Question on Cheap Amazon $70 Leather splitter.

[Littlef]

I thought it might be handy to have a leather splitter to fine tune strap thickness.  I see splitters on amazon in the $70 range.  Tandy and other places have splitters in the $300 range.  Has anyone messed with one of the Chinese made amazon ones?  I might get one and experiment with it.  Looks like the more expensive models have wider 5 1/2" cutting width versus 3 1/2" width of the cheap ones.  3 1/2 would be pretty limiting.   

[bruce johnson]

Yes I have. A little over a year ago I bought the remains of a belt and small leather goods shop. The previous owner sold and the new owner didn't want some of the tools as part of the purchase. Previous owner sold things on the hand made, no powered machine and single craftsman start-to-finish each piece premise. Each worker had a full set of tools and the original owner liked to try new things. New owners went powered strap cutters, splitters, and edgers. In the deal I got 5 or 6 of the $60-70 splitters that use the snap-off utility blades. Also some of the  $120 handled skivers and a few import $175 splitters with a sort of locking mechanism.  All were new in the box. 

    I had the other styles before but these were the first for the bottom priced ones. On the snap-off blade versions, they were surprisingly good. The rollers were pretty true and fairly solid little units. I'm sure there are some duds but the ones I had were OK. I would not go into battle with them for production, but for the occasional skive off a belt end they do it or to split some lace they are fine. Strop the blade before using and they are going to do the job cleaner and easier. I took these splitters all to the Sheridan leather show and sold them out pretty fast off the bargain table.

Don't get too hung up on blade width. First off, most people can only pull about a 3" wide strap through any splitter. Realistically it gets harder after about 1-3/4 inches and 3" maxes out most people. That is strap, you will not split many if any wallet backs or thinner leather without stretch and deforming it. The wider  blades only mean you have more blade edge to work across before you need to strop or resharpen the blade. I deal in a lot of splitters and realistically these fit a niche. 

[Littlef]

6 minutes ago, bruce johnson said:

Yes I have. A little over a year ago I bought the remains of a belt and small leather goods shop. The previous owner sold and the new owner didn't want some of the tools as part of the purchase. Previous owner sold things on the hand made, no powered machine and single craftsman start-to-finish each piece premise. Each worker had a full set of tools and the original owner liked to try new things. New owners went powered strap cutters, splitters, and edgers. In the deal I got 5 or 6 of the $60-70 splitters that use the snap-off utility blades. Also some of the  $120 handled skivers and a few import $175 splitters with a sort of locking mechanism.  All were new in the box. 

    I had the other styles before but these were the first for the bottom priced ones. On the snap-off blade versions, they were surprisingly good. The rollers were pretty true and fairly solid little units. I'm sure there are some duds but the ones I had were OK. I would not go into battle with them for production, but for the occasional skive off a belt end they do it or to split some lace they are fine. Strop the blade before using and they are going to do the job cleaner and easier. I took these splitters all to the Sheridan leather show and sold them out pretty fast off the bargain table.

Don't get too hung up on blade width. First off, most people can only pull about a 3" wide strap through any splitter. Realistically it gets harder after about 1-3/4 inches and 3" maxes out most people. That is strap, you will not split many if any wallet backs or thinner leather without stretch and deforming it. The wider  blades only mean you have more blade edge to work across before you need to strop or resharpen the blade. I deal in a lot of splitters and realistically these fit a niche. 

Thanks Bruce, that's a good bit of perspective.  I'm certainly not in production.  This is my recreation and entertainment.  I figure for $70 bucks it'll be a good science experiment.  I just didn't want to throw $70 bucks out the window if they were just garbage.  I appreciate it.