reddevil76

Thank you all... I will look into how I can better sharpen the blade. As for its position, the manufacturer didn't make any markings on it or on the splitter itself, so I can only eyeball it when positioning it..

I take a really dense piece of leather, glue it to a piece of flat wood, apply white jeweler's rough to the flesh side, and slide it across the blade in one direction. Anyway, after trying many blade positions and going through a bag of scraps, it is finally working better. Yay!

thanks all... gonna muck around with my splitter tonight with all these suggestions..

I do strop it after every use. One thing though, could be the blade position. When I first got it, it shifted after the 4th to 5th skive. It could never work well after that. I emailed the seller and after one reply to find out the problem, he promptly "disappeared". Clair, does the patterns maintain their shape after splitting?

Would love to! But I live in Singapore and shipping that monster over would kill me..

Especially this Heritage splitter that I have. Its handle doesn't even lock in place! I have to put my left foot on it whenever I am splitting a piece which requires me to pull with both hands. And why do the different splitters bother to vary the blade size from 4 to 8 inch when ALL of them can't split anything wider than 1.5 inch? The only way I can split a 2.5 inch strap through this junk is to tie one end of the strap to the tail of an elephant and whip it! I had accepted that I would have to buy leather in varying thickness to make different parts of the wallets. But sometimes a customer just wants a wallet made from the same side, and that's when I have to split 2.5 X 8 inch pieces & 3.5 X 8 inch pieces. Last night I went to a leather shop to borrow the bell skiver, 6 beautifully cut pieces came out all skewed after skiving and finally I had to bin them. Isn't there a better way to thin leather?

Thank you

Hi Cheryl, thanks for the compliment. Here's the stamp set I used. I used the smallest size for the lighter cover. http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/home/department/Leather-Stamps/Craftool-Leather-Stamp-Sets/69009-00.aspx

Just some stuff done over the week

Hi, the woodlands print have been sold out. The desert print are still available.

Yes, I understand he used a swivel knife. But I believe he also did something else after cutting. But not sure what.

Reference to the picture, can anyone advise if the artist used a spoon, ball stylus or lifter after he/she did the swivel knife work?

I have some desert print camo leather for sale in the For Sale section. The Woodlands print has been sold out.

Thank you all. Checking out Leather Wranglers now..

Advice noted! Stewart, no probs.. I had thought the post was for me but wasn't sure. Thanks for contributing to the thread.

Thank you all for your insightful comments. Even if we agree to disagree! I do have a swingarm light. But so far, I have limited any stamping or swivel knife practise to only day time (at the balcony), so I am sure lighting is not the issue. Bobby, your last comment makes alot of sense. I agree with that. That's why I choose to buy better leather recently, because I don't wish to put in 20+ hours on a hand made wallet, only to have its quality suffer because of poor materials. However, I am looking at Tandy, because they do have more expensive options which I thought should be a good enough upgrade for me. The Al Stohlman series of swivel knives? But please do comment if you have any info to share on these knives. I would seriously consider splashing out for a SK-3 if I am convinced that any others won't do.

Thanks for the replies. I did tilt my knife while cutting but it still obscures the traced line. I have considered using an angled blade instead. However, to control shipping costs, I will have wait till I have more things to order before I can order a blade in. In the meantime, I just have practise with my standard Craftool one. Who knows, if I can get any good with it, I might do better once I can afford a better knife! I did read alot regarding the SK knifes, but it doesn't quite make sense for me to ship from multiple sources. i try to keep my ordering one stop. So I may consider buying the Al Stohlman Swivel Knife from Tandy as I make most of my purchases there.

I've just started on practising the swivel knife and my bin is full of discarded leather now. When cutting large twisties, is it normal that you actually have to twist the knife to the point where you are pushing the blade instead of pulling it towards you? I don't see how I could cut them otherwise unless I turn the piece as I cut. However, that prevents a smooth continous cut. Also, I tried cutting with a traced outline, and I find it extremely difficult to see the traced line unless I lean the blade to a side which isn't very good for getting a smooth cut.

Completed these this week...

Prices and sizes available? Possible for 3-4 oz?

Thank you!

I'd say you got the better end of the deal!

Trying to make use of the camo leather..