pete Report post Posted May 11, 2008 I bought the TLC craftool skiver and I'm not happy with it. I sharpened the blade and adjusted it to the thickness that I wanted. But I'm having a devil of a time getting a good skive. It either cuts the leather off or skips or #$)(*$! Is this machine only good for 10oz+ leather to skive to maybe 4-5 oz or can I actually skive 4-5 oz to a semi feather edge. If not, what is the best tool to use to get a really nice skive to a semi- feather edge? Round knife? I have the TLF super skiver and safety skiver but they seem worthless. pete Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CitizenKate Report post Posted May 12, 2008 Yeah, I've been through a few of those gadgets, too, and ended up throwing them away out of frustration. I've got a series of PDFs from Verlane Desgrange showing an excellent photo demo of skiving with a round knife. Unfortunately, I don't know if it's legal for me to post it. If we can get it cleared for posting somehow, I'd be happy to. I don't have a round knife (I'm a little scared of them, to be honest), but I was at a Peter Main workshop a few years ago, and at it he demonstrated how to skive edges with a scalpel and the leather laying on a piece of glass. It took a little practice, but I've gotten the best results from that as anything. Kate Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CitizenKate Report post Posted May 12, 2008 Okay, I've got the green light to post these. This is a photo demo from Verlane Desgrange on the technique of skiving with a round knife: skiving_sequence_150_1.pdf skiving_front_view_150.pdf skived_leather_150.pdf skiving__wrong_way_150.pdf skived__wrong_150_2.pdf Even if you don't use a round knife, it's still very informative and shows you very clearly what skiving is really supposed to look like. Kate skiving_sequence_150_1.pdf skiving_front_view_150.pdf skived_leather_150.pdf skiving__wrong_way_150.pdf skived__wrong_150_2.pdf Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ClayB Report post Posted May 12, 2008 For years, I thought the safety skiver was a big waste of space too. But when I started to learn how to make saddles, I was taught how to use it, and now I use mine all the time. The blades need to be changed a LOT more often than I would have ever thought. They can also be taken out and stropped to get more use out of them. I think the thing that helped the most was skiving on damp leather. It works 100 times easier than trying to do anything dry. If you do change blades in the middle of a project, you have to be really careful because the new sharp blade will take off a lot more leather than the dull one did. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pete Report post Posted May 12, 2008 thanks to ALL of you- what a great forum pete Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gibbsleatherworks Report post Posted August 8, 2008 Call me crazy but I have had alot of luck using a razor scraper to skive. The kind used to remove your inspection sticker from you windshield. The razor doesnt last long but I just keep it sharp with my strope. If the razor is sharp, the leather cuts like butter. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bunkhouseleather Report post Posted September 12, 2008 For my skiving work I took and glued a piece of glass 24"x24" to a piece of plywood. And then I pretty much use Verlanes way of doing things. The thing that helps me a lot is to keep my round knife as sharp as I can get it. Strop the knife often and life is good. I have one of the safety skivers also and have had some luck using it to feather an edge using a curved piece of glas to skive on. Hope this helps. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
