Andrew Chee

Hello all. Does anyone here have experience with ordering from Sieck from the U.S.? They have a Machine that I'm interested in and shipping isn't too bad. They appear to be a reputable establishment as I understand it. Does anyone have any direct experience they would like to share? Also, what would the import duties be like? Any info would be appreciated. Andrew

Re-tanned leather (or combination tanned) usually refers to leather that have been chrome tanned first and the steeped in a vegetable tanning solution. Generally this results in a leather that is softer than pure veg tan leather (the chrome tanning produces a softer skin usually) that is then finished in vegetable tannins that give it some of the qualities of vegetable tanned leather (a bit more ability to patina). Horween's Chromexcel is a good example of this type of leather. Because of the softer nature of this type of leather, I would not think that it would make a good tooling leather. Andrew

Can you send out a pick of the leathers to show condition and blemishes? Andrew

I've used both english bridle leather from W&C (split down to about 5oz) as well as english bridles from Sedgwick and Claytons. Claytons you can buy from Booth and co. in Peabody Mass but they are thicker. Sedgewick does have an english bridle double shoulder I believe at 5oz thickness from Abbery England. W&C you can get whatever thickness you want. The picture you sent looks like W&C type of bridle. Bear in mind, W&C bridle and the english stuff are nothing alike. All are great leathers but the english stuff is much more heavily stuffed. They actually come with what looks like a layer of paraffin wax on top. There's like a hard wax finish to it. You can actually scratch the wax slightly and then buff it out a bit. It's just very different than W&C which is closer to what you see in the pic you sent. I've taken a heat gun to the surface of the english stuff to see what would happen and the top wax layer melts into the leather and gives you a completely different look to the leather. Anyways, all good but if you're looking for something like what's in the picture, go with the W&C stuff. Andrew

They can be found at www.ronstools.com. They're listed as "Montana" edgers in the catalog. Andrew

They're mostly good for small leather goods. Wallets and such. They're too small to make bags with really and too expensive. Nice stuff though. As for shinki plasticiness, it is a bit more but it's not plasticky like cheap leather, just when compared to the other two. I think the Claytons is a great option when horween is available.

Where are you guys located? Andrew

Try a rons tool #1 Montana ester. They are designed for thin leather and I can edge leather that thin assuming that it's firm enough. Andrew

I'd be careful about a soldering iron. Their temps are probably too hot unless you can find one with adjustable temp. Temps hot enough to solder are probably too hot for leatherwork. Andrew

It's not difficult. It's a combination of waxes and fats that companies use. The difficulty is in getting the correct formula. Fats like tallow, neatsfoot oil, lanolin etc.. will absorb into leather fairly easily. Waxes like beeswax and paraffin will need to be heat. You will have to make up some concoction mixes these things. Then you have to heat them so they are liquid and will absorb into the leather. Another way to do it is to mix your waxes and fats with a solvent which will keep the ingredients liquid and will allow them to be absorbed into leather. Google something called British Museum leather dressing. There's a formula out there for something like this. I've also heard that it is better to curry the leather while it's wet so it absorbs the oils more evenly. The main point is that you can definitely do this at home but it would probably take quite a bit of experimentation to get the right formula depending on what effect you want. Andrew

I've been trying this technique out lately. In general I prefer Veg Tan leather and traditional burnishing but I've been trying to make some watch straps using alligator skin and traditional burnishing just doesn't work on that type of stuff. I have some Italian edge paint from Cambell Randall as well as some edge paint from Tandy. They are pretty similar stuff. I believe that this type of paint is latex based. So far, what I've been doing is putting on a somewhat heavy layer of paint, letting it dry completely, then using an iron on it. The Iron I have is the one that Campbell Randall makes. I set it so it's about 160-180 degrees farenheit (I use an infrared thremometer to check). What I notice is that the iron kinda melts and smooths out the paint a little bit. Too much heat and it seems to melt the paint right off so that's not good. After I use the heater, I sand with high grit sand paper (320-400 grit). It actually seems to sand off quite a bit of the paint as well but it smooths it out even more. I repeat this process one or two more times until I get an edge that I feel is smooth. Then I sand that down and I apply a final color using regular leather dye over the painted edge. Then I finish with paraffin wax on a felt wheel. The results so far is decent. I wouldn't say they were great. The fact is that every time I put a new layer of paint on, it doesn't go on completely smoothly. When I use the heating tool, it smooths out the paint but not in a uniform way. To be honest, I don't completely understand the purpose of using the heating tool. Maybe I'm doing it wrong but I don't get as nice and uniform an edge as I can get with traditional burnishing. The edge is pretty decent though but not perfect. Anyways, if anyone has mastered this tool, please share. Andrew

Hello all. Just figured that some folks here might be interested in a photo comparison between Horween, Clayton, and Shinki shell cordovan. I recently have been able to purchase a bit of each to compare. As you will see in the pictures below, the darkest one is the Horween shell. The middle brown is the shinki, and the tan one is a Clayton. They are all around 3-4oz in thickness. Horween is the most expensive by far, almost twice as expensive as the other two. In terms feel, Clayton's is a little bit softer than the Horween but comes closest in terms of touch on the front and back side. The back side of the Shinki is rougher kinda like if they put the shell through a splitter (although the fact that the shell runs from 3-4oz makes me think they didn't). If you were looking for something that most closely resembles Horween shells then the Claytons will come the closest. The Shinki is nice but has a slightly firmer feel with a slightly rougher backside. They are all very nice shells and pretty similar to each other but those are the differences that I can tell.Of course neither the Clayton nor the Shinki give you the nice "Horween" stamp on the back that people look for... The Horween shells have to be purchased from Horween. The Claytons can be purchased from Booth and Co in Peabody Mass. The Shinki I won't say cause the people selling it didn't really seem like they wanted to sell them so they probably wouldn't appreciate a bunch of people ordering it.

There's no such thing as a round knife skiver as far as I know. Supposedly a German Fortuna skiver is better than a Chinese clone but I if you get it from a reputable place it should work well and be cheaper than a German machine. As for top and bottom skiver, they are better for heavy leathers but I feel they are less precise On the thin stuff. Much more expensive too. If you mainly need to go edge skiving rhen a bottom feed siding even for heavy leathers. If you need to do a fill two inch split on belt leather than you need a top and bottom feed. Andrew

I had one of these. I tried using it for mostly veg tan leather and found that it didn't really work very well. It would cut into the leather and I ruined a lot of pieces with it. The blades are razor blades so they are easy to replace. You could spend a few hundred more and get a used Chinese bell skiver and you would have a much better skiver. These things aren't cheap. Andrew For example. The scarf-fix is $379. I was able to buy a used consew bell knife skiver for $600. Definitely more money but works much much better. Andrew

Here are the pics. Andrew

Hello all, I have a like new Cobra leather splitter. I purchased it new a few months back and it has been lightly used. Works perfectly. Condition is like new. I don't have much of a use for it now so I'm selling it. This is the head only unit so it is hand cranked. New the head only is $1950. I am selling mine for $1700. I would prefer a local (San Francisco Bay Area) transaction but will ship. US shipping from UPS with insurance and everything would be in the $150-200 range depending on where you are. Thanks. Andrew

Hi Wiz, just sent you a PM. Andrew

The blade width is 6" but the effective width is probably 5-1/2" to 5-3/4" not exactly sure. I'll look into shipping and packing and let you know. Andrew

I don't like ring snaps for small things cause when unsnapped, the Rings rattle. Universal fasteners/YKK makes them in different sizes and finishes and they are nice. Andrew

This splitter is still for sale. I am now willing to ship it if you pay for packing and shipping (it would be whatever UPS charges for packing, insuring, and shipping). Thanks. Andrew

Wow. I didn't even know you could do this to leather. Can you take some closer up pictures? How does this differ in terms of look and feel from say stamping an image? I suppose here would be more flexibility in that any pattern you design would work instead of having to have a stamp made... Andrew

I have a tool drawer with removable tray inserts. The tray inserts are key cause it lets you rearrange stuff easily as your collection of hardware grows. Andrew

The knife shouldn't have any play in it. Is the knife not bolted on to the shaft tightly or is the shaft itself moving? Also, one thing to consider is that when you skive thin leather, the blade should sit closer to the feed wheel while if you skive thick leather, it should sit further back (to the right I guess). This will help in the feeding of the item. Andrew

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I will also be posting a cobra 14" fixed blade crank splitter up for sale in the near future if you're interested in that. Andrew

Yes it is still available. Andrew