GeneH

Wow. Just wow. Just really really wow that's beautiful!

Yep, worthy of proudness. Somehow you managed to get the whole look-color, simplicity, shape with both the knife and sheath in harmony. It's really pleasing to look at.

What an awesome jig for straight lines. I hadn't thought of a guide to keep the chisel vertical. Expand on the versatility a little for curves by using a square block sitting on top of the 2 layers of leather and hold a 2 prong chisel to the block with your thumb. I am thinking the straight (lateral not vertical) side of the block is needed instead of a curved side because if the chisel isn't on the vertical apex of the curved block it will be angled, not vertical. I could be wrong in the head though.

Class all the way.

Better late than never. Ugh, did I just say that? Thanks for pitching in - I have a couple Preil carving chisels - good tools. I might consider that carving knife you pictured for the smaller curves that give me trouble with the larger knife. I'm pretty sure I don't have enough edged tools sitting around.

I paid $35 for the knife and $8 shipping. Weird. Maybe your order was just big enough to qualify for free shipping. Now you will have a pair of left hand knives and a right hand and a little hawkbill? Cool. Always a sharp one handy. I'm able to use my right hand knife left-handed. I did not specify left or right when I ordered.

I have a 2 prong stitching chisel and a diamond awl. Lighting is a pair of LED bulbs in swing arm lamps about 3 feed from the work. I'll add a focused headlamp to really spotlight the area. Thought I could just make little marks and then while stitching make a need small slot with my awl. Part of my reason to do this was because of a (I think it was yours) thread about getting a good slant, front and back, with think leather - this is something I'm going to have to contend with eventually.

How do you mark pre dyed thin black leather for stitching lines and spacing? I can’t see the marks to poke slots slots with my awl. I have this very soft thin black used scrap leather that I want to do some practice stitching on and discovered I can’t see the mark or dimples when using my chisel as a pricking iron. Trying to put tiny silver dots properly spaced using a ruler isn’t very accurate at all for me.

Outstanding. I'm not used to seeing green and yellow designs so this one really pops out.

That is the best design of a head knife sheath I've see and really well executed. I'd like to leave constructive feedback, but sorry, this is just another "awesome job!" post. You hit a nice balance of tooling with the longer stems and leaves so the sheath's squat nature doesn't stand out.

Happy Wednesday! I received my knife today from Kevin (Crazy cut on ebay) and am totally impressed. It's ready to use out-of-the-box. Fit and Finish is excellent. The blade is straight with the handle. The handle itself is remarkably smooth, endgrain popping nicely, and does not appear to have a varnish coating. As for the blade, most of it is a nice satin finish. The bevel does have fine grind marks, and is polished to a high shine by (I'm guessing) a buffing wheel because the polish extends above the bevel a little. The really nice surprising is the edge. I'm used to good cutting edges, and this one is as good as it gets. When I run my fingers across it splits the fingerprints and threatens to keep going. Kevin apparently put a really small neat micro bevel and did an excellent job of it. Not a burr to be found, no roughness or unevenness. I planned on using the knife to cut some corrugated cardboard patterns then resharpent it, but not now. That edge is just too nice. I'll try to post a couple pictures.

WOW! Ship notice said my knife passed through Chicago USPS!

How is your sharpening coming along? Sorry I'm so long in replying. Give us an update and I'll do my best to post whatever help I can. The folks here have helped me so much I feel guilty not paying it forward. What sharpening supplies do you have on hand now, and what is your budget for sharpening stuff? (Like "minimal", "I'll buy stones, but keep it cheap," "Hey, let's make a hobby out of learning to sharpen everything in the house!" ) The latter is what I did and no looking back. I've passed on those skills to all 3 of my kids, along with stones and knives. Now I get lecured when my kitchen knives are not up to snuff.

I was wondering why one end is chopped ... less material for extra blade most of us won't use? Have 3 of us ordered new knives from Kevin Lee about the same time as this thread is active or just before? Mine will arrive 4/8 - 5/13. This might be a good time for some reviews after a little use and sharpening. I'll probably take go slice up some cardboard boxes and compare with a very inexpensive D2 belt knife with a scandi grind. (granted I have a bit of small primary bevel so the belt knife will have an advantage. But I will be...fun?)

Zuludog: I though making multiple passes to get through leather or anything else was just a bad habit of mine developed from either poor tools and skill. Thanks for validating that I'm not as skill-less and wimpy as I thought. :-)

I doubt I would have the muscle control pushing a knife (round or head knife) around a tight curve template since I've used pulling strokes all my life when cutting shapes. Part of your question hints at the knife's ability to hold an edge. Are you asking about a round/head knife for it's utility for leather work because of its shape? That was part of my questions also when deciding on a new knife. Either way you need a knife with hard steel, thin behind the edge, but not too hard or thin that it chips or snaps off a millimeter of the pointy tip. (...and I have no idea what hardness or steel to suggest for leather... but hope to get a little education when my knife arrives. I want buttery smooth slicing, and no chipping if I use it on a poly cutting board)

Those are the really fun finds. I’d love that one too for all the same reasons you do.

Glad to hear that a right hand knife will do just fine in my left. IMO the more mainstream the less likely to get a bum product. I try to stay with ambidextrous tools, left handed only when there’s a significant advantage. Remember the stupid classroom desks with only a right half desktop? Ugh. Now THAT was a pain. Someday I want a left hand Suji or Deba from Japanese Knife Imports out in CA. Gotta go look at a Kizer in SC35. My boys have just purchased Benchmade with SV 35 (or is it 30?) but darn nice edge retention. (Cutting up lots of corrugated cardboard)

Gotta say everyone contributed so much that helped me off the fence to a purchase decision. I sure hope my replies came across the way I intended: affirmation of the reply, checked out the suggestions, figured it out, relayed what I learned, etc. I’m sometimes concerned I might come across in some way that depreciates you’re time spent posting ideas and opinions. We shall see what this knife brings to the table and go from there! [ I’m going to keep an eye out for a piece of industrial hack saw blade just to see what it can do... :-) ]

Yep, I would have been holding the flat to the good side - exactly backwards.

These just popped up for me. Stated as DC53 steel, and according to a quick google education, superior to D2, (tougher, more chip resistant at higher hardness)....soooo... if the HT is good then I should be more than satisfied. For a while. At the price I can't justify the T&M to make one. BONUS if it's really good then we might be looking for belt knives. heh. I wonder if there is any real difference between left and right orientation when using the knife, 'cause I'm a leftie. No matter, we'll see what happens. If it wasn't for the videos I would have been using it backwards anyway.

I didn't see her knife listing before - seems she has 2 different sites. Now I see what she has here: https://sorrellnotionsandfindings.com/product/skiving-knives/ And of course working up the edge should be expected on most knives just to suit our particular OCD bent for that perfect edge. :-) It's my expectation to have to tweak a new tool. Nothing wrong with that is there.

That's a couple votes for straight, single bevel, Japanese knives. Zuludog I might have a small plane blade around here to try out. That would give me an idea of how I would like that style of leather cutting. I watched a couple videos (since the last posts endorsing Japanese style blades) showing to hold it. I can easily thin and smooth the the bevel if it seems a little steep. Edge retention might be so-so, but this is a low time investment to try.

This is one of the responses I had hoped to receive as it's in line with how I get started: one tool that'll do the job well and expand from there as required.

You’re right about that. I’ve only purchased used kitchen knives where it looks like it’s never been sharpened. I wouldn’t be able to tell if it’s been taken to a power sharpener and the edge’s HT is ruined. No fun grinding back to good steel including fixing the shape and bevel. That’s part of the reason I didn’t bid on any of those Osborn’s. I get the feeling a clean, good used knife is only going to save about 20 bucks over what Kevin has, if I can find one. No really worth the risk and time. Thanks for the opinion of Tandy and new Osborn’s. Curious to hear what other opinions are out there.