DanTheMan Report post Posted February 20, 2012 I know this is a real dumb question, but I wanted to ask before I start bending on this tool. I bought one of the cheap safety skivers and I do not believe it is working as it should. When I attempt to remove leather I can only get it to remove the loose pieces on the back and I end up with something like a leather fuzz. The videos I have watched online show them removing a thin piece. I am thinking about bending the safety bar slightly so the blade can get more contact with the leather. Has anyone had to adjust similar to this before? They are cheap and buying another is not a problem. I don't have a local seller so I have to order and I really don't want to wait on the shipping. Thanks for any info. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luke Hatley Report post Posted February 20, 2012 DONT DO IT ....IT WONT WORK LIKE YOU THINK IT SHOULD.ask me how i know.... yes you are right on the price, But i hate paying the shipping charges.. Just keep putting a sharpe blade in the skiver and do a lot of light passes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DanTheMan Report post Posted February 21, 2012 I gave it another try and still no luck. I am going to order another and see if it have better results. Thanks for the reply. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JAM Report post Posted February 21, 2012 Every saddlemaker I know uses these occasionally, and every one of them has bent the blade holders for better skiving/deeper cuts. Use pliers, bend a tiny bit at a time until you get what you want, and have two or three or five for different cut depths. There's nothing wrong with altering your tools to work better - leatherworkers have always done it. Just make small changes and experiment on scrap as you go. They're a great little tool once you've made them work for you. Julia McCormack Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sylvia Report post Posted February 23, 2012 I know this is a real dumb question, but I wanted to ask before I start bending on this tool. I bought one of the cheap safety skivers and I do not believe it is working as it should. When I attempt to remove leather I can only get it to remove the loose pieces on the back and I end up with something like a leather fuzz. The videos I have watched online show them removing a thin piece. I am thinking about bending the safety bar slightly so the blade can get more contact with the leather. Has anyone had to adjust similar to this before? They are cheap and buying another is not a problem. I don't have a local seller so I have to order and I really don't want to wait on the shipping. Thanks for any info. The only thing that I have noticed about mine is that as you work the blade slides deeper into the groove which seems to make the blade have less cutting ability. I'm going to use a section of a used guitar string (Probably a low E string) and slide it into the groove to see if that will keep the blade in the right cutting position. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JAM Report post Posted February 24, 2012 I've never had that problem - the blade should be as deeply in the holder as it can be. To make the exposed edge cut better, you want to use pliers to gently, slowly bend the long, crimped edge of the blade holder backwards (just a tiny bit) all along the folded crimp, to make the blade edge stick out (just a tiny bit). It won't take much to make the cutting edge take a bigger bite. Does this make sense? You're not opening the crimp at all, but you're bending that entire "holder" part back to make the blade edge more exposed. You want the blade to stay deep in the crimp. Julia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vikti Report post Posted February 25, 2012 I had that problem when I had a safety skiver and I got tired of it and got myself a super skiver and haven't had a problem since. It cost a little more but I think that it's worth it. Damon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DanTheMan Report post Posted February 26, 2012 Thanks for the replies. I am going to attempt to bend the guard on this one just a little. I'll update with results. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DanTheMan Report post Posted March 2, 2012 Thanks for the replies. I am going to attempt to bend the guard on this one just a little. I'll update with results. I finally had a little time and had good results with the safety skiver. I lightly clamped the end with needle nose pliers and then used light wrist pressure to bend. I did this evenly across the cutting area. There was a big improvement on the first test. Thanks for all the replies! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tree Reaper Report post Posted March 5, 2012 I had to remove metal from the back of my super skiver to get it to cut. It would take a little leather off and then stop cutting. Now I can just vary the pressure and it works much better. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
