knives

[rustynail]

hi! I'm a new leatherworker and I'm looking for some good quality knives to skive, cut/trim and general purpose. I'd rather get high quality steel than have a replacement blade setup. Can anyone recommend a good shop online or in the northern CA area?

Thanks,

Brett

[TwinOaks]

Hi and welcome to Leatherworker!

Since you're in California already, it just makes sense for you to check out Siegel (https://www.siegelofca.com/Default.asp).

There's a thread on who uses what to cut with, and it's worth reviewing. My personal preference is for a head knife or a round knife. I got by with a utility blade for a while, then after reading a few posts, got a head knife. My next thought was, "Now why didn't I have one of these before?!?!?"

Really makes cutting thick stuff easy. Scissors are a good idea too, as well as a small but wickedly sharp trim knife (read as "curved exacto blade").

As for what brand....there's a lot of choices, and most of them are pretty good. Osborn and Al Stohlman brand are pretty commonly found, but there's more choices than just those two. If you're interested, Tandy has an Al Stohlman head knife on sale right now for right at $30 USD. Check out their site, as there's a lot going on with their 1/2 off sale for June. Actually, even if you're not interested, the sale is still going on. Metaphysics....you know.

Edited June 19, 2008 by TwinOaks

[rustynail]

TwinOaks, thanks! I'm going to try and get to Tandy this Friday and get that head knife. Now that I'm in the knife world, I gotta get a sharpening system.

How about it? anyone have a good deal on a decent sharpening system? (I can see how this could get expensive!)

Thanks in advance.

Brett

[Rancher]

You'll use your round knife more than any other tool on your bench, so its cheaper in the long run to buy one really good one from a reputable tool maker (Gomph, Danny Marlin, Etc.) instead of two or three that don't fit your hand or won't hold an edge for long. I've had Tandy, Osbourne and Whatever brand they sell at Siegel of CA (the ones supposedly from England). The first one I could never get sharp, the second one wouldn't hold an edge and the third one the blade comes out of the handle so I know wherefrom I speak.

As for sharpening, all I use is a fine grit diamond hone and a rouge board.

[David]

You'll use your round knife more than any other tool on your bench, so its cheaper in the long run to buy one really good one from a reputable tool maker (Gomph, Danny Marlin, Etc.) instead of two or three that don't fit your hand or won't hold an edge for long. I've had Tandy, Osbourne and Whatever brand they sell at Siegel of CA (the ones supposedly from England). The first one I could never get sharp, the second one wouldn't hold an edge and the third one the blade comes out of the handle so I know wherefrom I speak.

As for sharpening, all I use is a fine grit diamond hone and a rouge board.

As far as a knife for cutting out leather I use my Tandy trim knife 35015-00. I never used my round knife and eventually just gave the thing away. So as you can see it is a matter of personal taste and opinion which you will use the most. Get some advice from someplace where you can try out the different knives and decide which you find easiest for you to use. Remember that trim knife is a draw knive so use accordingly.

As far as sharpening, I agree wholeheartedly with the diamond hone and rouge board.

David Theobald

[cybertracy]

I tried several types (of knives AND round knives) and settled on the Al Stohlman knife (fit my hand better) and after several attempts at sharpening finally used the tutorial Rawhide was so kind to put together. Once I got the hand of using the round knife and can keep it sharp I use almost nothing else! Let us know what you've settled on!

Edited June 20, 2008 by cybertracy

[rustynail]

I tried several types (of knives AND round knives) and settled on the Al Stohlman knife (fit my hand better) and after several attempts at sharpening finally used the tutorial Rawhide was so kind to put together. Once I got the hand of using the round knife and can keep it sharp I use almost nothing else! Let us know what you've settled on!

Well, I decided to wait to spend a lot of money on a knife. So, I went to the tandy store last friday and bought a new Al Stohlman head knife for $30. I spent about a half hour sharpening it as it didn't come sharp at all, and the initial grind from the factory was not very even. I decided that it would be a great first knife to practice sharpening and stropping etc.

I also made a quick stropping board with some white jewlers chalk (also from Tandy) and a smooth piece of untreated leather glued to a small wooden scrap from home depot.

I just bought a diamond hone from amazon and look forward to using that instead of the crappy stone I have now. However, after shapening the blade I was able to shave the hair off the back of my hand and my first cuts into leather were smooth and effortless.

Now, one question, my stropping board gets a buildup of black stuff (metal?) and doesn't have an even surface any longer. Is this normal?

thanks for all the help!

Brett