Need advice

[Paulin631]

I'm new to leatherworking. I wanted to upgrade some of my tools. I already own an cheap Owden French edger and wanted to try a better quality and larger edger. I ordered a Barry King french edger and could barely cut butter with it. Nice looking tool but it requires alot of effort to skive. Only works at a single particular angle. My Owden goes to town with much less effort. I sent an email to BK and they said I have to find the right angle and to send it back for an evaluation if unhappy. Not sure what to do here. Should I just resharpen it or return? If i send it back, its going to be for a refund. Really dissapointed. 

[fredk]

I suggest a return, but for a replacement. You may have got a Friday afternoon bogey

Edited June 15, 2023 by fredk

[bruce johnson]

Barry's French edgers are sharpened on the bottom and there is a bevel on the bottom. The blade is a little thicker than others and more durable, but there is that edge bevel to live with or not. There are other makers like McMillen that are the same. You can't hold them flat and push forward as you probably can with your Owden or others. You do have to raise the handle to a higher angle and find that angle that they will cut at. If that wont work for you, It is unlikely that replacement will be much different for your intentions. I would not resharpen it. Decide if it will work or not and if you return it as-is then they just have to touch up the edge, not a full regrind and polish.

[kgg]

10 hours ago, Paulin631 said:

Not sure what to do here.

I would try holding it at a different angle and see if that works better. If the holding angle works better the question is it uncomfortable for you to use in comparison to your other edger or is it that the new one isn't sharp. If the holding angel is uncomfortable you will probably revert back to your other edger and the new one will just gather dust. If it wasn't properly sharpened at the factory I wouldn't do any resharpening. I think when you pay a premium price for a hand tool it should be ready to work right out of the box. For me the bottom line if it is uncomfortable to use or the edge wasn't sharpened properly I would return it for a refund, but that is just me.

kgg

[Paulin631]

Its just aggravating to step up in cost only to be dissapointed. Ill stick to their mallets. Lesson learned. Thanks all

[TomE]

I've been pleased with Ron's Leather Tools French edgers if you decide to make a change. Worth a look.

[zuludog]

Search YouTube for 'French Edger' there are several videos. Leathercraft Masterclass is good but watch them all if you can and you'll pick up ideas , and a video that helps others might not help you.

Try out your edger with the handle almost flat so that it doesn't cut at all Then repeat, raising the handle and increasing the angle slightly each time until it digs in and jams; somewhere in between you should find the best angle

Edited June 16, 2023 by zuludog

[Paulin631]

Thanks for the responses. I returned it. They were good about it. Im waiting on a PaloSanto now.

[YinTx]

18 hours ago, Paulin631 said:

Thanks for the responses. I returned it. They were good about it. Im waiting on a PaloSanto now.

Was going to suggest that one.  I have one, it works well for me.  But again, a lot of these tools are slightly different from one another, and one may fit your working techniques more than another, regardless of price.

[bruce johnson]

You mentioned Palosanto. I've had some through here. They come sharp, that's not a problem. They are also sharpened on the bottom like the Barry King although to a lower angle bevel. The top sides can be pretty rough. I am attaching pictures of one I have left I got in this spring. It came like this to him (new) and he traded for another maker's set from me. He bought a few of them in a size range - this was the worst of the bunch but none were really smooth. They were bargain table tools for me at the Sheridan show. They aren't all like this but I would check.

     In use they can be brittle. For soft leathers and skiving I haven't heard of many problems. My wife gets along good with one for wallets and bags, it goes a long time. For saddlery and doing bigger skives a few have had the blade just chunk out. Granted they are scooping on some of the saddle fit up skives and not doing a straight flat work, but it happens. Blade edges are thin with a low bevel and that is a trade off of really fine edge geometry vs durability.