thekid77 Report post Posted July 2, 2014 Hi friends, I have some 4-5oz vegtan that I need t( thin down to half of its current thickness...i don't have a splitter... I do have a disc sander though...not sure if it would work...any ideas, prior experience, and expertise are greatly appreciated! Thank you Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DoubleC Report post Posted July 2, 2014 You can use a safety beveler to skive it. depending on how much you need to do might want to ask someone to split it for you. Here is an example. http://springfieldleather.com/24773/Beveler%2CSafety/ I use one all the time on small pieces. Cheryl Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Report post Posted July 4, 2014 I just saw a You tube video of a shoe guy using a spoke shave to thin leather. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeSnuffie Report post Posted July 4, 2014 How large a piece do you need to split? I do long strips of soft leather with a belt sander. The safety skiver works and I've used it on wallet shells successfully, but my hands were sore when I finished. I've had a lot better luck with a round knife but I just got a splitter and I won't be wearing out my hands like that again. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
carver Report post Posted August 14, 2014 use the safety skiver then sand to smooth out any high areas. use a sanding block. to help maintain keeping it level . its a lot of work if your doing a very large area but it works well if you dont have a splitter Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silverwingit Report post Posted August 15, 2014 Skilled saddlemakers routinely use the humble little safety skiver (beveler) to thin out large areas of saddle skirting, which is several times thicker than your 4/5 oz. It would take much practice and skill to evenly skive that thin leather with a safety skiver, IMO. I'd try something else. Better yet, why not just buy some good quality leather in the thickness you need? You can get some very nice, yet inexpensive kipskin in the thickness you require. Michelle Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew Chee Report post Posted August 15, 2014 The real answer is you can't. I doubt there's anyone in the world that can do a consistent split from 4 to 2 oz with a safety skiver. I have a fixed blade splitter and I can't always get a consistent split from 4 to 2 oz. If you want good quality results you're either gonna have to get a splitter it just buy thinner leather. Andrew Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DavidL Report post Posted August 15, 2014 a machine skiver can split vegtan slowly 2inch at a time. Never done it and don't know if its easy to get it consistent but its possible. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
