Skiving Failure

[JDTagish]

Skiving is absolutely my weakest area. I've watched a million YouTube videos, and for everyone it seems like you pull the skiving tool and shave off bits of leather to get that "feathered" edge. For reasons that I don't know, it NEVER works for me. I have the "Super Skiver" and Safety Skiver from Tandy. I'd be happy to invest in a better tool, but they all seem to work essentially the same way, and I'm assuming that it's operator error, even if the tools aren't the best they should do something more than just rough the surface of the leather, so I'm hesitant to spend a bunch of dough on a similar but higher quality tool and not get any better results.

I'm mostly using it on between 3-5oz veg tan, and trying to get to a super thin edge. Very very rarely, I get a clean cut, but 99.9% of the time even with a brand new blade all that happens is that it sort of roughs the flesh, and winds up something like trying to use a sweater shaver to take off "pills" from a sweater, rather than getting small even pieces skived off of the leather.

I wind up attempting to use a dremmel to sand off the leather then, which give me inconsistant results at best. I'm generally decent with a knife and have been handling knives and other small items since I was a kid, so I'm not afraid of a blade, and have used knives and planes in woodworking before with a decent result, although it wouldn't be my best skill.

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, or if there is a way to explain or demonstrate without someone literally standing over my shoulder, but I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions regarding technique or tools that would help me. I'm in the LA/OC area if anyone here happens to be in the same location, I'd be thrilled to compensate for a hands on lesson as well!

[lightingale]

Skiving has been a challenge for me as well.

I find that with veg-tan, it helps a ton to wet the leather before you skive. As you already know, new blades also make a difference.

But skiving garment leather to a feather edge for folded linings? Pffft. I need a magic wand for that!

[electrathon]

The razor blade is held in the tool at the wrong angle. Took me a long time to figure that out.

You need a proper skiving knife and all the sudden it is easy. A round knife, preferably that is flexable or a straight skiving knife that is flexable.

[BDAZ]

I also have had trouble but my new skiver works like a champ!

Cya!

Bob

[shtoink]

I, too, had issues with the Tandy Super Skiver. I did get mine close to two years ago and the quality was complete garbage, so I can't exactly say anything concrete about what is on hand now.

I was having major issues with my skiver doing any actual skiving. The biggest problem was that the blade wouldn't even sit properly due to excess material left behind from casting. That had to be ground down.

The next issue was that there was a massive gap on the backside of the blade that kept getting clogged up and preventing the waste material from even leaving the tool. This required more, careful grinding. I talked to the manager about the issue as well as emailing corporate. Neither were much help, but at least the manager from my local Tandy was understanding and apologized for it.

In the end, I got it working, but it took a bit of work and I really risked ending up with a chunk of garbage if it didn't go right. Not exactly reassuring and provides little incentive for a return trip to Tandy.

One of the other things I tried was a course sanding drum on my Dremel, which worked really well, but kinda slow and very messy. I was able to get some insanely thin edges over a wider area. Just make sure not to breathe the leather dust if you go that route. BDAZ has the right idea with a bigger tool. Once you the hang of it, it should only take a few minutes with one of those things.

[benlilly1]

Electrathon is right...it's the way you hold it. Just like with a potato peeler. If it's pivoted just right it works. I know that veg-tan is easier and chrome leather is stretchy. Not so easy.

[BDAZ]

Once you the hang of it, it should only take a few minutes with one of those things.

Seconds!

Cya!

Bob

[JDTagish]

Thanks all! I'm not trying to skive anything except for veg tan, I guess I didn't make that part clear. I'll check the skiver for anything that may need to be filed down to get better contact. I've seen a few videos on how to cut leather with a round knife, but my worst skill is in sharpening knives in general, so I've been hesitant to invest in one, simply because once it became dull I'd have to take it somewhere to get it sharpened again, which can be costly. I can never get the angles right when I try to sharpen and wind up making them worse than before when I try. Another one of those things where the angles you use make all the difference and that my hands and brain cannot seem to connect properly.

I guess I'll keep trying...I just cannot figure out what part I'm doing wrong, since I've never gotten it right. I did ask for demo's at 2 different Tandy's with their tools, hoping for that hands-on, but they couldn't get any better results than I could! Maybe it is the tools then. I dunno, I just dislike feeling incompetent at something for so long...LOL!

Thanks again for the input. I'd love to hear of any other tools that may help, if anyone has links to something that they think would be better, or a place somewhere in the lower half of CA that I could visit for a hands on.

[papadanny]

I finally put the super skiver on the back shelf and get way better results from my wood chisel sharpened to a mirror finish. Lay it flat, bevel up and go to town. I did regrind the bevel to around 25 degrees before polishing.

[JDTagish]

Well, I learned something important about skiving tonight. After posting my question and reading the anwsers, I decided to give it a go again and see if I could figure out the angle I'm missing, and I found that I was improved incredibly. My technique hand't changed, but what did is that I had previously been using a plastic but sturdy card table to do my cutting/skiving. etc. on. But I recently found an old wood desk at the re-use it store and also got a 2.5' x 3' piece of heavy quartz to sit on top of it as my primary work surface.

Now, with a very hard surface UNDER the piece I was attempting to skive, I got much better results! Not perfect by any means, but certainly about an 80% improvement from any previous attempts I'd made. I figure the other 20% is in practice, practice and practice. But a HUGE amount is the surface upon which you are attempting to skive, and how hard it is under it.

Thanks so much for all your suggestions! I'll check into other options and suggestions if there are more to share, especially now that I know that it's not actually impossible for me to do!

[El Zipster]

For all the skiving needs i've had to date I find my Head Knife covers it all very well.

Didn't think of using my belt sander, but I'll give that a go next time I have it out to see how it goes.

Cheers

Zip

[Tree Reaper]

I'll check into other options and suggestions if there are more to share

A block plane will work if you learn how to sharpen it properly.

I have only used it on belts but it works very well.

[BDAZ]

I have found the combination sander very useful for all types of leather tasks, sanding edges even, skiving, sanding forms for wet molding, sharpening punches, cleaning up alphabet punches and many other tasks.

Cya!

Bob

[Sluggo001]

IMO, Tandy skiver blades get very dull, very, very quickly.

In my experience, in 8-9oz, it's two or three passes.

[Red Cent]

I use the safety beveler as a skiver. Much easier to control for me and it needs to pulled at a small angle. I use the beveler on long skiving projects. On a belt, I use my drum sander on the drill press. Easier to control depth, smoother looking, and a very smooth finish.

http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/home/3001-00.aspx

[St8LineGunsmith]

I use a safety beveler, a skiving knife and a sander for skiving.

the trick to using the safety beveler is to dampen the the side of the leather that is to be skived do not saturate the leather just damp enough that the leather becomes damp at the surface if you need to skive off more leather you may want to spray a little more water on the project the blades stay sharper longer by using water also

a french edger works wonderfully for skiving and beveling edges also.

[Red Cent]

Thanks ST8.

[JDTagish]

Thanks for the tips! I've never tried wetting the leather slightly before skiving. I do have both the super skiver and the safety beveler, so I'll try both with the new hard surface under it and hopefully that will help get better results!

[Toolingaround]

Hi There

I second the French edger for more narrow skives but I like the safety beveler for wider things. On mine (you might want to remove the blade first or be very very careful!) I found that if I bent the curved bit a little bit more curved, that helped a lot. Also as others have said pulling the blade at an angle to the edge you are cutting is very important. Sometimes I need to put the piece I am cutting on the edge of my stone to get my hand at the angle I need to pull the cut.

I would love a head knife but I know my sharpening skills are not there yet and being that a dull knife is a dangerous knife well.......

Cheers, Toolingaround

[hornm]

a french edger works wonderfully for skiving and beveling edges also.

That's what I started using. Couldn't get the hang of the others and had the tandy French edger sitting there...Still takes a little practice but far better results for me. Just picked up a larger C.S. Osborne French edger that will help make things a little more efficient with fewer passes.

Horn

[edd]

Skiving and paring leather is about 20% technique and 80% having a VERY sharp knife. Search for 'Jeff Peachey'. He's a bookbinder with a lot of very helpful information on paring leather and sharpening tools.

I use a strop with blue Dialux cutting compound to keep a really nice edge on my knife.

[JoeSnuffie]

I have great results with the tandy safety skiver but I have to strop the blade a lot. I also flip the blade over and hit the other side when I strop. Different leathers skive differently and you'll learn what to do. Softer leathers are a pain in the butt but a sharp blade eventually gets it done. For some really soft leathers, like my 2.5oz calf skin, I will make many light passes, just taking a little off at a time. This stops the binding and stretching that I get if I put enough pressure to get a deeper cut. Experience is an important part that comes with time but what you can do right away is make sure the blade is sharp and, at least with the safety skiver, make sure you strop both side - after all it only takes a couple seconds to remove the blade and flip it over. I only replace the blades when they get nicked or worn to the point they won't sharpen.

[Palermo]

I found that with the osborne skiver on a glass surface works best

[Nuttish]

+1 Jeff Peachey. Nobody's paring as finely with such fragile materials as bookbinders.

Here's him discussing English paring knives and old woodworking planes. http://jeffpeachey.com/tag/leather-paring/. I believe he also discusses French paring knives elsewhere.

I use a Vergez-Blanchard No. 2 French paring knife http://www.vergez-blanchard.fr/boutique/fiche_produit.cfm?ref=3_1001_3&type=31&code_lg=lg_fr&num=2, a 1000/8000 grit combination waterstone, and a strop. I can get a gossamer skive in just a few passes. The trick for this knife is keeping it extremely sharp to the point that you may find yourself stopping to strop or even dress the edge every few minutes if you're doing a lot of work. You must use the flat side up for paring because you can control your depth of cut exquisitely. You may then use the beveled side up to clean up by gingerly scraping. When used properly, this knife wants to work perfectly without you having to do much work or thinking at all. It's actually difficult to dig out or tear your piece because of the geometry of the blade once you begin your cut.

Regardless of the tool you use. You must always make sure that there is absolutely nothing at all, no tiny flake of flesh, no scrap, no bump in your working surface, under your knife or you will tear out thin edges.

Hefty makes very convenient plastic containers called "Cinch Saks" for you to store your Tandy safety skiver in.

[ReneeCanady]

A block plane will work if you learn how to sharpen it properly.

I have only used it on belts but it works very well.

I bought this today because someone else was recently talking about them working well. The cuteness helped the sale a lot LOL It's 3"x1"