Members Woodyrock Posted February 2, 2013 Members Report Posted February 2, 2013 The majority of my leather work is polishing belts for the lapidary trade, so, I split all the leather so I know it is all the same thickness. I belt not so done will bump, which is of course useless. I also make knife stropping wheels, which also have to be an even thickness, but not as critical as the lapidary belts. Woody Quote
Members alyshae Posted April 9, 2013 Members Report Posted April 9, 2013 I have that little tandy splitter too, and was ready to chuck it until I got a $10 sharpening done on it. It still isn't great on anything ove two inches wide but I do mostly straps. It's very handy for skiving down the buckle end. What I love it for is the backs. I'll set a piece in the splitter, adjust to that thickness, then take out the piece and notch it a shade thinner. Run it through and fuzzies be gone! It makes for a nice clean back Quote
Members oltoot Posted April 10, 2013 Members Report Posted April 10, 2013 (edited) I have an Osborne 84 that was picked out of the trash in Miles City, Mt in 1920 then I picked it out of the trash in Alpine, Tx in 1963, new blade in 1990. I saw a reprint of an article from ~ 1885 which made the pull splitter akin to the end of the world for harness manufactured with it. When I read the article, I decided to keep mine instead of throwing it away again. But I understood why the oldest man in the shop would not use a pull splitter for harness parts, instead he would put the end in an alligator clamp and take the humps off with a spokeshve. With my trash treasure, I can use a lot of scraps that would otherwise be thrown away and I can make nice laps. We had a Randall (I think) 14" hand crank when I was learning the trade some 50 yrs ago and I have missed it a lot, enough to give serious thought to the Cowboy but then a friend got an Artisan so I'm over the separation anxiety for now. But here in Wyoming, it can be a pain to go out in the winter to use it so I still think about it every now and then. We would run a lot of cased stuff through the 14" and just take off a whisker in order to give it a 'curried' feel; compressed, especially the grain. Memories! Edited April 10, 2013 by oltoot Quote
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