jk215 Report post Posted July 10, 2012 Ive been practicing leathercraft for about 8 months now and I still have problems with undercutting/overcutting my pieces. This leads to 2 pieces not lining up correctly when I go to glue them and always having to try to fix it at that stage. My usual process is to mark my lines with a straightedge and scratch awl and then run the knife along the straight edge to cut. Lately Ive been marking my lines and trying to cut freehand as suggested by a few others in a thread I saw. This seems like it should be a pretty straight forward process (no pun intended) and cant figure out how to improve my cuts. Im cutting with my left hand, should I be eye-ing this up from a top view, left side view, right side view? Ill try anything! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwight Report post Posted July 10, 2012 jk215, . . . quit beating yourself up. Seriously, . . . I've been doing leather work for a number of years, . . . and have come to the conclusion that it just IS NOT intelligent to try to cut two pieces of an old dead cow's hide, . . . even if you punch them out with a press, . . . and expect them to line up perfectly. Leather moves around in the cutting process, . . . Cut one of the two as near as you can where you want it, . . . cut the other a little over (both should be a smidgeon over anyway), . . . glue em together, . . . even em up with a belt or disc sander or with your Dremel tool. That is the way I do ALL, . . . EACH, . . . EVERY ONE of my belts, holsters, wallets, etc. They come out even, flush on the sides, smooth, and acceptable. The first holster I did, . . . without a sander, . . . I was hours on end trying to trim the edges with a razor knife, . . . May God bless, Dwight Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightningad Report post Posted July 10, 2012 i think this is one reason that the Round Knife is used by many leatherworkers. I have exactly the same problem, and i think its caused by the leather stretching as the knife blade is dragged through it. The round knife can be rocked across the leather so it cuts by pushing perpendicularly through the skin, thereby cutting without the drag and stretch. I am gonna have to buy myself one of those knives as soon as i can afford one! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ole South Report post Posted February 22, 2015 If you're going to glue them anyway (excluding gussets which NEVER come out right) cut them a little oversized, glue, then trim to size. Leather distorts as it's cut... even with a head knife or a rotary cutter, not so much, but enough you won't get perfect edges. A belt or disk sander is your friend.... hmmm... you got me thinking.... next project.... Variable Speed Belt and/or Disk Sander for Cheap!!!! Bwahahaaaa Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
