Leather Splitter?

[Tree Reaper]

I ended up caving and buying one

If it doesn't work to your expectations it most likely could be corrected by simply having the blade reground to a different angle but before you do that I would suggest having the blade sharpened by a professional.

I wouldn't expect it to be perfect coming from Tandy but that doesn't mean you can't fix it.

[bloggs]

If it doesn't work to your expectations it most likely could be corrected by simply having the blade reground to a different angle but before you do that I would suggest having the blade sharpened by a professional.

I wouldn't expect it to be perfect coming from Tandy but that doesn't mean you can't fix it.

That's kind of what I was thinking. I spend more time doing hand tool woodworking than I do leather at this point, so I figured I could probably tune the blade a bit and completely regrind it if I need to.

[paprhangr]

Blogs, How's the skiver working

[silverwingit]

FWIW, I realize that this thread was started a while back, but I thought this would be a logical place to mention this really good deal on a Heritage splitter on ebay. $269 OBO.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Heritage-Leather-Skiver-Splitter-tool-FANTASTIC-PRICE-/271434443235?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f32c0e9e3

Thanks, Michelle

[bloggs]

Blogs, How's the skiver working

Thanks for the reminder! I haven't used it much yet, as I'm retrofitting a section of my shop to become a permanent leatherworking area. I did take it out and mess with it a bit, and have a few first impressions:

It absolutely will need to be bolted down to something. This wasn't a surprise by any means, and I'm building in some quick attach points on my workbench to be able to set up various tools that need to be secured like this.

The blade is MUCH thicker than I expected. It came pretty sharp. I ran a 1 1/4" strap through it to skive the end for a buckle and it cut well enough, but before I start really using it I'll be doing some work on it.

The variable depth seems like it will be pretty nice for tapering ends.

I have not tried skiving any of the wider leather that I had originally bought it for. It will need to be bolted down and have some blade work done before it's worth giving that a shot. I will definitely write something up once I've had a chance to mess with it more - most likely in a couple months.

[silverwingit]

OK, I'm a bit of a sharpness freak, I admit it. For example, I wasn't satisfied with simply honing my splitter's massive blade. I polished it to a mirror surface. It is easily the sharpest blade I own. It cuts so smoothly and leaves a nice smooth flesh side.

What I did, FWIW, is use the incredibly flat surface on my 3" thick granite surface plate that is my pounding block along with a series of the 3M wet or dry polishing papers of increasingly fine grain (down to 3 microns) to lap polish the cutting surfaces of my splitter's blade.

I discovered these polishing papers while researching what other artisans use to sharpen their tools. I found that woodworkers are at least as anal as us leatherworkers about maintaining the sharpness of their chisels particularly. They get a slab of glass and either a commercial or homemade sharpening jig, some 3M papers and soapy water and have at it. They work their chisels for hours until they are satisfied with their sharpness.

So it took me the better part of a day, but like I say you can see your reflection in my blade's, cutting surfaces. Now, whether all this hoo-ha makes that much of a difference I won't argue, but I do know my splitter shore is purty and it cuts through English Bridle leather like it was butter.

Michelle

[silverwingit]

One other splitter note. My saddlemaker leatherworking mentor is a master at a hand splitter. He whipped out a belt blank to demonstrate its use when I first noticed it in his shop. He very deftly and smoothly cut a very even and smooth beveled skive at the end of the blank right down to a feather edge. I've ruined lots of strips of leather trying to accomplish that move.

Oh, and one final side note since you are talking about mounting your splitter. Said saddlemaker has his mounted in a unique and handy way. His splitter is mounted on the flat side of a length of 2x6. He then has a 2"x6" slot built into the underside of his bench. That way he can un-stow his splitter from underneath the bench and slide its 2x6 mounting board into the 2"x6" slot where he can split as needed and then remove sand re-stow the splitter-mounted 2x6 back out of place. I know I wasn't able to do this without totally rebuilding my work bench so I actually mounted my splitter on a separate table just to keep it out of the way. I'm so scared of that blade that I made a little cardboard box shroud to cover it up when I'm not using it.

A splitter is a great tool to have but like most any other leatherworking tool it needs to be carefully sharpened. Further, the proper and effective use of a splitter does not come without practice.

Good luck and let us know how you progress.

Thanks,

Michelle

Edited April 5, 2014 by silverwingit

[TomG]

I honed the Tandy blade, but didn't "sharpen". It's one of the things I need to learn more about. This blade has the main angle and then a more acute angle right at the edge. I'm not sure it I need to just make it a flat angle or what.

More research needed <g>

[silverwingit]

Mine is a Heritage knock-off of the old CS Osborne #84. The one with the handle on it.

http://www.handtools-uk.com/images/Cs%20Osborne%20Splitting%20Machine%2084.jpg

Its blade is a simple edge, not a compound one. That's one thing that makes it scary to me. But yes, it's all one taper down to its edge.

Michelle

[BigJake]

I have been researching skiver/splitters for awhile and educating myself in the process. There are several out there and since I wanted one that would both skive and split, which allowed me to narrow the field some what. My next consideration was a comparison of the blades of the several models which I could only do by careful examination of the photos available on the web. The Osborne 84 design and knock-off's of the same narrowed my search down to one. Used splitters were not considered due to the potential of blade damage from improper sharpening. The Campbell-Randall unit looked very good but was not in stock for at least six weeks. I finally settled on the Heritage skiver sold by Weaver Leather and ordered one yesterday.

What separated the Osborne 84 and clones from the others was simple the blade and the angle of the edge. The angle runs the entire width of the blade as opposed to half the width like the other tools. In my view this allows for a sharper and better cutting blade much like comparing the edge of an axe to a chefs knife. The proof, of course, will be in the testing once the tool arrives.