Craftool Professional Leather Splitter

[JoelR]

Walked out of my local Tandy this weekend with my first splitter and thought I would offer some initial impressions since splitters are an often discussed topic. First some caveats since the splitter I got was "special". The unit I purchased was a returned unit with a stripped blade bolt so I had to drill out the original threads and use a heli-coil to bring the mount back to original specs. Being a returned unit, I do not know what the original user did prior to returning the splitter so YMMV. I also do not know if this is a newer version or an older version. My version has a natural-colored wooden handle and a large depth setter. The pictures on Tandy's site have a black handle and what looks like a small depth setter. That being said, here are my observations:

1) The blade was HORENDOSE! Never have I seen a blade meant for leather working in such poor shape. Not only was it dull, there were burs all over the place. I did not see any stone marks so I do not believe the original owner screwed it up but that COULD be the case. This was not a case where it just needed some final stropping, the entire blade needed reworked from the ground up.

2) The feed wheel needed torn apart, cleaned and re-oiled to spin as smoothly as possible. Make sure you wipe it down good with alcohol or acetone as there is oil on it. I think it is blued steel so a coat of JB Paste Wax will help to prevent rust without inadvertently oiling your leather.

3) There is a ton of play in the feed wheel mounts. For the default setup of this splitter, this is not a big deal, but if you feel the need to modify it (see the next point) this will need addressed for consistent splits.

4) The minimum split is somewhere in the 4oz range. The depth stop can be removed to allow for a finer split, but if you are looking for paper-thin splits, point 3 comes into play. I am thinking of grinding down the depth stop to allow me to go down to 1 to 2 oz. If I do this, I will probably add brass shims to the feed wheel mounts to stabilize them. I’m sure there is a practical limit to pull-through splitters and this is the reason for the limited depth.

5) There are no markings for blade position. The instructions state that the blade needs positioned 1/8" behind the center-line of the feed roller. Well, without some sort of markings, this is not any easy task to accomplish. A center mark would have been easy for them to add during manufacturing. Additionally, this plays into point 3 as well, the play of the mounts is easily 1/16", so, if the 1/8" is critical to a proper split, the play provides you a 50% variance!

My overall thoughts:

The splitter does what it is meant to do. Once the blade was re-dressed, I was able to, with some difficulty, split a 5" wide section of 10oz down to about 7oz. I dressed the blade freehand, so I wasn't expecting butter-smooth splitting and it certainly is not. I will need to create a jig to properly dress the blade or send it off to be professionally done. If I send it out I will have the blade hollow ground to give a better edge while preserving as much of the flat for the mounting bolts. The numbers along the handle offer nothing more than reference points. In my opinion it would be better to have them as oz marks and one could then easily set the blade position properly with a simple micrometer. Even the ability to place the depth stop "at zero" for setup only so you could set the blade position by having it just touching the roller would be a huge help.

Overall I am happy with the purchase. No more hand-skiving belt ends (which I am not really getting any better at), and I can now even out my horsehide belt liners, thin front panels of holsters for those looking for more detail than I can get with 10oz, and try my hand at a few other things I would like but have stayed away from for fear of the skiving I would need to do.

Edited July 11, 2011 by JoelR

[Kevin]

I bought one when they first came out in the early '90s. I think I spent a day "refining" it and it served me well for almost twenty years in a shop setting. The blade was a little soft and finally wore out. They don't seem to have a replacement blade anymore and I don't know if I'd spend the money on one from them anyway.

I ended up getting a new blade and putting it on an old Osborne 84.

Kevin

[JoelR]

I bought one when they first came out in the early '90s. I think I spent a day "refining" it and it served me well for almost twenty years in a shop setting. The blade was a little soft and finally wore out. They don't seem to have a replacement blade anymore and I don't know if I'd spend the money on one from them anyway.

I ended up getting a new blade and putting it on an old Osborne 84.

Kevin

They do carry replacement blades in the Harrisburg store and I have seen them online (but not on the tlf site), but they are quite pricey. And yes, I did notice the steel was a bit soft and burred easily when stropped with a wool wheel and white rouge at high speed. Something I have not had to worry about with the same process on wood plane blades.