awl before resorting to the drill.)

Wax your thread before sewing the drilled holes. As long as the needle is smaller in diameter than the drill bit, it should go through fairly easily. Drilling allows you to better space the holes, so that the end product looks more "professional".

 

[omarick1948]

The way you get around sewing the thick and very thick leathers, is by SKIVING the edge of the leather you are sewing. This method is done by taking your sharp cutting blade and beveling the very edge of each piece of leather you are sewing together. This not only makes it easier to punch with your awl, but makes a less bulky finished seam! This will not sacrifice any strength and look more professional! Leather craft suppliers i.e. TANDY sells a SKIVING TOOL, that kind of resembles a potato peeler!

Rick

P.s. ... Use to do alot of leather work years back!

 

[BrownBear]

Good point on skiving, horner75. It really helps, and in fact our old resident saddlemaker skived his seams.

Another point for awling rather than drilling: The leather will close back around the thread in an awled hole and lock it, making for a much tighter, more secure seam. If you hog out leather with a hole punch or drill, you're a lot more susceptible to thread stretch or tension shifts allowing the seam to work loose. That can be a big deal with stiff leather.

 

[the11]

Better to use a sharp awl than a drill. As for spacing the holes, get yourself one of these. And using two needles (one on each end of the waxed thread)to stitch both sides at the same time works better than going all the way to one end,and then back on the other side.

It also works great to contact cement the seam together first, before you stitch it.

 

[chipper]

A drill works fine, I use a dremel tool with a drill bit all the time. I pre-mark the holes on both sides of the leather and drill away.

I also use an awl but I wet the leather first and stab away.

Both instances may cause chafing, blisters and an occasional puncture wound. Use as directed.

Regards
Loyd Shindelbower
Loveland Colorado

 

[skunkskinner]

Mark, forget the drill and just use a mallet, nail, and pliers to pull the nail out. Lay the two pieces of leather down on a 2X6 and hammer some holes. Horner75 skiving advices is good also.

 

[the11]

And that included hand-carving his trees from mesquite.

They must have been HEAVY saddles!!

 

[BrownBear]

Yup, working saddles. Kind of a cross between Mexican and western- high cantle and swells with a lot of skirt. Dandy for long days (they were) in rough country (it was) and plenty stout for roping rough stock (if I caught). When I was a little shaver I'd just about fall over backwards lifting one onto a horse.

 

[rkmeyer]

Rick is correct skiving is the way to make a proper looking seam. :thumbsup:
I have used that method for years and it provides a professional looking seam IMHO.
The Tandy tool will last for years as it has a changeable blade.
Dusty :wink:

 

[hotsparks]

Wow! How thick are you working with? I make police service holders (maybe 1 a month) and use 10oz backs and spacers, and 8oz fronts and awl it without much trouble. I agree with the other guys, don't drill...the awled hole will close back up on the stich and hold it tight (service holsters get a lot of abuse). I used to use a stiching needle/awl that has an exposed lock stich on the back, I use the double needle method now ind it's much faster. I made my awl from a 1/8" chainsaw file I left out in the weather. Snapped off about 3", annealed it, and filed/ground a long taper on the last 1-1/2" or so to a rounded point, polished it, rehardened and tempered it and set it in a "mushroom" handle carved from scrap maple. Also made a small maul from glued and laminated maple scraps. Works fine...a tip, no matter which hole punching method you end up using, don't get more than 3 or 4 holes ahead of yourself. When stiching near an edge, like a holster, the leather seems to streach from the stress of the hole making (even when glued with barge glue, like I do during assembly), and pulling each stich tight to set it and you'll find that the holes won't line up easily out there ahead of yourself, you'll spend more time trying to line them up, especially with 3 thicknesses like a holster, or "search" with the needles trying to find a path through the piece.

I love leather work as much as I enjoy ML building.

Oh, but the way, after running out of waxed linen, I found some in the Wal-mart craft section for $2 for 75 feet, enough to do 3 holsters.

John

 

[Black Hand]

Drilled holes ALWAYS look like drilled holes. I use an awl. The difficulty arises when people try to use a round awl to punch holes in thick leather. Personally, I use a triangular awl that I made from a piece of antler and a lenght of broken harness needle or music wire. A triangular awl will even punch through thick leather with relative ease leaving a hole that will allow for the passage of needle and thread. Round holes are difficult to punch and tend to close up.

Must be why leather workers use diamond-shaped stitching awls and the round ones are referred to as "scratch awls"....

 

Thanks for all the replies guys. I usually work with 4oz leather and my current project is 2 layers of 10oz with an 8oz spacer. My awl will make it through, it just seams to be hard on the awl and hard on me :wink:

I was just pondering the thought if it would be easier to drill a hole (smaller than the diameter of my awl) and then use the awl to open it up.

 

[Black Hand]

Small drillbits tend to wander....don't ask how I know. I would suggest punching one side, then using those holes to punch the other side. Insert the spacer and punch those holes. May be a bit more time, but the holes will match up better, and you won't be cursing because your bit wandered....

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

Forget about the drill, use a good sharp awl. It should be as sharp as a needle on the point with almost razor edges and will go through leather like butter. When sewing German entrenching tool carriers (yes, for WW1 reenactors, sorry) the leather is made of 3 thicknesses of 10 oz. leather (right at 1/2 inch thick) it goes through very easily, no skiving necessary. A sharp awl is much easier to control than a drill bit and it allows you control that you simply don't have with a bit. Oh, and don't try to do the awling with the leather flat on a surface, use a non marking clamp if at all possible. A stitching horse or a leatherworker's bench mounted vise will allow you to do a neater job and will help keep the leather from stretching like hotsparks mentions. With the clamp you can do about three to four inches worth of holes without worrying.

 

[akhawkeye]

I will sometimes use a 3/64th drill bit in my Dremel drill press, and then open the holes a little with a stitching awl, like you mentioned. I use this for certain holsters where it is critical that the holes are straight, such as in parallel stitching where the two rows are 1/16" apart or when stitching extremely close to an edge.

However, like some of the other folks mentioned, a drill bit takes away leather, while an awl moves it out of the way. You'll find endless debates over which way is better. I say both ways work, and to use whichever is best for the job.

Now - I'll let you in on a little secret. Take an old awl blade, chuck it up in your drill press (don't turn it on), and punch away. Best of both worlds... Again, use whatever works best for the job.

Colin

 

[LaBonte]

Do what most saddle and harness makers and other pros do that still handstitch - use a well POLISHED and sharpened diamond awl blade and keep a ball of beeswax handy - wax the awl blade every 3-4 stitches (or whenever it gets hard) - works slicker than snot even through 3 layers of 12/14 oz ........
Been doing it that way now for almost 50 years - IMO the method can't be beat....

Skiving, etc can also be used when appropriate...

And a GOOD awl blade is essential - Osborne's are the minimum quality and they need some work to ge them "right". Bob Douglas, Peter Main, and a few others sell top end blades - not cheap but if you're doing a lot of sewing well worth it......