Who sells a good head knife?

[David Genadek]

I've had about 8 Marlins and found them to be fine when they were new but as they wore down the blade got to thick and I would have to do a lot of work to thin them down. If you don't do a lot of cutting that probabley won't be an issue though. The knife I got from Ellis had a double bevel to it had a lot of substance up near the handle but tapered to a thinner blade then ended up with a good edge. The Buchman blades are thin all the way though Which gives them a longer useable life and it makes it easyer to trim things with them.

Personally I like a big knife but I know a lot of folks are pretty uncomfortable with that to start off with. The bigger blade gives you more area for guiding when doing straight cuts and if your trimming, for instance a cantle, the bigger blade give you a better visual of the angle your cutting at. I usually start people with a smaller blade and as they become comfortable they will just start grabbing the bigger blades.

David Genadek

[TwinOaks]

Well, now that I've found this thread, I'll offer my own 2 green cents. Why do I need a head knife? Specifically, what type of cutting requires this configuration? Currently, I'm getting by with an exacto, a utility knife, and an old pocket knife an uncle gave me-using the modified sheepsfoot/wharncliff blade. Most of my cuts are pretty straight, with the occasional curve or wave and I'm getting by okay with these. Does the round knife/head knife really come into its own with the heavier leathers, like saddle skirting?TIA for enlightening a greenhorn.

[ferret]

I used to get by with similar tools until I got a head knife, now I won't use anything else for cutting leather. It's like the difference between riding a vespa and a Harley.

[Art]

Ok,

Question #1

The CSO #70 Round knife from Siegel of California is made from 1070 steel, medium priced steel with .70 carbon that will harden nicely and be an easy blade to sharpen. Siegel sells this knife for $55.38 but has had it on sale for a while at $38.95. This is less than I paid for it from them 10 years ago. Buy it now and buy some leather to cut with it and make sure the total is over $70 so you get free shipping, or for that price buy two.

The CSO #70 Round knife #3935-00 is a totally similar knife to the one from Siegel, but is apparently made from the new rare earth UNOBTANIUM with identical chemical and hardening characteristics as any other CSO #70 but the unheard of bargain price of $80 club and $60 reseller.

Either of these knives will require a good sharpening and even a little reworking of the edge bevel before using although I am sure many are used (forcefully no doubt) straight out of the box.

Some folks are a little apprehensive to get the old stones out or turn on the grinder (for the experienced only) so I am including a letter from Duey Peters of the mighty big leather guild who does sharpening and some tool making. This is about a year and a half old so prices and availability may have changed, but if you don't like to sharpen, his prices are good and his work excellent, see my post above for a pic of one of his head knives.

Hi

Here is the current price list if you have a tool that needs sharpening

that you don't see on the list just email me for a quote. I have found

that about the only thing I can not sharpen is my brain;-) I will be

adding more tools to both the sharpening price list and also the tools I

sell and tools that I make that are for sell. Feel free to print

off copies of price list and pass on to other leather workers you know

in local guilds or otherwise. Turn around time is normally less than 1

week if longer I will email to let you know. Also first come first

served. If you send tools using the USPS please use my P.O. Box # if

sending by UPS or FEDEX please use my street address. All work is

guarantied or you get your money back minus shipping. I take checks or

money orders please include return postage with tools and insurance if

desired. If you have a tool that needs sharpening or a tool made that is

not on either list below just email me with your request for a quote.

Thanks

Duey

PRICE LIST FOR SHARPENING & STROPPING TOOLS

Awl blades $1.50

Leather scissors $5.00

Belt and strap end cutters sharpen and strop $4.00

Bag Punches & Round Punches sharpen & Strop $4.00

Edgers sharpen and strop $3.00

Edgers/edge bevelers sharpen and strop $3.00

Regular swivel knife blade sharpen and strop $1.50

Regular swivel knife blade thin blade and or change angle sharpen and

strop $3.00

Beader swivel knife blade sharpen and strop $3.00

Hennley swivel knife blade sharpen and strop $3.00

Hennley swivel knife beader blade sharpen and strop $4.00

Ceramic swivel knife blade stop only $2.00

Ceramic swivel knife blade sharpen and strop $4.00

Ceramic swivel knife beader blade strop only $3.00

Ceramic swivel knife beader blade sharpen and strop $5.00

Head or round knife sharpen and strop $4.00 unless blade is pitted or in

otherwise bad shape then e-mail for quote.

Skiving, square point, bevel point knife or any other utility type knife

$3.00

Splitter blades $1.00 per inch for length of blade. (Example 6 inch

splitter blade $6.00)

Clicker Dies $1.00 per inch same as splitter blades

Round Blades such as the offa cutters or from the crank type strap

cutters $5.00

PRICE LIST FOR HAND MADE TOOLS

The maul and mallet heads are made from a Ultra-High Molecular Weight

Polyethylene (UHMW) for short. The handles are each hand turned from

stacked leather washers.

Mauls either tapered or straight head $57.00

Mallets either flat on both ends or with a 5deg. taper on both ends or

flat on one end and 5deg. taper on the other end $57.00

Round/Head knife $47.00

Half round/head knife $47.00

Common Edge Tool $13.00

Lock Stitch Sewing Awl the kind that has the spool of thread inside of

the handle includes two straight and two curved needles one bobbin full

of thread and a large 180yard spool of heavy polyester thread. I did not

make these Awls but got a pretty good deal on them and am passing the

savings on to others.

The above prices include Priority shipping.

I will soon be also making both angled and straight bladed knives very

soon and will give prices for them as soon as I figure out a

price for them.

Send Tools & Payment to the Following Address

Duwayne Peters

P.O. Box 159

407 N. Bluff

Blunt SD 57522

Phone# (605)962-6227

EMAIL dpeters@sullybuttes.net

The answer to question #2. The Duey which is ready to go out of the box or a #70 and send it out to have it sharpened. That way you have money left over for a good clicker knife, an injector blade skiver, and a couple of utility knives and a pack of blades.

Art

Modifying Hilly's post: I'm also on a budget, but I'm not afraid of putting my own edge on something. Hide crafters has Osborne & ALS for $60 ish; and Danny Marlin for $100 ish. Tandy has Al Stohlman (same as ALS??) and Osborne.

Q #1 - why is Tandy's osborne knife twice the price?

Q #2 - What's the better choice for an under $100 knife? keep in mind I'm as green as they get and not really sure when this would be required over other knife options.

Oh and to brag a little... I have a SWEEET Bob Beard knife (I think its a skiver?) that is just ded sexy. It's wicked sharp. Pic attached - tell me what it is supposed to be used for! Another inherited tool...

[awharnessshop]

Hey Reading this Topic makes me want a new head knife! I suppose there is nothing wrong with the Osbourne that I have, but has anyone tried that Weaver Head knife? I think I might Email Deuy and try one of his knifes too...

-Andrew

[SCOUTER]

The CSO #70 Round knife from Siegel of California is made from 1070 steel, medium priced steel with .70 carbon that will harden nicely and be an easy blade to sharpen. Siegel sells this knife for $55.38 but has had it on sale for a while at $38.95. This is less than I paid for it from them 10 years ago. Buy it now and buy some leather to cut with it and make sure the total is over $70 so you get free shipping, or for that price buy two.

Good luck getting ANY osborne tools from Siegel! After 2 months of excuses I got mine from Zach White in less then a week!

[Art]

Not my experience by a long shot. Maybe it is the way you handle them. I needed a couple of weird sizes of a particular punch, it wasn't a lot of money but it was something most places didn't stock. I told them I was having a helluva time finding these things, and they said they would try. Two days later the punches are on my doorstep drop shipped from New Jersey. It seems they try pretty hard. It's not supposed to be an adviserial experience, we are all supposed to be pulling on the same rope here.

Art

Good luck getting ANY osborne tools from Siegel! After 2 months of excuses I got mine from Zach White in less then a week!

[bcurrier]

I've only ordered from Siegel a few times, but my experience is that they're very helpful once you get them on the phone - including checking stock on the spot. Their site doesn't give in-stock status and you can't count on their specials being in stock by the time you order, either. In the case of the TL70 knife, I tried ordering it a few times before figuring out I needed to call them to see if it was in stock (it wasn't). From what I gather, they were pretty much flooded with orders from their year-end special and sold out of a lot of tools. While they've restocked some since then, I'm guessing they're still not stocked back up completely. I wasn't going to pay Tandy's price for this knife, so I bought the smaller TL71 from Siegel instead, which was in stock.

As I see it, their ordering, inventory management systems, and website need some attention. I've had problems trying to use their online ordering, and, once again, it really needs to indicate what their stocking status is. I understand that this could be pretty expensive for a small business, though.

When I was getting started, I tried placing a very large tool order multiple times, only to have the shopping cart automatically empty out on me for some reason - presumably some sort of timeout. Siegel's personal customer service responsiveness, on the other hand, is truly excellent. So, as long as you call to order and make sure you confirm what is actually available, no problem.

Bill

[Bob]

Art, and many others. I took your advice and got some Bill Bachman Knives. They came in the mail a couple days ago.

The three I got are on the left side of the picture, the two on the right is what I been using for many years now. They are custom made also by R Jolley, they been great knives too.

The BB knives do come sharpened, nice tools....

Edited March 2, 2008 by Johanna

[cjbleather]

Bob, You can tell the Buchman knives by the "no nonsense" handles. Simple black walnut. I am sure that you will get to love the Buchman knives like you have loved the Jo;;eys. Carlb

PS BTW, I just ordered one from Bill and it noted that it might take three months. It will be a copy of the Verlane small knife. I am more than willing to wait.