Swivel Knife Prolems - Help

[M_S]

I'm a beginner-intermediate leatherworker. I have a very good swivel knife (Barry King) and sharp blades. However, when I'm making my cuts in tight curves in Sheridan patterns, the leather tears in spots. Not large tears, just tears that appear as ragged edges instead of the clean, tight lines we're after. Am I using too much pressure in the curves, or am I holding the knife at a bad angle, or am I not swiveling the knife correctly, or making some other mistake? If my description of the problem is too vague, then please give tips on smooth swivel knife cuts in tight curves. Thanks a bunch.

Edited May 8, 2012 by M_S

[Cyberthrasher]

From your description, and my own struggles, it sounds a lot like a combination between improper "swiveling" and possibly a blade that needs stropped. I find it helps to adjust the front to back angle of the knife to a more vertical position (relative to the normal angle) when doing tight turns, which allows the swivel to have more of an effect on radius of the turn. I still have a lot of problems with it but I am getting better by using these methods. Another thing you may notice is that if you press into the leather real hard you'll get little raised ridges around your cut line which could also appear like little tears.

[Bluesman]

Leather may be to wet. Let it dry to original color. Really makes a difference

[Sylvia]

I think Bluesman hit it on the head. Proper casing. It's hard sometimes to wait until your leather is ready to cut with a swivel knife. We get excited and want to get to carving.... but ... Too wet and you get wrinkly almost torn looking edges on the cut.

[colttrainer]

Sounds like you need to tilt blade back , use more tip,,Make shure your blade is vertical from side to side & not under cutting.

[Randy Cornelius]

Really tilt the blade back when doing tight turns. It also helps to add a little soap to your casing solution. It will help the blade glide through the leather. All the above tips are good.

[King's X]

If you get a chance....take a look at the "Leather Manual" by Al Stohlman regarding the use of the swivel knife. It might help you out a bit.

[colttrainer]

TAKE STOHLMAN'S BOOKS AND THROW THEM IN THE TRASH

If you get a chance....take a look at the "Leather Manual" by Al Stohlman regarding the use of the swivel knife. It might help you out a bit.

[Jimbob]

wet leather, cheap wet leather and dull knife on wet leather......makes a huge difference to wait till all is original color, just as you knew is most important when tooling....let it dry a bit more and use sharp strobed knife.....and you will be on your way!!

Guess how I know that.....hahahaaa...

gud luck

Jimbob

[NoName]

TAKE STOHLMAN'S BOOKS AND THROW THEM IN THE TRASH

Definitely do not throw away any of Stohlman's books. There is a wealth of information to be had from them. Some of the stuff has become outdated, and you may find easier of better ways of doing things, but don't bash the man who was so instrumental in spreading the craft and so generous with his knowledge.

[Northmount]

I agree with NoName. There are lots of resources from a lot of people through the ages. There are multiple ways of doing things, some better for certain cases than others. What works for some doesn't work for others.

Here on LW we see many opinions of how to do things the best way. Opinions of quality of tools and leather ...

All these opinions help form the way we do our work, just the same as researching and studying from various books by various authors. AS and many others have advanced our arts and capabilities and should be given due credit for the work, skills, and foresight. Same as we appreciate the work of many masters that are or have been part of this forum, one of the best forums and resources worldwide.

Learn what you can from others and apply it to improving your skills. I spent 19 years as an instructor in a technical school. The best educated and talented people are those that research and learn the "building blocks" and learn to apply them in their work. "Burning" books does not accomplish this. Keep learning through all the resources we have at our disposal. We have so much available to us now versus even 10 years ago.

CTG

[Sylvia]

TAKE STOHLMAN'S BOOKS AND THROW THEM IN THE TRASH

Well, hmmm... Let me just say this.

Opinions are like behinds... we all have them and they all stink.

In the future, instead of spewing a statement like this in all CAPS....please try to offer an alternative resource which you prefer.

[Art]

Much of what is written about leatherworking, especially for the hobbiest and even the entry professionals came out of the original Tandy. They, using Al and many others, produced printed information to keep leatherworking alive (and hence Tandy Corp.) I have much of it, acquired when Tandy was closing stores. It is great to teach scouts about leather, although it is much harder to get them to read nowadays, they want to watch the video, which TLF is trying to provide.

If you want to throw away all those AS books, give them instead to your local Boy Scout Troop, or the Girl Scouts, both fine organizations that will put them to good use.

Art

[Mudruck]

Much of what is written about leatherworking, especially for the hobbiest and even the entry professionals came out of the original Tandy. They, using Al and many others, produced printed information to keep leatherworking alive (and hence Tandy Corp.) I have much of it, acquired when Tandy was closing stores. It is great to teach scouts about leather, although it is much harder to get them to read nowadays, they want to watch the video, which TLF is trying to provide.

If you want to throw away all those AS books, give them instead to your local Boy Scout Troop, or the Girl Scouts, both fine organizations that will put them to good use.

Art

I would be more then willing to take any of the evil Stohlman books from anyone who doesn't want them!

[Sylvia]

I would be more then willing to take any of the evil Stohlman books from anyone who doesn't want them!

here here! I'll gladly accept old Stohlman books too.

[Northmount]

1336684011[/url]' post='247311']

here here! I'll gladly accept old Stohlman books too.

Double that! I seem to have a habit of collecting books, magazines, patterns, etc. I'm running out of space so try to scan stuff and put it on my computer. But I keep getting further behind. I did manage to scan 2 shelves 4 ft long each, but they are filled up again!

[Randle P McMurphy]

Back to swivel knife problems

and tips?

Caseing does that mean dryer leather, not so wet

to allow the knife to cut without drag??

[NoName]

Cased means damp clear through but not soggy.

Try this object lesson to learn what "cased" should look like...

Hold a scrap of 8-9 oz veg tanned leather under water for about 5 seconds. Pull it out and wipe off the excess moisture. Cut the piece in half and observe the edge that you cut. You will see that the the core is still bone dry and the top and bottom surfaces are wet looking. Put this scrap in a plastic bag and seal it up for 20 - 30 minutes. The excess moisture in the top and bottom surfaces of the leather will gradually soak in until the piece is evenly damp throughout. This is cased.

When a piece of leather is cased properly the surface may not look wet any more but it will still feel cool and damp to the back of your hand. A piece of 8-9 oz leather will hold this moisture content for 1 to 4 hours depending on the humidity of the climate you live in. As the leather dries while you are working it you can add moisture in small amounts with a spray bottle (set to fine mist) or a damp sponge. When you do this, you need to let the leather sit until it begins to return to its natural or "dry" color in places before you continue tooling it. I like to cover the leather with plastic or put it in a plastic bag while it is casing to ensure even penetration of the moisture.