itchaguide Report post Posted June 10, 2010 I am rather new to leatherwork and I am still collecting tools on a "as required" basis, today I had my latest Tandy order show up in the mail and it included a lace maker.. I have been messing with this thing for 30 minutes and so far I have a bunch of leather chips and not much else.. the blade now has a "U" shaped notch at each opening.. OK I paid $6.00 for this POS but even so I would expect that a tool would at least cut a few feet of lace before the blade wore out... I am really getting discouraged and would appreciate any suggestions for leather supplies besides Tandy.. Oh and I am in Canada so a company that has a catalog or decent online store and will ship to the great white north would be a bonus.. thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tkleather1 Report post Posted June 10, 2010 When I first started out I also bought one of these. It is a gimick tool at best. I am sorry you wasted the money like I did but you are money ahead by pitching it. Tim TK-Leather Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TroyS Report post Posted June 10, 2010 I've been able to make the lace cutter perform in the manner in which it was intended, but in my opinion, that is the biggest piece of that Tandy sells... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luke Hatley Report post Posted June 10, 2010 My Lace Cutter that i bought at Tandy is one of the Handest tools that i have. you have to understand it. Mine will not cut thin deer skin....It will cut med to thick Elk. I have no trouble with veg tan leather, with a sharp blade. WHEN CHAINGING THE BLADE BE CAREFUL.....YOU'LL GET CUT. The best leather for me to cut is chrome tan leather. sorry you are having problems. hope you get it figured out. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
builderofstuff Report post Posted July 29, 2010 I'm new to the group but wanted to reply. I've got one of the Tandy lace cutters and I've cut a lot of lace with it. The trick seems to be a fresh blade, which if you're cheap like me is an issue. So what I started doing instead of buying the injector type blades was I got a package of single edge razor blades cheap from harbor freight and what I do is take a blade, clamp it between two pieces of aluminum, then take a third piece and put it against the blade, whack with a hammer and you have a blade that is the same width as the injector blades, but a lot cheaper. What seems to work best for me is to place the blade between the two pieces of aluminum (1/4" thick I believe) then I clamp that in my bench vise. The third piece of aluminum is the same width as the blade is long. So you clamp as much of the blade between the metal as you want the width to be when you snap it off. works great for me, nice clean break, and very inexpensive. Sure you have to put in some effort to do it, but it takes no time at all to make up a batch of 10 of them and put them in a container for later use. Just make up several at a time. If my description is confusing let me know and I'll try and post some pictures of what I'm talking about. Chris www.builderofstuff..com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
builderofstuff Report post Posted July 29, 2010 Here are some pictures I took of how I make injector blade sized blades from cheap single edge razor blades. Chris www.builderofstuff..com few more pics Chris Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vikti Report post Posted July 29, 2010 Can you show us a pic of it in action? Damon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
builderofstuff Report post Posted July 30, 2010 Can you show us a pic of it in action? Damon what the blade? Chris Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BIGGUNDOCTOR Report post Posted July 31, 2010 Hmmm, maybe a cheap blade? We used the crap out of one when I was handicrafts instructor at a BSA summer camp. We made LOTS of lace with it. Not to be snide, but 11 year old Scouts didn't have a problem using it. Again, maybe it is just due to inferior blades. I take it that you are talking about the plastic lace maker that looks like a stick with grooves in it? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ClayB Report post Posted July 31, 2010 I used to have the same problem with the black safety skiver Tandy sells. I couldn't get it to cut anything. Then when I started working with a saddle maker, he told me to change the blade. With a new blade it worked great for a while. As soon as the blade gets a little dull, back to not working well at all. He then told me to take out the blade and strop it. Put it back in and it worked as good as a new blade. It can be taken out and stropped and used quite a few times before you have to actually put a new blade in. Might be worth a try with the lace cutter too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
