Beveling edges - I just keep getting worse at it, and it ruins my projects

[Toffe]

20 minutes ago, DieselTech said:

But to me it looks like you are scratching your leather with 1 side of the beveler leg. 

To me it looks like you need to roll/lean your edge beveler away from the leather. Towards the outer edge. 

I agree, problem is I can't lean the beveler further away because then it's rolled against the cutting mat and doesn't touch the edge of the leather.  I could try using a piece of scrap leather or a ruler underneath to get more elevation.

Will sharpen the belever again.

19 minutes ago, fredk said:

dumb question; are you using the edger the right way up?

I think so, don't think it's possible to do it upside down?

[Gosut]

It's the right way up, but from the scratch marks in the photo, it looks like one side is resting on the leather. The beveler should rest so that the groove in the tool is 45 degrees to the surface. In the photo, it looks as though it's not. A beveler cuts off the corner of the edge, so that's how you want to turn the tool. You shouldn't have to press down on it, just glide the beveler over the corner.

[Mablung]

I think those who have pointed out the necessary angle of the bevel Erynn relation to the leather have got it right. Another way of describing it that I personally found a little more helpful when trying to understand how to orient the tool is to say that the blade edge needs to be held perpendicular to, the corner of the leather. So if you are looking at the corner of the leather, not straight down on top, as though you were looking at the surface of the leather, but as though you are trying to look at a cross-section of the leather, then the corner point should go straight through the middle groove of the bevel. That may make it more complicated for you than what the others have said, but I figured I would throw that in there in case it was helpful. and definitely smooth out the edge. It may be a bit dolled from attempts at use and from working it over too course a grit of sandpaper, but with a little work with some finer grits, that can be fixed. Then strop it on a small strip of leather, or on some thread, and that should help.  This reminds me that I need to spend a little more time with my own devil edge, as I haven’t sharpened it quite well enough. 

[Northmount]

If the width of the slot in the edger is too wide for the thickness of the leather, you can't get a good edge.  Another way of saying it is if the leather is too thin, you can't hold the edger at the proper angle to get a proper cut. 

[TomE]

Placing the edge to be beveled on a scrap of heavy leather is a good idea to gain some room.  I do a lot of edges on small bridle parts that vary in thickness.  Of course having the correct size edger and keeping it sharp will help the cause.  I have scraps of heavy oil tanned leather that I've edged with various edgers and coated the beveled edge with polishing compound.  I frequently strop my edgers on these scraps.  Can also coat a leather edge with beeswax and add some aluminum oxide powder for a coarser/sharpening step before stropping.  I bought the Weaver block-of-wood-with-leather-strips for polishing edgers but rarely use it.  

Edited February 19, 2024 by TomE

[dikman]

TomE, that's a good idea using a piece of heavy leather and coating the bevelled edges with polishing compound! 

[Toffe]

Thanks again everyone!  I took everyone's tips for sharpening the tool better, including stropping by putting polishing compound on a bit of thread, and that definitely helped with some of the issues.

The main remaining one is the line in from the edge, which is definitely because of the leg of the beveler digging into the leather, which is because of the angle.  From some experimentation, that's an issue I can't get away from with this tool for a single layer of leather.  The tool is just too wide (despite being a #1, intended for this thickness of leather or thinner according to the producer).  When the leather is laid flat, the best angle I can get is about 30 degrees, maybe even less, as the other leg is then against the flat surface below.  I've tried getting some elevation using a steel ruler, the edge of a cutting mat, and/or a square of thick leather I use as a base for punching, but I have insufficent hands to hold everything in place without slipping, so that doesn't work out great.  It also doesn't work at all with curved edges.

When it's multiple pieces of leather together that I'm bevelling, like bag edges or card holders, or thicker leather like belts, the tool works far better now.  However, for all the times I need to treat the edge of a single thickness of leather, which is often for my current projects, I'll need a different tool.

The trashy Chinese kit I started with came with a beveler that works thickness-wise, I'll have to see if I can force it to hold an edge until I can get a tool like the one in post #2.

[Northmount]

54 minutes ago, Toffe said:

The main remaining one is the line in from the edge, which is definitely because of the leg of the beveler digging into the leather, which is because of the angle. 

There is always one more tool we need in our kit.  For you, it is an edger with a much narrower slot.  When Tandy decided to stop selling the Pro-Tool line, I picked up a very narrow, probably about the size you need!  It is so narrow that it hardly takes anything off!

[Toffe]

Indeed, the universal truth for tools and musical instruments:

(How many I need) = (How many I have) + 1

[MarshalWill]

Besides all the great advice you've already received, I would like to add one thing. An edge bevel is basically a knife. I strop my knives every time I use them. With this in mind, I also strop my edge bevels every time I use them. For that, I use a piece of leather with stropping compound on the beveled edge, like TomE mentioned he does. They cut beautifully every time. Because I keep them sharp, I never need to use sandpaper on them until they're really worn and need reshaping. You should be able to sharpen your cheapo Chinese one to work fine but it might not hold an edge like a good quality one. And yes, you need a smaller one if you can't hold it at the proper angle to do the work. Invest in a small one of good quality for your thin leather. Eventually replace them all with top quality ones and your work will reflect the difference.