Ed Minch wrote:

"My addition would be  LIT    Leave it there

"And $212 for a scratch awl???"



My addition would be "NFSP"----Needed For Stalled Project. That would keep the
tool or whatever on the bench for 10 years minimum. I have fine bindings I
completed 25 years after I started them, and others that aren't yet completed
after a longer wait.

$212 for a scratch awl? Well....I'm inclined to be tolerant. They are (I am
serious here) trickier to make than it would seem, and the price reflects time
making it and bringing it to market.

I used to turn quite a few awls for sewing books. Basically a leatherworkers'
awl in one of several styles, made of various fancy wood scrap. Blades made of
(sharp) binders' needles, which means you can prepunch holes and do the actual
sewing with a (round-point) harness needle. Intricate shapes make the awls
easier to hold and use, and fun to turn. I never had two come out quite the
same, which is also fun; and it meant that each person who tried them liked a
different one. At that time I got part of my income from selling wooden binding
equipment, so I checked the time it took me to make them pretty carefully; they
would have made a great addition to what I offered. But I found that all told I
was spending two hours on each one, including splitting or sawing out the blank
through sanding to 600 grit with raising the grain three times at 150 and 180,
and a spit coat of shellac. At my then shop rate this translated into $40-$60 if
sold face-to-face, no marketing expense. I couldn't see charging that much when
I bought the handles that inspired me for $5 each, and when new common awls were
under $15, so I never made them for sale, just used them as presents for
friends. (I may have been wrong about their saleability.)

The $212 awls are all the same design, to they are mass producable, but they are
also a much more intricate mixture of more materials. Including, by the way, a
ridiculous hardened steel replacable point. Sheeeit. I suppose when you wear the
old one out, you go down to the local Ace Hardware to get a replacement? What's
wrong with regrinding the whole blade when needed? Take it from me, no one who
would spend this money for an awl would ever use it enough to need to replace
the blade....Ahem. Back to supporting the price.

Let's suppose I had made my $60 awl in Australia, and lets look at what happens
to the price (ignoring rates of exchange for simplicity). Basic cost $60. VAT
$20 (just a guess, but I'm always shocked by the VAT on stuff from abroad).
Postage and shipping $20, assuming several awls in a box, based on rates for
chisels on eBay. We're at $100 already. Retailer's markup 40%; I don't know what
is customary in the boutique tools trade, but this isn't unlike stuff I know
about in the past, like new books. Now we're already at $140 for a two-material
awl, which looks to my eyes just as ridiculous as $212 for the four-material
precision-fitted awl under examination (the replacable tip would have to be
precision work).

I'm surprised that anyone would spend this much money for an awl; me, I doubt
I've ever spent even $10. But I'm not surprised that this much would be charged
for it, and I certainly wouldn't be upset. The cost here seems to be just a
reflection of the cost of production.

I don't see much I like about these awls; they seem over-engineered,
aesthetically heavy, and butt ugly. I've always disliked this basic style awl,
with a little round lump on the extreme end of a long shaft; for years I looked
for a use for them, and I never found anything that wasn't done far better by an
awl with a longer handle and a shorter shaft. But if you like them? Well,
there's no accounting for tastes.

Tom Conroy