New Swivel Knives and Round Knives

[ftnpenlvr]

To date, I have gotten a couple of cheap swivel knives, one with ceramic blade, and an Al Stohlman round knife, all off of Amazon.

The first swivel knife was of brand Owden, and had an issue with the yoke popping off easily, but it cut well.  I ordered a different brand, along with a ceramic blade, and has worked well, but, I am curious as to whether I am missing out on something.  I cannot justify to myself, the expense of paying over $100 for an SK3, as beautiful as they are.

The round knife takes a little doing to keep a good edge on.  Lots of stropping, with the occasional touch up on the WorkSharp.  It is a good size for my toolbox, and cuts through thinner, or softer leather very nicely; 7-8 ounce and thicker, though, I have to make multiple passes, or do a lot of rocking of the blade to make a smooth cut.  When I have a good edge on it, it works well enough, but, similarly, I wonder if I am missing out by only using the one. 

I have recently ordered a swivel knife from Slice (also with ceramic blade), and a couple of Japanese swivel knives from BuckleGuy.Com, and a couple more round knives to check out from Amazon.  The round knives should be arriving today; looking forward to giving a review of them after I have had a chance to play with them a bit.

[tsunkasapa]

Just my take, but here it is.

I have 7 swivel knives, ranging from really cheap up to a Barry King. I use them all for different things. But except for the one really cheap one I use for the nylon beveling blade, there really isn't enough difference to justify the prices on some of them. Others are going to chime in otherwise, but I've done this for going on 40 years, and if I were to start over again, I'd just get a nice mid-priced one like the old brass one I got at Tandy about 20 years ago.

As for the Al Stohlman round knife, I found I had to thin the angle of the bevel. After that I've had no problems with mine.

As with anything, others will tell you 'this', 'that', but it comes down to what works for you. A good craftsman can do good work with cheap tools, but expensive tools do not guarantee good work. That can only come from you.

[rleather]

I 100% agree!

[ftnpenlvr]

I completely agree, but, I do like to try new things, too.  I would say I have done well with the cheaper tools I started with.  

The smaller of the Stamesky round knives arrived today.  I will say, it is somewhat unfinished, in that the handle is rough and there is some staining where the blade seats in the handle.  With that said, the blade was sharp right out of the box.  A quick skiving, and a few cuts confirmed that is cuts as it should, and shaves as it should.  The handle is longer than that of the Al Stohlman, which gives me the ability to manage a longer skive.  Can't wait for the large Stamesky to arrive and confirm I didn't just get a fluke!

[ftnpenlvr]

The two Japanese swivel knives from BuckleGuy.Com arrived today.  Before even stropping, I dampened some leather and gave them a quick run - a bit grabby (to be expected, having not stropped), but, left great cuts.  One is a single blade; the other a double, and they did a great job on the leather.  With a little stropping, I suspect I will be even happier with them.

[ftnpenlvr]

I suppose, as part of this review, I should focus a bit on the swivel knife itself.  

First, this is the Japanese Swivel Knife Handle, purchased through BuckleGuy.Com.  Having fairly large hands (particularly long fingers, I always get XL gloves, if that helps), I went with the large handles.  The barrel is knurled, and is perhaps a 1/2" longer than the one I got from Amazon.  It gave me a comfortable grip, and swiveled smoothly on the yoke.  I gave the yoke a good tug, and it did not pop off.  The yoke is adjustable for height.  Unlike others that have a nut moving up and down the threaded part of the stem, these have a smooth stem which locks in place with a little set screw on the side.  The screw is fully recessed, so, it doesn't interfere with the usage of the knife.  I raised the yoke about an inch to fit my hands.

Similarly, there is another set screw to mount the blade.  Because I thought I was only ordering a handle, and failed to read the "Includes" part of the description, I was surprised to see that they came with blades already installed.  Oops on my part, as I ordered a standard, and a double, blade with the handles.  So, I have an extra standard steel blade that I suspect I will not ever need.  I think I saw that Jim Linnell is still using the original blade that came with his first swivel knife, 50 years in, so, I doubt I will burn through mine any faster!

I removed one of the blades and replaced it with the double line, also purchased through BuckleGuy.Com (I got the 2.5mm, medium size), quickly and easily with the provided allen key.  The blade seated easily, and stays put, as expected.

As mentioned before, both the standard blade, and the double, were a bit grabby in the leather, straight out of the box.  This was not unexpected, and a dozen passes on the strop on each side of the blade took care of that.  I took a scrap piece of 4-5 ounce leather, and made a few quick cuts.  I found these blades seem to open the leather a bit more than my ceramic knife, were easily controlled through turns and curves, and tapered well as I pulled the blade out of the leather at the end of a stroke.  The double line is going to take some more practice.  It really accentuates when you are not holding your knife perfectly vertical - you'll see one line deeper/wider than the other.  If nothing else, it is a valuable learning tool to really show you what you're doing (or not doing).  I apparently tend to hold my blade a couple degrees off to the left.  With a single blade, it was not really noticeable, and I don't noticeably undercut, but, still, an area to work on.  

All told, I am glad I got them, and would recommend them to folks looking for a good, functional, swivel knife.  It isn't flashy; it isn't decorated.  There is a beauty in its simplicity that appeals to me.  So, I now have 3 workable swivel knives, and am awaiting the fourth from Slice.  Should be arriving today.  I like the setup right now that I have a thinner cutting ceramic blade, a wider cutting steel blade, and a double-line blade.  The one from Slice purports to be "skin friendly".  I'm not sure I understand how it can cut leather but not cut skin, but, I'll check it out and report back.

Now to go make a case to put all these goodies in!

[chuck123wapati]

got any pics so folks know what your talking about?

[ftnpenlvr]

Absolutely!  I'll post some of those this evening.

The Slice swivel knife just arrived.  As before, I dampened a scrap piece of leather, and, out of the box, gave it a whirl.  Like the Japanese knives, it was a little grabby.  I stropped 12 strokes on each side, and it just glides through the leather.  To be fair, their sales rep reached out about an hour after I bought the knife, and advised I would need to strop, but would otherwise have no need to sharpen.  That has been my experience with my other ceramic blade, as well.  Seems more like a need to clean than to sharpen.

Before stropping, I noticed the blade has an interesting "feature."  One side of the blade is single bevel, as normal, while the other side seems to be double-beveled.  Not sure if that is intentional.  Sure enough (and I don't know if this is different from other swivel knives, as I have not tried with them, but,...) when I ran it across my skin, it didn't cut, but, leather it did just fine on.

One thing I LOVE with this knife, it comes with a real cover.  Not one of the goofy little rubber bits, but, a real cap!  It also comes with another little hex key that I can lose before I need it. Adjustments to the yoke height are by the usual lock nut.

I'll add some more pictures this evening.

[doubleh]

The maker didn't bother to get a straight grind on one side. I suppose if it cuts well and runs straight with your carve line it's OK but it is poor quality control.

[chuck123wapati]

wow! seems if a company is going to sell something supposed to better made then it should be dontcha think. its sure purdy an high tech lookin though.

[ftnpenlvr]

The four swivel knives, left to right:

My original, with ceramic blade (quickly knocked up a leather cap to replace the rubber one I blew through/lost)
I loosened the lock nut at the top of the barrel for visibility.

Japanese, with double blade

Japanese with standard blade

Slice with ceramic blade

2 hours ago, doubleh said:

The maker didn't bother to get a straight grind on one side. I suppose if it cuts well and runs straight with your carve line it's OK but it is poor quality control.

Yep - I wasn't sure if that was intentional, or a design flaw...  Or, like you said, poor quality control...  But, I suspect with a little time, I can knock that down, or they might even replace it...

[Tequila]

Just a comment on the round knife portion.  I also had purchased a new Stohlman knife and was disappointed, the edge wasn’t sharp, but it was thick.  After stropping no better, then took it to some stones and stropped it again it was better, but still not great, so I put it away.  Then I bought 2 old used knives ( a 3” and a 5” or there about) from one of the members here on Leatherworker and man what a difference.  The gentleman said he sharpened them up for me, and he did a beautiful job!  As long as I keep them stropped the large one will go through 10 oz veg like a hot knife through butter and the smaller one is my go to for anything up to 6-8 oz.  IMHO I think that a lot of the older tools are better quality than the mass produced ones available today.  If I do buy new tools I try to get them from smaller makers that take pride in their products. 

[Tequila]

Now you need to try a Duane Watts yoke less swivel knife from DW Leatherworks.  I’d be interested to see what you think of it. 

[Doc Reaper]

2 hours ago, Tequila said:

Now you need to try a Duane Watts yoke less swivel knife from DW Leatherworks.  I’d be interested to see what you think of it. 

I purchased one of those are yolkless swivel knives off Amazon, they suck

[ftnpenlvr]

5 hours ago, Tequila said:

Now you need to try a Duane Watts yoke less swivel knife from DW Leatherworks.  I’d be interested to see what you think of it. 

I think my wife would hurt me if I brought in another any time soon... Unless I make her another purse, or another panel to her dashboard....  :-D

[ftnpenlvr]

After mucking about with the new knives, here is a first attempt at Jim Linnell's "Swivel Knife Finesse" bird, done with the Slice.  I have a ways to go with my finesse, before I can make it as neat and clean as his work, but, I am not too horrified with the results.  I have a hard time believing I will be signing my name or logo with a swivel knife soon, but, I'll keep at it.  Good use for scrap pieces!

I spoke with the folks who make the knife, and the secondary bevel we talked about is intentional - it is intended to make it harder to cut yourself, while still allowing a decent cut on leather.  While I ran it across my finger, I didn't press hard, for obvious reasons, but, didn't cut myself, so, I suppose it works.  I will say it is rare that I am cutting towards my finger, or cutting fast enough that I lose control of the knife, but, I suppose it is good to know that, if I were not paying attention, I'd not hurt myself too badly enjoying my art...

 

[dikman]

That explanation for the double bevel sounds odd to me - and why only on one side?

[tsunkasapa]

2 hours ago, dikman said:

That explanation for the double bevel sounds odd to me - and why only on one side?

The oysters I had last night didn't smell that fishy.

[chuck123wapati]

20 hours ago, dikman said:

That explanation for the double bevel sounds odd to me - and why only on one side?

 AS we used to say at the shop I'll throw the bulls@*t flag on that one. 

On 9/4/2022 at 5:17 AM, ftnpenlvr said:

After mucking about with the new knives, here is a first attempt at Jim Linnell's "Swivel Knife Finesse" bird, done with the Slice.  I have a ways to go with my finesse, before I can make it as neat and clean as his work, but, I am not too horrified with the results.  I have a hard time believing I will be signing my name or logo with a swivel knife soon, but, I'll keep at it.  Good use for scrap pieces!

I spoke with the folks who make the knife, and the secondary bevel we talked about is intentional - it is intended to make it harder to cut yourself, while still allowing a decent cut on leather.  While I ran it across my finger, I didn't press hard, for obvious reasons, but, didn't cut myself, so, I suppose it works.  I will say it is rare that I am cutting towards my finger, or cutting fast enough that I lose control of the knife, but, I suppose it is good to know that, if I were not paying attention, I'd not hurt myself too badly enjoying my art...

 

fine knife work!!!!

[ftnpenlvr]

On 9/5/2022 at 3:48 PM, chuck123wapati said:

fine knife work!!!!

Many thanks!  I have a ways to go, and a lot of practice to do.  I'd like to get that smaller, get the lines closer together, and more consistent - practice, practice, practice....  :-)

Agree on the "one side only" thing.  I don't understand it, but, I didn't cut myself either, so...  Well, I will keep using it, and appreciate that it fits my hand nicely, turns smoothly, and seems to cut well, regardless of the blade shape.  

[Sheilajeanne]

If you do a search re. the Al Stohlman round knife, you'll find the newer ones are made of poor low-carbon steel, so they don't hold an edge well at all, and are a waste of money.

That may have changed in the last few years, but I doubt it.

 ftnpenlvr, awesome work!

Edited September 13, 2022 by Sheilajeanne

[ftnpenlvr]

On 9/12/2022 at 8:54 PM, Sheilajeanne said:

If you do a search re. the Al Stohlman round knife, you'll find the newer ones are made of poor low-carbon steel, so they don't hold an edge well at all, and are a waste of money.

That may have changed in the last few years, but I doubt it.

 ftnpenlvr, awesome work!

Thank you.  The Stamesky knives I have gotten are inexpensive, and came pretty sharp out of the box - pictures later.  The larger one was definitely sharper than the smaller.  Maybe the change in steel is one of the reasons we are encouraged to strop early and often?

[Sheilajeanne]

46 minutes ago, ftnpenlvr said:

Thank you.  The Stamesky knives I have gotten are inexpensive, and came pretty sharp out of the box - pictures later.  The larger one was definitely sharper than the smaller.  Maybe the change in steel is one of the reasons we are encouraged to strop early and often?

The cheap steel knives need frequent sharpening and stropping. 

This is pretty much anecdotal, but I've noted high carbon steel will ring like a bell if you strike it/flick it with a finger. (Have a quality round knife I paid big bucks for, and noticed this.)

Edited September 14, 2022 by Sheilajeanne

[Samalan]

On 8/20/2022 at 2:37 PM, doubleh said:

The maker didn't bother to get a straight grind on one side. I suppose if it cuts well and runs straight with your carve line it's OK but it is poor quality control.

what an eye