howler

Thanks for your reply oltoot. I already own an Osborne Head knife (Ref 71) http://www.handtools-uk.com/p1346-head-knife-osborne-ref-71 which is very useful but I find it difficult for skiving strap ends for buckles (may just be lack of practice or not sharp enough). Is it worth me buying a Round Knife (Ref 70) too or should I persist with the Head Knife? Would you agree with Al Stohlman's book where he says :- "the Head knife is more practical than the Round knife for all round use as you can do all skiving with it, and the narrower points are much better for cutting purposes"? Regards Pete

Thanks Is it good for skiving 4mm strap ends down to 2mm for attaching a buckle? Regards

In the photo is an Osborne skiving knife I just bought from http://www.handtools-uk.com/ In the photo the bevelled edge of the blade is uppermost. Here's the web page:- http://www.handtools-uk.com/p1586-skiving-knife-osborne-ref-469b-uk-right-hand-us-left The knife is described as :- Skiving Knife Osborne Ref 469B (UK Right Hand US Left). I live in the UK and I'm right handed. OK so what's the problem? You can see from the angle of the knife in my photo that it would be OK for me, as a right-handed person, to do some paring by pushing the knife away from me with the bevelled side uppermost. The problem is that on page 15 of my Al Stohlman book (http://www.amazon.com/Leathercraft-Tools-Al-Stohlman/dp/1892214903) Al is telling me that the bevelled edge should be underneath against the leather. The illustration in the Stohlman book shows a right-handed person holding the knife but the angle on the blade goes the opposite way to mine. I'm guessing his illustration shows the 469A version of the knife as opposed to my 469B version. (the difference between the 469A and 469B versions is shown here https://www.osborneleathertools.com/category.php?cid=5). If I was to use my knife with the bevelled side down then the blade would be at the wrong angle for me to pare leather by pushing the knife away from me. (The blade would be perpendicular to my body). My questions for the forum are:- 1) Does the bevelled edge really have to be on the underside? (My knife seems to cut well whether the bevel is up or down) 2) Does anyone know why the knife I've bought is called "Right Hand" in the UK and "Left Hand" in the US? The guy I spoke to at the UK store couldn't really explain this. 3) Can anyone verify that the knife I've bought is OK for a right-handed person to use? 4) Is all this "UK Right Hand US Left" stuff just complete bollocks?

Thanks for this tutorial Kevin - I'm trying out some French binding myself. I noticed that your 30 ins of lambskin is about, say 4 cm wide. Then, after it's rolled over the edge and sewn, a lot of it gets trimmed away. Does it need to be that wide to give you something to get hold of when you're rolling and stretching it over the edge? Could a cost saving be made by initially cutting the lambskin less wide - or does that make it impractical to use? Thanks and regards Pete (UK)

Thanks. The question is more around the preparation for gluing rather than the choice of glue itself. I'm looking for something I could use to remove the tallow or wax without messing up the leather. Regards

Does anyone know a better way of preparing the flesh side of waxy bridle butt for gluing a lining? I'm experimenting with gluing a 1.5mm patent leather lining to 3.5mm Sedgewick bridle butt. The bridle butt is coated with what I guess is tallow on the flesh side (white stuff like candle wax). I didn't want to glue the patent leather directly to that slimy greasy surface because I thought it wouldn't stick properly. I tried scraping the wax off with a knife but the surface was still waxy and slimy. I found an article on the Internet which suggested washing the surface with soap and water. I did this but found that no matter how much I washed it the surface remained slimy when wet. (I assume this is because the bridle butt is treated all the way through it's thickness). I left the leather to dry, the sliminess disappeared and it seemed OK to go ahead and glue the patent leather onto it. I'm now waiting for the glue to dry. (I'm using Evo-Stik Timebond). The problem is that by washing the leather on the flesh side the grain side got wet too and I'm now wondering whether I've damaged the bridle butt by washing out too much of it's oils and tallow. (I'm not using this bridle butt for saddlery by the way). So my question is:- Does anyone know a better way of preparing the flesh side of waxy bridle butt for gluing a lining?

Hi Woodentop I've just started leatherworking and I want to make contact with other UK people to exchange info about tools, dyes, suppliers, techniques and stuff. Cheers Pete (Yorkshire)