Issue With Tandy's Lace Maker Tool

[Suicide]

Hi folks,

Last day I ran into nasty issue with Tandy's lace maker tool http://www.tandyleat...?countryid=1004

So far I cut mainly deerskins of quite firm cowhide and this tool run through such a leather like a piece of cake. But yesterday I got 2 types of remnants to cut : very soft and stretcheable , less than 1 mm thick calf and the same pig skins offcuts.

OMFG, I was

I spent about 4 hours processing about 25 pieces of 25x15 mm and HALF of them end up with the trash can and no lace off....

What actually happened is that

a) it was very hard to init the cut from the round hole. Leather just stretched nuch if I tried to go by edge and no cut started.

b ) then cut finally started and I was able to grab the lace off the tool and started to pull it out, the piece either got jamed right on its the first rotation or lace end just cut off and I had to start over to init the cut.

DOH!

Do you guys know any tips and hints on using that tool on such soft, stretcheable and quite thin leather?

Or did I just get the wrong type of remnants for my exercises?

Thanks in advance!

Edited December 19, 2011 by Suicide

[Luke Hatley]

This is what happens when you try to cut thin, soft, leather.

when i have to do this type of work i use a straight edge clamped down over the leather

and cut with a Roller Knife.

[Suicide]

Thanks for reply, Luke.

Rotary cutter (or roller knife) is quite useless in my case because of size of remnants, that way I could cut the only 20-25cm laces

Do you mean there is no way to turn such remnants into descent length laces rather than take a scissors and spend another 4 hours trying to shred all stuff down?

[OutBackP]

Sharpen the blade on a strop, and start the first inch with a knife. The problem is the blade needs to be so sharp as to not catch and get caught up. Standard blades are only sold sharp, not very sharp.

[WinterBear]

I had some elk hide that was stretchy that I managed to cut. I put some low-stick masking tape on the back of the leather (flesh side), covering it all, and cut it-- hide, tape and all. I then carefully picked the tape off the back, using the end of a pin to lift the tape off. I also had to sharpen my blade a lot (I now have a dedicated blade for this), as the tape's gum and paper can much things up and the paper dulls the blade fast. I'll forewarn you, picking the tape can be a pain in the butt, but it might be worth it to get useable lace from otherwise waste pieces, or for when you want your lace to match the bag. I don't know how it will work on deerhide, as I find it more stretchy and softer than the elk hide I was working with, but you might try it on a small piece and see if it will work for you?

[Suicide]

Thanks, guys!

Definitely make sense.I'll give everythng a try.

[scooby]

rather than strips of tape (which as Winterbear says is a pain to remove) you can use 'sticky backed plastic' that way it (generally) pulls off in one long spiral just like your lace. Once again a SHARP blade is required and I find it helps to cut the start with a knife to get it started.