Help, Swivel Knife Work

[Calait]

Needing to decrease the size of my picture files to upload here, though I have a saved gallery currently

In my leather work, I need to learn to better control my swivel knife, suggestions PLEASE

[Calait]

[Bob Blea]

First off, I recommend making sure your swivel knife is really sharp. Not sure what kind of knife you have but if it is a Tandy knife it doesn't come properly sharpened. You will also need a way to strop the knife to keep it sharp once you have sharpened it. Having a sharp swivel knife makes it much easier to make smooth flowing cuts.

Second, make sure your leather is well cased. See the pinned threads in this forum on casing. Looking at your picture it doesn't look like your moisture content was right in the leather. That also makes a big difference.

Now, to the actual cuts. Probably the best way to get good at using the swivel knife is to practice making nice flowing lines. You can do something as simple as making a large flowing 'S', trying to make the cuts a smooth as possible. Next, try to make a cut parallel to your first line. Try to keep the distance consistent between the two lines from beginning to end. Then repeat. Practicing these sorts of cuts helps develop the fine muscle control you will need to make graceful cuts.

Also, practice the decorative cuts you see so commonly on flower petals in floral carving. Again, you are making fine cuts that need to flow smoothly towards the flower center and more or less parallel each other. With these sorts of cuts you typically start cutting deeply and fade the cut out as it approaches the flower center. Decorative cuts take a lot of practice to do well, and I still usually practice a bit on scrap to warm up before I do my actual cuts.

Hope this helps. Others here will probably have other suggestions too.

Bob

[King's X]

Ditto on Bob's comments. One of the best manuals on learning the basics is the Leathercraft Manual by Al Stohlman. It is available at Tandy stores and online. It even has a practice model for you to copy and use for practice.

Good luck

[Calait]

Thanks guys for the hints.

[NVLeatherWorx]

King's X hit it on the head. This is the same book that I was taught from decades ago and I can tell you that there is nothing like it when it comes to giving insight into how to use every tool and master your knife cuts. It is the best investment that you will make, aside from just about everything else that Al Stohlman (and his wife) wrote. And the best way to improve: practice, practice, practice, and it doesn't happen overnight. Mastering the cuts to where it just becomes an automatic function and form takes awhile to refine but patience and practice will get you there.

[Tramps Leatherworking]

Ditto on Bob's comments. One of the best manuals on learning the basics is the Leathercraft Manual by Al Stohlman. It is available at Tandy stores and online. It even has a practice model for you to copy and use for practice.

Good luck

I just finished reading that book again, it is a good read...

[TwinOaks]

For easy re-useable carving practice, melt some paraffin wax (in a double boiler set up to be safe) and pour it into a cheap aluminum pie round. Try for at least 3/8" thick. Once it dries, you have a semi-hard surface to practice the knife strokes. When you've carved up all the available surface, just remelt it and start again.

[Bob Blea]

TwinOaks - That is a great idea about the paraffin for practice. I need to give that a try sometime. I can always use practice on my decorative cuts.

I also started out with the Leathercraft Manual. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Bob