Skiver Advice Needed

[timesofplenty]

Howdy, I'm very new to leatherworking, so I hope you'll excuse my lack of knowledge regarding specialized vocabulary.

I've been practicing making watch straps over the last 2 weeks, and I'm really enjoying it.

I've found that hand-skiving the overlap with a Tandy safety-beveler is time consuming and produces inconsistent results.

Looking for consistency and efficiency, I bought a pre-owned Osborne 86 splitter which arrived yesterday.

I set it up on a sturdy bench, but I haven't been able to operate it as quickly and smoothly as I had hoped.

It may be that the blade is not sharp enough, but even so it seems to require an awful lot of force to pull the workpiece through.

I've tried varying depths, and starting it through with the lever raised a bit to reduce strain, but I've not experienced suitable results

I'm sure there is operator error/inexperience involved here, but I'm not sure this tool will do what I'd like it to.

I need something that will quickly produce a lap in 2oz-4oz, ideally with an angle, sort of like a ramp.

I like the idea of a crank, and it seems that would produce a fairly repeatable result, more likely than that of the (more) technique-dependent manual type.

My question is: will any of the hand-crank splitters produce a low angle, ~30mm-40mm long?

If not, can I run the piece through to a point, then back it out, and cut off 1/2 of the split to create a lap?

I'd sure like to resolve this issue, as it seems to be the main thing holding me up (for now lol!).

Thank you!

Scott

[bruce johnson]

First off, there are a few people who can do a lap on an 86. Some have made a ramped jig and some dial and pull s-l-o-w-l-y. To do a decent lap with a splitter, you need a handled one like an old Osborne 84, Spittler pattern, or I can do decent with moving the lever on a Krebs. I don't think a crank splitter is very handy for laps either. I use a crank skiver a fair amount, but for the precise work you need on watch bands, still not the tool. The bookbinders crank skiver (Schaar-Fix?) might work alright for what you are wanting. I sent mine back and never tried it for that.

I don't think any of the safety skivers or super skivers are all that consistant either. I do my best laps with a sharp knife. A round knife works alright, and I have a few skiving knives I really like. I like the flat blade skivers a lot. I just got a Vergez-Blanchard with a handle that is fast becoming my first grab.