JoeSnuffie Report post Posted June 22, 2014 (edited) Since I can't afford to buy 15 sides of chrome and oil tanned leather, I buy scraps that yield 3 - 6 wallet shells each that only cost me $2 - $3 sqft. They're often too thick and I've been skiving them down to a good thickness by hand, and that isn't fun for anyone. I bought the Cowboy splitter knowing I'd have to tweak it, but I wasn't expecting it to be so easy. The first modification was a super high tech tension device that's fully adjustable and allows me to grip the leather with both hands. It's a bungee cord wrapped around the handle and attached to the bench with a screw. To tighten it, I just give it another wrap around the handle and I can pull it towards me to release the pressure and insert the leather. The second modification was brass shims that allow the steel roller to move a little more freely. I made the shims from 2 pieces of .45 Colt brass (seriously, is there any better way to shim a 'Cowboy' splitter?) The biggest problem when splitting the oil and chrome tanned leather is the grain side. It sticks to the roller and the roller shaft isn't free spinning. In less than a minute I had split about 1mm off of a 9x4 inch wallet shell. The picture shows the 'before' leather on top of the 'after' leather with the portion that was split off resting next to the 'before' piece. Edited June 22, 2014 by JoeSnuffie Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
howie696 Report post Posted June 23, 2014 Very clever, I have the same splitter and I'll try the bungee cord, can you show where you fitted the shims?? thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paprhangr Report post Posted June 11, 2015 Does the blade come real sharp? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeSnuffie Report post Posted June 15, 2015 The blade comes very sharp and resharping is really easy. I let the tension bar fall and strop it in place. Also, I no longer use shims. I bought a 10mm steel shaft, bearings and aluminum tube and made a great free spinning drum. this makes splitting up to 4.5" oil tan possible without a lot of muscle. Of course the blade needs to be really sharp. I can also easily split calf skin strips down to .4mm. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
biglew Report post Posted June 15, 2015 just curios where are you buying your scrap thanks Lewis Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trox Report post Posted June 20, 2015 Please post another pic of your finished modification. Thanks Tor Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeSnuffie Report post Posted June 29, 2015 (edited) just curios where are you buying your scrap thanks Lewis I've been getting the best scrap from this guy. The stuff with the most scars and marks has surprisingly been the most requested by customers. http://www.ebay.com/usr/theleatherguyofmn Like this, for example Edited June 29, 2015 by JoeSnuffie Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
