Skiver & Utility Knife ?

[Django57]

I'm thinking of investing in a knife for cutting leather and noticed on youtube a few professionals using these knives , being left handed i wondered if these are ambidextrous or would i need to buy a left handed one , i've posted a link to a guy using one or maybe two as one looks to be angled ? , i am confused with how he is using it as the chamfer seems to be on the wrong side for a right handed person .

[Trox]

Hi

The first knife is a skiving knife, and it is not intended for any other use than skiving. There is no law against using it for other purposes too. You need both a left and a right edged skiving knife (for skiving on the left and right side). Most would use their round knife for this, it has an edge on both sides; skives on both sides and is designed for a roller cut. Get your self a good round knife, thats the saddler's all purpose knife. I often use this style of knife for cutting around a pattern http://www.abbeyengl...GB/Default.aspx you can buy different styles of blades for it. handle £ 10,20 and blades http://www.abbeyengl...GB/Default.aspx £ 1, 056 each. Its called extension clicker knife, clicker knifes are used to cut out patterns.

On the picture you see some of my French Blanchard round knifes and one cornette knife. You must register to buy from Abbey (UK), they sell very nice saddler`s tools and have good prices. Her you can buy very fine professional French saddler's tools http://www.vergez-blanchard.fr/boutique/liste_rayons.cfm

I hope this helps you.

Tor

Edited April 15, 2013 by Trox

[Django57]

Thank you Trox for your advise

[St8LineGunsmith]

I have a round knife that I use for most of the skiving I need to do and I also have a cheese knife I sharpened to use for skiving

[Django57]

I just like the way he appears to have a good view of the cutting line with his hand raised up , but i have never used a round or head knife so i don't have anything to compare , at the moment i am using a Stanley Knife.

[Matt S]

Stanleys are fine for straight pull cuts so long as you strop your blades (never need to buy another; will be sharper than new after 10 seconds' work). They can be used for limited skiving too. Round knives allow a lot more options though.

[penguineer]

The handle on the stanleys seems to get in the way for skiving and they don't have the flex to make up for it.

I thought the first knife in that video was similar to my Japanese utility knife - edge is straight rather than angled. The japanese knife can be used for skiving as there is a bit of distance between the hand/le and edge to allow you a good angle.

The knife I usually use for skiving is made from a power hacksaw blade - again, slim so lets you get a good angle for skiving.

I've got a couple of round knives but don't have the practice to be proficient in their use......otherwise they can do nearly everything....

Cheers!

[Django57]

penguineer can i ask if you like your japanese utility knife ? as i have been looking at some on goodsjapan site and they make a left handed one, i don't particularly want it for skiving just cutting as the gentleman is using it in the video.

[penguineer]

It's one of my most used tools - I have about three knives that I use depending on what needs to be done. It's generally a toss up between this knife and a snap-blade knife for general cutting, and it also gets a run at skiving every now and then. I reckon you can keep the Japanese knife sharper that the snap-offs, but sometimes I get lazy and the snap-blade gets used.

It's a bit less intimidating to use than a round kife - when you first pick those up it seems everything is either an edge or a point - and the straight edge is easier to sharpen. Like any knife - keep it sharp!

One of the things it doesn't do well is tight inside corners due to the blade width - I have a different knife for that.

Does that help?

Cheers!

[Django57]

Cheers that's answered my doubts about one of these knives , one more question if you don't mind what type of knife do you use for internal corners ? i think the second knife he uses is the one for corners but if you have a better idea i'm open to ideas.