Description
Our in-house made marking awl. Many people use round awls interchangeably, but I was taught to separate the awl I use for marking leather and backstitching. A good marking awl should be sharp enough to mark your leather when tracing a line and strong enough to mark a hole by tapping the end of it with your palm.
As one wise saddlemaker once put it, “you can use a framing nail for a marking awl.” I thought we would make one better than a framing nail.
Our marking awl features a thicker 2.25mm round awl blade with a tapered front end for gripping pencil style. It also has a flat handle end for tapping when marking holes. The grip narrows at the top so you can hold it upright more easily.
My old round awls loved to roll themselves off the table to the death of their points. I made sure to add flats to our handles so the tools will stay put.
