Swivel Knife Control

[reddevil76]

Thank you all for your insightful comments. Even if we agree to disagree!

I do have a swingarm light. But so far, I have limited any stamping or swivel knife practise to only day time (at the balcony), so I am sure lighting is not the issue.

Bobby, your last comment makes alot of sense. I agree with that. That's why I choose to buy better leather recently, because I don't wish to put in 20+ hours on a hand made wallet, only to have its quality suffer because of poor materials.

However, I am looking at Tandy, because they do have more expensive options which I thought should be a good enough upgrade for me. The Al Stohlman series of swivel knives? But please do comment if you have any info to share on these knives. I would seriously consider splashing out for a SK-3 if I am convinced that any others won't do.

[leatherjunkie]

I also started with the basic tandy swivel knife. I later purchased a Al Stohlman swivel knife when it was on sale. it is easier to use than the basic tandy knife.

During a leather class i was introduced to the barry king swivel knife and the henley swivel knife.

these 2 swivel knives put the tandy and al stohlman swivel knives to shame.

I fell in love with them. I now have a barry king and a henley and will not trade them for anything.

once you get a good swivel knife with a good blade that will stay sharp you will never go back to another swivel knife.

its amazing what you can do with a good sharp swivel knife. you will wonder why you stayed with all the others for so long.

[hidepounder]

If you will do a search you will find a lot of information about swivel knives. Here is a link to a recent one. Swivel Knife 1. There is another older thread which is very good but I can't seem to find it. Anyway, the SK-3 is just one of many fine quality swivel knives. I highly recommend that you do some research before buying a Stohlman. Just my opinion.....

Bobby

[Stewart]

Sorry Tlong and reddevil76,

Wife was feeling helpful and spiked the coffee and I picked

up the wrong name.

I guess it algoes back to 1st grade and learning to print.

All a's on a full lined page untill done right than on to the rest.

Joe "humble " Stewart

[reddevil76]

Advice noted!

Stewart, no probs.. I had thought the post was for me but wasn't sure. Thanks for contributing to the thread.

[infomage]

Advice noted!

Stewart, no probs.. I had thought the post was for me but wasn't sure. Thanks for contributing to the thread.

Not a problem here as i answer to just about anything even when i am not suppose to.

Tlong

Think Positive Be Positive

[terrymac]

From someone who has used Tandy knives for several years, including the Al Stohlman upgrades, believe me when I tell you the SK3 is head and shoulders above the Tandy. As Bobby Park has stated, sharpness is critical to good carving, and the SK3 comes super sharp, and is easy to maintain. I have not used the Henley or King knives, but I am sure they are good also. After spending a lot of time sharpening and trying to maintain a sharp edge on the Tandy knives, I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I started using my SK3. If you decide to go with the Leather Wrangler, be sure and get some of the green strooping compound Paul sells, as the alloy blade requires a "harder" type of rouge. I also agree with Bobby when he talks about starting out with a straight 3/8" straight blade. With an angled blade, it is really easy to get into the bad habit of undercutting your cuts. Learn with the straight, and then when the need arises, go with another type of blade. Just my 2 cents worth.

Terry

[hidepounder]

If you will do a search you will find a lot of information about swivel knives. Here is a link to a recent one. Swivel Knife 1. There is another older thread which is very good but I can't seem to find it. Anyway, the SK-3 is just one of many fine quality swivel knives. I highly recommend that you do some research before buying a Stohlman. Just my opinion.....

Bobby

I finally found the other thread that I wanted to post a link to. It's a discussion with a lot of information. Swivel Knife 2. There are several other threads that discuss swivel knives also.....

Hope this helps.......

Bobby

[GlenH]

I've been doing leatherwork for about a year now, and I'm still learning knife control. I recently switched to the knife my dad used back in the 70s from the one that came in the Tandy kit. I finally realized that neither knife was really sharp enough, so once I got the knife sharp, that helped a LOT. One other thing I had to do was put a drop of oil in the swivel in my dad's knife. That made it swivel a lot better.

Glen

[Horseshoe]

I always pull toward me rotating the leather for any curves and circles all while keeping the knife shaft straight up. Oh and practice, practice, practice. I did a few Celtic designs when I was first starting, and let me tell you Celtic designs will get ya cutting curves real well real quick.