Ive Had It With The Tandy Craftool Splitter

[NewYorkerInSydney]

Hi folks,

Last year I purchased a Tandy Craftool Leather Splitter. THe cheaper one. That thing truly is a piece of rubbish. I use it to split leather often and what ends up happening is that it just splits WAY too thin or tearing the leather even though I have it set at splitting a bit thicker. Ive ruined so much leather. I often try to split a whole long strap of leather and somewhere half way through it it will actually split all the way and tear it in half. Im disgusted. You get what you pay for. Why does this happen with this machine?

Ok. So I am ready to purchase a better splitter and am hoping to find something for under $1k that will easily and reliably split my leather without it going right through it and that I dont have to search all over the world to find. Id like a machine that is readily available and that will do the same job over and over. Please, please, please I look forward to your suggestions.

I split veg tan leather that is 5-6 oz down to 3 oz mostly. Please help.

Desperately,

NYIS

Edited April 10, 2013 by NewYorkerInSydney

[WinterBear]

Before anything else, I'd take it to someone who knows what they are doing and get it sharpened with the correct bevel. I have not heard of anyone with that splitter being happy with the sharpness and/or bevel of that out of the box.

[rdb]

I can't say for the newer ones (mine is over 40 yrs old), but as winterbear said, sharpen the thing first. Secondly, the adjustment of the roller bar is critical. Experiment with how close or far you make it. Thirdly, the leather has to enter the blade straight. Holding the strap (for instance) up as you feed it will wreck the cut. Sort of hold the leather out on a plane level with the blade.

[Jax]

ditto whats already been said I have an old Dixons splitter & that too will cut through the leather if its not pulled through leve (its so easy to do)l, dont give up on yours just yet, get it sharp & reset/check the position of the blade, roller etc before going to anymore expense. Good luck & please let us know how you get on

[billymac814]

I bought a Cowboy splitter which is another inexpensive option. When it came the blade was basically unuseable, I had to spend a lot of time sharpening it at first but once its sharp it works great. I'd second the recommendation of having someone sharpen it before you give up on it.

[fivesixthree]

i think it depends on how wide are the items you are splitting if its less than 6 inches try a landis 30 wich is a hand crank machine i use one like this , if they are wider items there are other options the weaver leather splitter i belive splitts up to 10 inches if even wider the leather machine company offers a huge motorized one its amazing , but most of these options are up there in the price good luck

[Doc Reaper]

Have it professionally sharpened, then make sure the blade is straight with the roller. Then make sure the blade is centered over the roller. Next thing is to make sure the leather is below the roller and not entering the blade higher than the roller. Mount splitter on table. The table should be stout and clean of items. Sounds like your blade is dull, and leather entry is not rolling over the roller but even with it, also check roller is even with blade. Sharpen blade first!

[curlyjo]

Contact Bruce Johnson on this site. He helped me with info. before I purchased a Chase style Splitter. And maybe try and find an old Osbourne or similar. Bruce rebuilds splitters, he might have one in stock. Brad