Skiving Knives

[raysouth]

More questions for this lost soul.

I am interested in doing some edge/lap skiving but don't think the skiving/splitting machines I see, such as Heritage, Osborne, Cowboy, etc; will do what I hope to do.

Not having any idea what to look for, I am hoping that someone can head me in the right direction.

An example; I have a piece of leather, about 10" square, @ 8-10 oz. that I want to skive and edge on to @ 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" back on all 4 sides. What type of manual, if any, machine will handle that for me? I can pull the leather through, to some extent, but not while holding other levers, etc; as I will be concentrating on staying upright while

performing the skiving operation. ckl.

If no machine is available that will do the trick, what would you advise as to good knives.

I have seen some interesting Japanese knives lately, that appear as though they might be good for this task. Important for me to be able to skive while keeping hands far away from sharp edges. (Age and Infirm issues.)

Regardless, hoping I can glean some relavent info here and get what I need without taking shots in the dark as I have many times in the past.

Any and all advice will certainlt be of value so, Thank You and God Bless.

Ray

[bruce johnson]

If it is vegtan leather then a crank skiver will do that with a smile. A pull through splitter/skiver does laps on straps but not a long edge. Every shoe repair shop should have a crank skiver, a 3-in-1, or 5-in-1 machine that will do it. If this is a one time project then I'd take it and have them do it. If it is a lot of pieces you'll be doing then investing in a crank skiver will pay off in consistant skives and no worries about cutting yourself with a knife.

[cem]

For what you are doing like Bruce I definitely recommend a crank skiver, I love mine and they are easy to use.

Clair