Newbie to skiving

[Hilly]

I suppose this is one of those areas of leatherwork which takes lots and lots of practice to get right. Long, feather edges, 45 degree edges, album and binder spines, etc. Do any of you have any tips to help a newbie get started with minimal leather being tossed in the bin? Can I make a jig to do the 45 degree agles such as used in box corners? I already have plenty of scrap to practice on

I've been trying to learn to skive, but not having the results I'm wanting. Sometimes I end up cutting through the leather, or sometimes (such as in the spine area of a notebook) I just can't do it evenly. I have the skiver that Tandy sells with the razor blade refills, I have an skiving knife that reminds me of a putty knife, and I have a small angled knife which reminds me of a paring knife.

My blades are quite sharp (I think), so I don't belive this is an issue.

[TomSwede]

You could try to case a small bit of leather and test to see how that feels. I feel like I have better control with cased leather. Haven't done this very much so I really don't have more advice on this.

Tom

[Rawhide]

Hilly,

Your knife has to be extremely sharp, because you don't want the leather to move as you're skiving. I only know of a jig to cut 45 degree angles for things like a mitered box corner, but not long tapering skives. Just a lot of practice. Also, draw a line where you want the skive to begin, this will help you in cutting it straight.

Marlon

[Johanna]

Here are some explanations by the late great Verlane Desgrange.

skiving_sequence_150.pdf

skiving_front_view_150.pdf

lap_skiving_jig.pdf

skiving_sequence_150.pdf

skiving_front_view_150.pdf

lap_skiving_jig.pdf

[David Genadek]

I suppose this is one of those areas of leatherwork which takes lots and lots of practice to get right. Long, feather edges, 45 degree edges, album and binder spines, etc. Do any of you have any tips to help a newbie get started with minimal leather being tossed in the bin? Can I make a jig to do the 45 degree agles such as used in box corners? I already have plenty of scrap to practice on

I've been trying to learn to skive, but not having the results I'm wanting. Sometimes I end up cutting through the leather, or sometimes (such as in the spine area of a notebook) I just can't do it evenly. I have the skiver that Tandy sells with the razor blade refills, I have an skiving knife that reminds me of a putty knife, and I have a small angled knife which reminds me of a paring knife.

My blades are quite sharp (I think), so I don't belive this is an issue.

Hilly,

I think you may want to get a straight bottom french edger. I have found I can get people skiving well faster with this tool than a round knife. You still want to learn the round knife but you will have fewer mistakes to begin with using this tool. This is also a better tool to thin down a large area. I like the black handles skivers for ground work but other than than that I never use them. Be careful replacing blades , I took a finger tip off once when I slipped. If you talking about the silver handled ones I have never been able to get one of those to work.

David Genadek

[kseidel]

When using the skiver tools available, best advice is to shape the tool changing the angle of the blade to control the depth and shape that the tool removes. Most tools cut too deep from the factory, but when shaped will yield a good result.

Keith

[Biblethumper]

I am rather new to this craft but I do a lot of skiving using Tandy's black handle safety skiver. Make sure you don't over use a blade, make sure your leather is wet and always skive over granite.

[Luke Hatley]

Hilly you do have the right tool to skive with. it has to be very sharp and polish the cutting EDGE.*

i hope you read where you need to do your skiving iON a piece of thick glass*

happy skiving, KEEP YOUR FREE HAND BEHIND THE BLADE.*.

[Hilly]

Thanks to all who have replied. The area I'm having the most difficulty in is thinning down the spine area in a notebook. It's not like you run your skiver off onto glass, and it's not like cutting a 45 or shallower angle. I get limited results, as the spine area is still ridgy when I'm done. It shows through the liner, and looks very unprofessional. My guess is I need to invest in a good quality straight bottom edger?

[Hilly]

When using the skiver tools available, best advice is to shape the tool changing the angle of the blade to control the depth and shape that the tool removes. Most tools cut too deep from the factory, but when shaped will yield a good result.

Keith

Sounds good, but I've been trying to skive the spine area in a notebook. I'd have to have a "scoop 'n skive"

By the way, your website is awesome and your work exqusite!