Sole Bend?

[antipaladin]

I have what I think is a pretty darn sharp head knife...goes through everything else I cut

like butter. The only thing I have trouble with is the Tandy heavy "sole bend" leather. That

stuff is like cutting steel. Anyone have any tips/tricks for precision cutting this stuff or is it

a case of if my knife were REALLY sharp enough, it would cut through the sole bend like

calfskin?

[Art]

Nothing wrong with head knife, but for sole bend, just use the band saw.

Art

I have what I think is a pretty darn sharp head knife...goes through everything else I cut

like butter. The only thing I have trouble with is the Tandy heavy "sole bend" leather. That

stuff is like cutting steel. Anyone have any tips/tricks for precision cutting this stuff or is it

a case of if my knife were REALLY sharp enough, it would cut through the sole bend like

calfskin?

[bruce johnson]

The other way to cut sole bend is with the cutting wheel on the end of a 2 in 1, 3 in 1, or 5 in 1 machine. It is some seriously dense stuff to cut with a knife.

[Michael Sheldon]

Yup, when cutting soles, I just mark it out, then run it through the band saw

[Rawhide]

I wish you bandsaw owner's lived around me. I want to cuts some new jaws for my stitching horse out of some 1 3/4" thick maple.

marlon

[Froghunter]

and if you don't have a band saw (I do, but don't use it all the time....sorry Marlon, I'm a bit too far from ya!) use a jig saw. You will loose a little more leather because you have to use a pretty agressive blade, but it works well!

Oh and be sure to put plastic down to collect the "dust" it makes superb embossing filler!

Edited August 19, 2008 by Froghunter

[wolvenstien]

Sorry to jump off topic here....

Marlon, Get on you local craigslist dot org. I am in Chattanooga, could not find any here, got on the Atlanta site, and found all kinds of toys - um, I mean tools..... Made deals with everyone and went on a road trip.... mapped it all out and hit everyone on my way and ended up stopping over at a friends from the site here to BS and bounce stuff off of.... think that was the time I stole his hand stitcher to to sew up some saddle bags.... anyway.... I picked up a scroll saw and a band saw from the same guy for 110.00 total.... also picked up a 8 inch lathe, a dewalt sawzall, and was going to get a sewing machine but ended up not getting it.... but I made out like a bandit and got to spend time with another leather worker of which i dont get to do here.....

[Rawhide]

That's a good idea. I don't really need a bandsaw for many things, that's why I can't really justify it. Plus I don't have much room for one.

I will still look though. Thanks for the idea.

Marlon

[Michael Sheldon]

look around for a used benchtop model. You can get them for under $100 new, so used should be quite cheap. And it's small enough to stash in a corner somewhere when you don't need it. A scroll saw should work fine too.

[Bree]

I have what I think is a pretty darn sharp head knife...goes through everything else I cut

like butter. The only thing I have trouble with is the Tandy heavy "sole bend" leather. That

stuff is like cutting steel. Anyone have any tips/tricks for precision cutting this stuff or is it

a case of if my knife were REALLY sharp enough, it would cut through the sole bend like

calfskin?

One of these will cut through it lickety split. They cost about $69 with free shipping at All Brands.