What is a Leather Awl?

What is a Leather Awl?

A leather awl is a hand-held leather working tool that can be used for a variety of purposes. Mainly, they are used for marking or piercing small holes in leather, usually for later running thread or stitches through. When used for making holes, sometimes, they are referred to as leather awl punches. This is due to their use being used in those instances for punching small holes.

There are also leather sewing awls, with a specially-shaped tip that makes pushing thread or lanyard through much easier. The shape of the tips is one of the main elements that makes awls different. Some are pointed, others diamond shapes.

Some awls are fixed blade, meaning the blade is permanently attached to the handle. Other awls are available with interchangeable blades, where the blades can be removed and switched out, keeping the same handle.

This helps keep tools costs down, as it is generally less expensive to buy a single blade, than it is a new blade/handle. Also, it takes up less space to store one handle and several blades, than storing several individual tools.

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