Sarmaticus

Thanks folks! I think 'skiving' must be the word. I've been puzzling over this word for weeks. A quick post here and a few hours later I get an answer to the riddle. Just to tie up the loose ends: does the phrase 'the edges would be skived to nothing' make sense? Thanks again, Sarmaticus

Hi all, I've got a little problem with a leatherworking term that I'm translating from Polish. It appears in a passage about forging documents during WW2, where resistance agents in Poland would cut out sections of pages from a passbook then *smooth down* the edges and then paste in a patch - also with a *smoothed down* edge. The writer compares the smoothing of the edges and subsequent glueing to leatherworking practice. In Polish the word for *smoothing off* the edge is zszarfowac'. I can't find this in any dictionary, on-line or off. Thanks for any help! Sarmaticus