Can it do that?

[Will FLT]

Background: I'm making bags out of 3-4 oz Chrome tan. When I make the straps I fold over two strip and sew them together so it looks like the strap is pipped with a different color. I'm finding the 3-4 oz bulky for this and I am looking to upgrade my current amazon manual splitter. 

Question: will a bell skive or machine splitter give me 1-2 oz with chrome tan. And if both would work, which would be better? 

[RockyAussie]

A bell skiver will do it well if set up and properly sharpened. My video channel shows a lot of skiving examples - Wild Harry YT

[Northmount]

On 5/26/2025 at 6:20 PM, Will FLT said:

Question: will a bell skive or machine splitter give me 1-2 oz with chrome tan. And if both would work, which would be better?

Moved your post to leather machinery.

[Digit]

1-2 oz corresponds with 0.4-0.8mm if I'm correct. Last week I've skived down 0.7-0.9mm nappa to about half, so it's definitely doable with a bell skiver.

I's very thin though; the leather will get stretchy and if you need to thin down a wide strip, you'll need multiple passes through the skiver and you risk making holes. Make sure you work with a properly sharpened blade.