Chrome Tanned Leather Splitter

[NewYorkerInSydney]

Hi everyone,

I would like to purchase a splitter that will work well with chrome tanned leather. I often use 5-8 oz leather and would love to be able to split down to 3oz or less. Can you recommend some splitters that are under $1k perhaps that would work excellent with chrome tanned leather and that are easily sourced/found where I dont have to search the earth looking for one? Id make a purchase today if I found the right tool.

Thanks for reading and grateful for your help and suggestions.

Nyis

Edited April 11, 2013 by NewYorkerInSydney

[Andrew Chee]

How wide of a split do you want to do? Blade splitters won't split chrome tan very well since its pretty soft. The best splitters would be a band knife splitter but they're too expensive for your budget. One thing you can do is to use a bell knife skiver. You can run the leather through in several passes to get the whole piece split. Those can be found for under $1k.

Andrew

[HCM]

Before I got a band knife splitter, I did exactly what Andrew recommended. You will be limited to the width of the foot and stone on the bell knife machine, but you can run a piece through the machine multiple times to split wider pieces if you have to. However, there will be some lines where each new split starts. Depending on your leather and application, the lines may or may not show through to the top grain, but you'd have to test it out to be sure. In my application, this splitting method made my leather unusable, so I got a band knife splitter. If you really need a clean split and don't have the money to buy a band knife splitter, I'd recommend sending the leather to someone to split it for you. We do splitting and clicker die cutting here and the cost to our customers is minuscule compared to what it would take to do it on their own. Ask around here if there is someone in your area who can do this for you, I'm sure you'll find someone. Worse comes to worst, you can fit a lot of leather in USPS flat rate shipping box and ship it to someone very cheaply.

[tcondie435]

Before I got a band knife splitter, I did exactly what Andrew recommended. You will be limited to the width of the foot and stone on the bell knife machine, but you can run a piece through the machine multiple times to split wider pieces if you have to. However, there will be some lines where each new split starts. Depending on your leather and application, the lines may or may not show through to the top grain, but you'd have to test it out to be sure. In my application, this splitting method made my leather unusable, so I got a band knife splitter. If you really need a clean split and don't have the money to buy a band knife splitter, I'd recommend sending the leather to someone to split it for you. We do splitting and clicker die cutting here and the cost to our customers is minuscule compared to what it would take to do it on their own. Ask around here if there is someone in your area who can do this for you, I'm sure you'll find someone. Worse comes to worst, you can fit a lot of leather in USPS flat rate shipping box and ship it to someone very cheaply.

I'm looking to split a lot of chrome tan leather pretty often. I don't know much about splitters either. What Band Knife splitters do you suggest?

[HCM]

I'm looking to split a lot of chrome tan leather pretty often. I don't know much about splitters either. What Band Knife splitters do you suggest?

I don't know nearly enough about what's out there to recommend anything for you. I have an older model Camoga and it's all I've ever used. All I can say is that you should really get your machine from a trustworthy dealer. I got mine from an unknown dealer who seemed like a good guy, but he took me to the cleaners. I specifically asked about the condition of some expensive parts and he sad they had plenty of life left on them. Well, the parts that I asked about were worn beyond usable when the machine arrived. I ended up spending thousands on the parts and service to put the machine back into running condition. I know this machine in and out now, but that took time. I would highly recommend calling Campbell-Randall if you're serious about getting a splitter. They have new and used machines and they have never steered me wrong.

[tcondie435]

I don't know nearly enough about what's out there to recommend anything for you. I have an older model Camoga and it's all I've ever used. All I can say is that you should really get your machine from a trustworthy dealer. I got mine from an unknown dealer who seemed like a good guy, but he took me to the cleaners. I specifically asked about the condition of some expensive parts and he sad they had plenty of life left on them. Well, the parts that I asked about were worn beyond usable when the machine arrived. I ended up spending thousands on the parts and service to put the machine back into running condition. I know this machine in and out now, but that took time. I would highly recommend calling Campbell-Randall if you're serious about getting a splitter. They have new and used machines and they have never steered me wrong.

Thanks, I'll look into it and let you know what I find!

[HCM]

Are you looking for new or used? Do you have a decent budget? Do yo know how wide you need it to be? That's pretty much all you need to know to start hunting.

[Spinner]

We do splitting and clicker die cutting here and the cost to our customers is minuscule compared to what it would take to do it on their own. Ask around here if there is someone in your area who can do this for you, I'm sure you'll find someone. Worse comes to worst, you can fit a lot of leather in USPS flat rate shipping box and ship it to someone very cheaply.

Talk to me HCM, I may have work for you. I have a number of hides on hand and more coming that need to be split but no interest in buying a splitter (bell skiver is in the works though). Drop me a line at chris@threemuttscustoms.com if you have room for some more splitting business. Looking to know price, possible widths, etc.

Thanks,

Chris

[HCM]

Talk to me HCM, I may have work for you. I have a number of hides on hand and more coming that need to be split but no interest in buying a splitter (bell skiver is in the works though). Drop me a line at chris@threemuttscustoms.com if you have room for some more splitting business. Looking to know price, possible widths, etc.

Thanks,

Chris

Sure thing, I'll drop you an email.