I Think I Need A Splitter

[Chavez]

Hi!

I sometimes need to thin leather straps, and so far I have tried using a pairing knife and, following someone's advice here, a safety beveller for splitting/skiving. Both work fine on small areas but they are useless if I need to split a long strap =( I haven't tried using a safety skiver yet but I guess I wont get any consistent results with it.

I am therefore looking to get myself a splitting machine. Ideally I would like to keep it under £200 and the little splitter here:

http://leprevo.co.uk/photos/splitting-machine.htm

looks like a good solution for a good price.

Has anyone used these splitters and how good are they? Are there better solutions for splitting straps out there?

I understand that since they don't have a handle, you can't adjust splitting thickness on the go, but at the moment I'll be quite happy if I can split a fixed thickness, as long as it works and the thickness is consistent =)

Thank you for the advice!

[Itch]

I have the same one that is in that photo..It is a toy compared to a

save your money and get the big one..This will last a very long time..

[Mijo]

I have the Osborne version of that splitter, it works well when you get it dialed in right. I also have a need to split straps and this was a huge step up from a knife / safety skiver. I'd recommend paying the extra cash and getting a pull splitter that can also skive, which is what I wish I had done.

[Chavez]

Thanks Itch!

I think these bad boys start from £500 and I will only able to fork this much cash out in about a year's time, given that I don't buy a Tippman Boss stitcher any time soon (still not sure if I need one at this stage).

I usually try to get the best tools I can afford (and it always pays off!) but got to stick to my budget. To be honest, even £150 is pushing the budget a bit (just didn't think I will need a splitter so soon).

Is the cheap one OK, or am I really better off trying to find a good used one on ebay?

[Chavez]

hmm.

Also an interesting solution:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Craft-Sha-Leathercraft-Safety-Skife-Knife-Flat-Leather-Skiver-Plane-/110913244569?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d2f1cd99

Though it seems really narrow as I need to skive straps up to 2inches wide. Has anyone used these?

[Sylvia]

hmm.

Also an interesting solution:

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item19d2f1cd99

Though it seems really narrow as I need to skive straps up to 2inches wide. Has anyone used these?

That looks a lot like a hand plane used for wood. hmmm wonder if a wood plane would work if one sharpened the blade really well?

[Chavez]

Yeah, I was thinking about it too.

Would any wood plane owners be so kind to give it a try and let us know if straps can be split this way? =)

I believe that 2in is the common width of plane blades and that would be enough for me for a start. At least if it can keep me going for half a year I'll invest into a proper splitter =)

[Chavez]

Update:

Ordered myself an adjustable wood plane to experiment with. At 1/60th of a price of a proper splitter its definitely worth a try =)

[Ferg]

Goodsjapan is a great company to work with. I have not tried the block planes for skiving. I can see several problems. The blade would need to be extremely sharp and kept that way of course. Holding the piece of leather

would present a problem I believe. Angle of blade would be critical also.

If you decide to try it, make sure you let the rest of us know how it worked.

ferg

Update:

Ordered myself an adjustable wood plane to experiment with. At 1/60th of a price of a proper splitter its definitely worth a try =)

[Chavez]

Hi ferg,

I'll let you know if it works when my plane arrives. I don't think holding the leather will be a problem as I only need to skive leather straps, but the blade angle might need a bit of adjustment.

Of course there is also the problem that even if it does skive, it will only skive a fixed thickness off the leather, so the thickness of the actual piece with the grain may vary (which won't happen with a splitter).

But if it does work, it will be a great tool to use until I buy a proper splitter!