Bree Posted April 6, 2009 Report Posted April 6, 2009 Saturday I was working on a large belt for a guy. It was a 6" tapering to 4" belt. I cut it from a side of saddle skirt veg tan and then took the 6" strap and set my Heritage splitter (Osborne 84 type) to reduce the thickness and give me a uniform thickness. I gave the blade a good honing with a hard Arkansas stone and a strop. It was razor sharp and ready for splitting operations. I set my depth and started the strap through and was getting a nice split unitl I got to the thickest part of the saddle skirt. It was like hitting a brick wall. I couldn't even cut the leather on a diagonal slice much less a straight pull. I couldn't rock it to cut... nothing worked. Luckily I had split as much as I needed to make the belt and I cut off the strap at the furthest point of successful splitting. I took some PIX of the leather and wanted to share them with you. Maybe see what you guys and gals have to say about this odd circumstance. BTW... the first part of the split went just fine... very easy cutting action... til I hit the "wall". Quote Ride Safe! Bree 2003 Dyna Wide Glide Memberships: Iron Butt Association, Niagara Falls HOG, Wild Fire HOG NRA, Niagara County Sportsman's Association
Moderator bruce johnson Posted April 6, 2009 Moderator Report Posted April 6, 2009 Bree, I may be wrong about the cause, but I think I feel a song coming on...... Rollin', rollin', rollin'. Rollin', rollin', rollin'. Rollin', rollin', rollin'. Rollin', rollin', rollin'. Rawhide! Hah! Hah! Keep rollin', rollin', rollin', Though the streams are swollen, Keep them dogies rollin', rawhide. Through rain and wind and weather, Hell bent for leather, Wishin' my gal was by my side. All the things I'm missin', Good vittles, love, and kissin', Are waiting at the end of my ride. Move 'em out, head 'em up, Head 'em up, move 'em on. Move 'em out, head 'em up: Rawhide. Cut 'em out, ride 'em in, Ride 'em in, cut 'em out, Cut 'em out, ride 'em in: Rawhide! Hah! Hah! Movin', movin', movin', Though they're disapprovin', Keep them dogies movin', rawhide. Don't try to understand 'em, Just rope an' throw an' brand 'em. Soon we'll be living high and wide. My heart's calculatin', My true love will be waitin': Waitin' at the end of my ride. Move 'em out, head 'em up, Head 'em up, move 'em on. Move 'em out, head 'em up: Rawhide. Cut 'em out, ride 'em in, Ride 'em in, cut 'em out, Cut 'em out, ride 'em in: Rawhide! (Rollin', rollin', rollin'.) (Rollin', rollin', rollin'.) Hah! (Rollin', rollin', rollin'.) Hah! (Rollin', rollin', rollin'.) Rawhide. Hah! Rawhide! Quote Bruce Johnson Malachi 4:2 "the windshield's bigger than the mirror, somewhere west of Laramie" - Dave Stamey Vintage Refurbished And Selected New Leather Tools For Sale - www.brucejohnsonleather.com
Members CitizenKate Posted April 6, 2009 Members Report Posted April 6, 2009 That's way tougher than anything I've encountered so far, Bree. Hope someone can provide some insight. Kate Quote
Bree Posted April 6, 2009 Author Report Posted April 6, 2009 Bree,I may be wrong about the cause, but I think I feel a song coming on...... Rollin', rollin', rollin'. Rollin', rollin', rollin'. Rollin', rollin', rollin'. Rollin', rollin', rollin'. Rawhide! Hah! Hah! Keep rollin', rollin', rollin', Though the streams are swollen, Keep them dogies rollin', rawhide. Through rain and wind and weather, Hell bent for leather, Wishin' my gal was by my side. All the things I'm missin', Good vittles, love, and kissin', Are waiting at the end of my ride. Move 'em out, head 'em up, Head 'em up, move 'em on. Move 'em out, head 'em up: Rawhide. Cut 'em out, ride 'em in, Ride 'em in, cut 'em out, Cut 'em out, ride 'em in: Rawhide! Hah! Hah! Movin', movin', movin', Though they're disapprovin', Keep them dogies movin', rawhide. Don't try to understand 'em, Just rope an' throw an' brand 'em. Soon we'll be living high and wide. My heart's calculatin', My true love will be waitin': Waitin' at the end of my ride. Move 'em out, head 'em up, Head 'em up, move 'em on. Move 'em out, head 'em up: Rawhide. Cut 'em out, ride 'em in, Ride 'em in, cut 'em out, Cut 'em out, ride 'em in: Rawhide! (Rollin', rollin', rollin'.) (Rollin', rollin', rollin'.) Hah! (Rollin', rollin', rollin'.) Hah! (Rollin', rollin', rollin'.) Rawhide. Hah! Rawhide! Jeez Bruce you're killing me!! LOL!! Quote Ride Safe! Bree 2003 Dyna Wide Glide Memberships: Iron Butt Association, Niagara Falls HOG, Wild Fire HOG NRA, Niagara County Sportsman's Association
gtwister09 Posted April 6, 2009 Report Posted April 6, 2009 Bruce, the comedian, hit the nail on the head... Regards, Ben Quote
Bree Posted April 7, 2009 Author Report Posted April 7, 2009 Bruce, the comedian, hit the nail on the head...Regards, Ben The painful part is that I have a side and a half of this stuff lyin around and I would like to use it up. It's very nice so long as you don't split it on the butt end. Quote Ride Safe! Bree 2003 Dyna Wide Glide Memberships: Iron Butt Association, Niagara Falls HOG, Wild Fire HOG NRA, Niagara County Sportsman's Association
Hilly Posted April 7, 2009 Report Posted April 7, 2009 Bree,I may be wrong about the cause, but I think I feel a song coming on...... <snip> LOL! Good one! Quote
Members kevinhopkins Posted April 10, 2009 Members Report Posted April 10, 2009 Saturday I was working on a large belt for a guy. It was a 6" tapering to 4" belt. I cut it from a side of saddle skirt veg tan and then took the 6" strap and set my Heritage splitter (Osborne 84 type) to reduce the thickness and give me a uniform thickness.I gave the blade a good honing with a hard Arkansas stone and a strop. It was razor sharp and ready for splitting operations. I set my depth and started the strap through and was getting a nice split unitl I got to the thickest part of the saddle skirt. It was like hitting a brick wall. I couldn't even cut the leather on a diagonal slice much less a straight pull. I couldn't rock it to cut... nothing worked. Luckily I had split as much as I needed to make the belt and I cut off the strap at the furthest point of successful splitting. I took some PIX of the leather and wanted to share them with you. Maybe see what you guys and gals have to say about this odd circumstance. BTW... the first part of the split went just fine... very easy cutting action... til I hit the "wall". Actually, I've had the same thing happen. Rawhide can be a cause, but quite often a tanning "burn" can cause the same thing. You won't see rawhide at all, but the leather is just hard as a rock. Can really cause grief on those heritage splitters. Kevin Quote
Bree Posted April 11, 2009 Author Report Posted April 11, 2009 Actually, I've had the same thing happen. Rawhide can be a cause, but quite often a tanning "burn" can cause the same thing. You won't see rawhide at all, but the leather is just hard as a rock. Can really cause grief on those heritage splitters.Kevin It was really ridiculous. I was tugging as hard as I possibly could and then rocking the leather to get some slicing angle on it while someone was holding the heavy steel stand with a 3" X 18" X 24" granite stone on it and the splitter clamped to the stone... to keep the whole thing from tipping over!! When I finally gave up on it, I took a fresh 1 1/2" belt blank, put it into the splitter and skived it like a hot knife cutting through butter. Go figure. Quote Ride Safe! Bree 2003 Dyna Wide Glide Memberships: Iron Butt Association, Niagara Falls HOG, Wild Fire HOG NRA, Niagara County Sportsman's Association
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