Hi, Kathy -- I saw your request for skiver reviews, and I've got lots to tell you. First, there are a lot of us small-potatoes handbag makers in the SF Bay area, if that's where you live. I"ll try to figure out how to private-msg you to invite you to join us in our meetings.
Secondly, one of our group bought a Cobra skiver a couple of months back, and after a little tweaking that things skives SO BEAUTIFULLY that I'm very jealous. It skives pieces that can be fairly large, actually, acting like a splitter, as well as a skiver.
I own a different brand, and it doesn't seem to work quite as well as the Cobra does, although in all fairness it could just be that it needs some of the fine-tuning that she did for her Cobra skiver.
I've got two other friends (also in our leather worker group in SF Bay area) who own used Fortunas, and they're working alright, but it is fairly impossible to find used skivers. I know I would never sell my skiver unless I got a better one, like the Cobra.
Anyway, I'll try to figure out how to msg you to let you try out our skivers. Good Luck! Pepper