The Finer Points of Leather Round Awls

Last week, I wrote about “Which Leather Awl Do You Need” and went over diamond blade awls. Today, I will cover the other primary type, round awls.

The humble round awl is often an afterthought even though it does the important job of marking your pattern on the leather. Having a good round awl is like having a good pen. You can get by with any old pen, but a well-made writing instrument is a joy to use. And just like pens, sometimes the small differences matter; just compare a 0.25mm line width vs. a 0.5mm.

You can match your round awl to the type of job you’re doing or to your preference to make your work easier. I have many round awls to do different functions in leatherworking.  It’s worth investing in a few good ones to use for critical operations like marking your cut lines, creating round corner holes for seams, and backstitching. Let’s review a few types of round awls.

Marking Awl

Your marking awl is a workhorse. I use this awl to mark my patterns, trace lines for cutting, and even paint edges in a pinch. It should be sharp enough to make cutting lines but not so fine that it snaps when you push a point into the leather. I set my marking awl to have the sharpness of a harness needle. This is for tracing lines on leather. Because it is the duller of the two, it presses into the leather but does not cut it. Set your end sharpness to your visual needs. My marking awl traces a line width of about 0.5mm so that I can see it better.

Piercing Round Awl

When making a round hole at the end of a seam, I use a round awl sharpened for piercing leather. If you work mostly with thin leather, this could double as a backstitch awl. It has a sharper point than my marking awl, so I can easily cut through the leather and make a round hole for stitching. Using my blunted marking awl, I might stretch the leather before making the hole and distort it. Like your diamond sewing awl, the blade width of this round awl should relate to your thread thickness and stitching hole size. When using this awl, I put a punching mat or cork surface underneath so I don’t dull out the tip.

Backstitch Awl

I’m a bit fuzzy on who taught me this first, but I think Jean Luc Parisot suggested I use a separate round awl for marking and backstitching. When backstitching, the second stitch goes into an existing hole that is usually pretty crowded with the first stitch’s thread. Often, you can weave your way with a needle, but some leather closes up fast, and fitting the needle back in is a challenge. A backstitch awl can save you because it is sturdier than a needle but not so thick that it pierces or cuts your thread. I use a separate round awl as my backstitch awl because the blade is about half the thickness of my marking awl. Using my backstitch awl as a marking awl would easily bend it after a day’s use.

Get the Awl That You Need

We make our awls and can customize them to fit the uses I described earlier. I designed the handles with leatherworkers in mind and how one actually uses them day-to-day. We set our marking awls with a slightly thicker blade for sturdiness and visibility while putting thinner blades in our backstitch awls for sewing.