Leather Splitter Blade Sharpening?

[$$hobby]

Hi all.

I have one of those 6" Heritage Splitters and noticed that the blade has dulled? recently. i noticed cuz, i usually use one side of the blade (bad habit!) and when i switched to the other side, it was cutting like it was new which of course it was since i didnt use that side until then.

So, for those of you that have a splitter, do you sharpen them often? I know often is really subjective, but do you DIY or have someone do the sharpening for you.

also, i was thinking that could the blade just be needed to be stroped?

TIA.

[bruce johnson]

I think it really depends on the blade material, bevel angle, what you are splitting, and how much of it. I sharpen mine when they need it. If there is resistance or much noise to a normal kind of split, time to sharpen. I use fine wet/dry on a hardwood block on the bevel side to remove material. Early on I let them get too far gone and it took a while to get that off and back to a clean edge. Now I strop more often, and a few strokes of fine wet/dry on a hardwood block is enough to hone with when needed. Big key is maintaining that bevel. I split a bunch of veg tan the past couple weeks, probably used each one about equally. Stropped the Chase twice and the Krebs once. The Krebs has a steeper bevel, but is a bimetal blade. I put a slight secondary bevel on the Chase blade (just from the bevel side), and it seems to hold the edge longer.