Skiving.... With A Belt Sander?

[Kcinnick]

I have built up a modest selection of tools to cut leather but I don't have anything specific for skiving. I was putting together a belt and I thought I would try skiving the end with a Round Knife, well I was not successful. So I took the strap over to my belt sander and held it at an angle and got a perfect taper. Is there any advantage to getting a skiver over just using my belt sander? I like all the new tools I have gotten, well most of them anyway, but will a skiver work any better than my belt sander at skiving the ends of belts?

[TwinOaks]

A skiver (hand held tool) will work "okay", but a splitter does the job cleaner and faster. Typically, any time I've sanded down the leather (belt sander for me too) I've had to take extra steps to smooth the flesh side back to a useable level....my sander tends to leave it a bit "furry".

[amuckart]

Is there any advantage to getting a skiver over just using my belt sander? I like all the new tools I have gotten, well most of them anyway, but will a skiver work any better than my belt sander at skiving the ends of belts?

Yes, both in absolute quality (the sander leaves a fuzzy surface and edges) and in time. The sander might seem easy now, when skiving is a new skill you haven't mastered yet, but think about what you're doing when you do it with the sander, having to power it, presumably bracing the leather, and dealing with all the noise and dust, etc. compared to the few seconds lap skiving will take you with a sharp knife and a bit of practice.

Now multiply that over your leatherworking lifetime...

I taught myself to skive with a 'shoe knife', properly sharp, and a bunch of scrap, over the course of an evening. Half an hour of constant practice and I was getting pretty good, an hour after that I'd gone through a bunch of other types of knife and figured out which ones worked best, and then it was on to other sorts of leather. I've got a bunch of different knives now and every time I've gotten a new one I sit down and play with it in various scraps until I've got the hang of it. I still use the shoe knife a fair bit though.

Now if I need to skive a strap end, or a fold over, or whatever, I just pick up a knife and do it.

Of course, you also need to learn how to properly sharpen your knives, but in leatherwork that's already a non-optional skill.

[hidepounder]

I agree with amuckart! Learning to use a knife, more specifically a round knife, is imperative. The learning curve is rather steep when learning to sharpen and in using the knife. At least it was for me anyway. But there is no substitute for being able to pick up a knife and perform a good skive!

Bobby

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

I agree with amuckart! Learning to use a knife, more specifically a round knife, is imperative. The learning curve is rather steep when learning to sharpen and in using the knife. At least it was for me anyway. But there is no substitute for being able to pick up a knife and perform a good skive!

Bobby

In keeping with what Bob said, the round knife is the most used tool in my collection. I use it so much for everything, that I don't even have a holder for it, it just sits right where I can get it, next to the beer!

Bob

[reddevil76]

I thought this skiver is kinda cool, but I've never seen it for sale anywhere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPvDZOf-O98&feature=related

[gtwister09]

Reddevil,

There area couple of threads on leatherworker about it and there are a couple of places that sell them as well. These are mainly for light weight leathers like those used for bookbinding. In fact that is what they are used for.

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=20489

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=1216

Talas carries it and the Brockman.

Talas Paring Machine

Regards,

Ben

Edited November 28, 2011 by gtwister09

[hidepounder]

I've never seen that machine before either. I can see where that might be real handy on chrome tanned leather, however, on veg tanned leather that skive can be easily made with a round knife or a french edger.

What I found really interesting was a video by another Japanese craftsman where he demonstrates the use of a small, palm sized block planner that he use for skiving edges. The base of the plane is convex which is what makes it so handy.

[oldtimer]

I just found out ( google) that the Schärf-Fix skiver is made in Sweden, but I have never seen it before, living here all my life.

I seems to do a good job on thin leather.

/ knut

[K-Man]

I used a belt sander to skive edges all the time when I had my shop. Only took a few seconds to skive the piece of leather down, whether it was a long skived edge or a short edge. Then it only took a couple of more seconds to trim the fuzz. It was an overall time saver and I had great control over the skiving of the leather.

Now with us being in a set up where I don't have the immediate access of tools as I did in the shop, I've gone back to skiving edges with the knife. (Living in a 5th wheel RV has a few drawbacks. ) As others have stated, it is imperative to learn to use a knife.

If given the choice, I would use a belt sander. YMMV.