Popular Woodworking 2005-11 № 151, страница 47

I any tools seen for the first time express their full function by their very existence. They need no explanation. Hammers, a saw and a vise are such tools. There is an informal aesthetic working that delivers the tool's function and technique to the observant viewer. This aesthetic immediately conveys all the information without explanation. Awls are that type of tool.

With one glance a woodworker knows an awl's function. Piercing awls (sometimes called brad awls) pierce wood. Scratch awls (also known as marking awls) are used for laying out projects and joints. Here I discuss how to identify, use and maintain three types of piercing awls and the scratch awl.

The aesthetics of an awl are complete when the awl "looks" as though it will fit the hand and do the work. There are two ends to an awl, the business end and the handle. Both are important. Good awls have bulbous handles that serve to distribute the pressure needed to push the awl into the wood over a wide area of the heel of the palm of the hand. Use an awl that is too narrow all day long and you'll see my point - no pun intended.

Not 'Awl' That Common

A few years ago while I was demonstrating at a national woodworking show, a couple young men came by my demonstration area and caught the tail end of my presentation. When I had finished, they joined the usual crowd, traced their fingertips over the handles of my hand planes and saws, and said, "Man! Where did you get all these old tools?"

However, while looking among the scattering of tools, these men

didn't pick up or even notice one of my piercing awls -a birdcage awl - which is still fairly uncommon in the United States. I bought it, along with my other tools, as a young man earning my modest wage of the English equivalent of $4.50 for a 52-hour week. Though the awl's real value compared to planes and saws lay somewhat obscured to the men's cursory glances, I have grown to depend on my square-pointed birdcage awl more than any other type of awl.

For the most part all awls are fairly underestimated tools. Mention awls to most woodworkers and they will likely stare back at you blankly and wonder what you are talking about, that is until they hinge a few doors and box lids.

The true appreciation of this unobtrusive little tool comes only when, with swift, single-handed dexterity, you locate the sharpened point in the center of the hinge hole, press and twist, and there you have the most perfectly tapered hole, ready to receive the likewise tapered screw threads of even the smallest of screws. Hand tools such as these only become truly appreciated when they have fulfilled their function time and time again, year after year.

All Awls Aren't Created Equal

Awls once came in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. R. A. Salaman, in his comprehensive "Dictionary of Woodworking Tools" (Astragal Press) describes 14 different types of awls including the brad awl, upholsterers awl, flooring awl, sprig awl, scratch awl and marking awl. In the United States it's common to term any of the more

specific awl names under the singular heading of "awl." But not all awls are created equal. In fact, they can be quite different.

Generally, we use awls for two purposes: piercing wood or scribing wood surface s for layout. Most people put awls in two categories: brad awls (also called sprig bits) and scratch awls (also called marking awls). However, a brad awl is just one kind of piercing awl - many different types of piercing awls exist.

Here I discuss three types of piercing awls (the screwdriver-shaped brad awl, the square-point birdcage awl and the round-point awl), and the scratch awl.

'Awl in Awl,' What's the Difference?

The most common use for piercing awls is to pierce wood fibers

See the difference between the oval wood and the triangular-shaped piece of plastic. Bulbous, oval handles better distribute pressure.

for starting screws or nails. All piercing awls are used the same way with a push-and-twist-of-the-wrist action back and forth to the required depth. There are definite differences between each of the three types of piercing awls, even though their objective while in use and the end result are always the same.

All planes plane wood. Some are dedicated to straightening boards whereas some merely smooth surfaces. Others create shapes and still others fit parts. But all of them remove shavings. So, too, piercing awls are used to pierce wood fibers in some way. It's how they pierce wood and what the result of that piercing is that has a bearing on which type of piercing awl you choose.

To show the difference between the three piercing awls,

Awls may be intended for the same purpose, but all awls aren't created equal.

popularwoodworking.com

45