Angled blade

[Davm]

I have a regular, steel swivel knife.  I probably have to practice more than I have but small curves seem difficult to make.  Is the angled swivel knife blade intended for small curves or something else?  The other issue is, the cut needs a certain shape or width. Does the angled blade make this or is the cut subject to closing up?  If I get an angled blade, the ceramic costs more but I am wondering how easy it is to sharpen an angled steel blade and keep the bevels okay. The ceramic blade sold by Tandy is steel colored but I am told it is ceramic and I never have to sharpen it, just strop.  Comments appreciated.

Edited July 27, 2022 by Davm

[chuck123wapati]

1 hour ago, Davm said:

I have a regular, steel swivel knife.  I probably have to practice more than I have but small curves seem difficult to make.  Is the angled swivel knife blade intended for small curves or something else?  The other issue is, the cut needs a certain shape or width. Does the angled blade make this or is the cut subject to closing up?  If I get an angled blade, the ceramic costs more but I am wondering how easy it is to sharpen an angled steel blade and keep the bevels okay. The ceramic blade sold by Tandy is steel colored but I am told it is ceramic and I never have to sharpen it, just strop.  Comments appreciated.

they say the, angled blades, are for fine detail but i use mine for every thing. Never used a ceramic so dont know anything about sharpening them. The  steel angles are no harder than regular straight blades IMo to sharpen or strop.

[TomE]

I thought this was an interesting demonstration, but I don't carve leather and am easily entertained.  

 

[Doc Reaper]

1 hour ago, TomE said:

I thought this was an interesting demonstration, but I don't carve leather and am easily entertained.  

 

Thanks TomE, I have multiple “finger rest” type swivel knives and this knife is the second time I have seen this one, it’s like you barely have to try! Now I’m wanting one

[rleather]

From my experience, the angled blade helps to make those tight cuts. I use just the straight blade for decades until I was given an angled blade from a man that came by my table at a market . He no longer did leather work. He asked for my card and drove off on his Harley. He called me about two weeks later and wanted to give all his tools to me. I said are you sure you have the right person? He said yes , I met you at the market, and I wanted to give them to someone I knew would use and take care of them. He ended up blessing me with what I estimate to be around 2500.00 worth of stuff. We stayed in touch for awhile and I ended up making a couple holsters for him.

[doubleh]

I have been doing floral carving for many a year and the angled blade for tight cuts is a necessity for me. I can do them with a regular blade but the angled one makes things much easier. I prefer ceramic blades as they need  less sharping or stropping than steel. Sharpening a ceramic blade is basically the same as a steel one. I use a diamond hone to get the edge close, switch to a ceramic , then strop, and that's it. If you get it right the blade should just glide through the leather.

[Davm]

Thanks- I'm going to buy an angled blade.  The "regular" blade, on tight curves I have my eyes right now on the leather trying to follow the scribed lines and really having a problem so I think the angled will help a lot. It will help me follow the scribed line better.