Books By Hand, Light Duty Bookbinding Awl Scratch Awl, 5.8 inch, Wooden Handle with a Steel Needle Point

Works well, is very sharp. It is makes a fairly small hole. If you are wanting to easily use wax thread or twine you might need a larger one.

I use these as a burnisher for the edges of precious metals when making jewelry. They need to be polished first, but once that is done they allow for very fine control in the smallest of spaces. Much better than the large burnishers usually sold for jewelrymaking. The result is a mirror shine.

It is exactly the right gauge for making holes in journals and their covers. I am pleased with the results.

This item is as described being "light duty". After using it for small book-binding projects for just a few weeks, however, the tip is already bent. It is good for small detail work, but not made to last.

This has worked well in my homemade journals.

I recently learned a new way to make sketchbooks, but soon realized that not all awls are suited for the same purpose. I'm not sure what kind I had previously, but I learned that I could use a light and heavy duty awl specifically for book binding.From the first hole I made, I knew that I would need to baby this thing to get it to last for even a few books. The metal part will flex if you use any more pressure than needed to mark holes. Note I said just marking holes. I lifted the signatures up off of the surface I was poking the holes through for fear of breaking it. I've only had to do that to make considerably larger holes with my other ones.Guess the only reason I didn't give this anything lower is 1. It arrived intact and unbent and 2. It survived making a 19 signature book with kinda thick paper. I might update my score if it breaks after less than 10 books.

Total waste of money. When it said light duty it meant very light duty. I'm not heavy handed, but this awl snapped off while piercing the second set of signatures I used it on. (Only 4 sheets of sketchbook paper) it was not very sharp so I had to slowly twist the awl and even then couldn't get a clean puncture. Going back to Hollander's to get my bookbinding awls.

Definitely LIGHT DUTY. It is very flimsy. I used it to punch a hole in a very thing piece of leather. I would recommend just buying a screw punch.