alexitbe Report post Posted February 21, 2015 (edited) Well I am new to leathework and needed to skive a rather large gusset (still not done that yet ). It is a Stohlman pattern, Diplomat Pouch pg 62 Vol2 Art of making leather Cases... My first attempt failed and the gusset was ruined. The blade (a stanley knife blade) kept digging into the leather. Something was wrong with the angle of attack of the blade and the sensitivity to that. First I started with a wedge of 45degree for the blade to rest on and this was too much. It is now down to 10-15 degrees. Next problem was the sensitivity to this angle. So if the angle between the blade and the leather change just a little bit the blade dug in to the leather fast. My problem was that the anvil, which the leather rode over, had a diameter of 10 mm and this was too much for the leather. So that if the leather rised off the anvil even slightly the angle between the leather and the blade changed drastically. So the blade kept digging in. So I made the anvil much bigger and not with a circular profile but a flattene oval. The flat bit below the blade. So that, even if the leather is not held completely flush to the anvil the angle it makes with the blade is not so much that it digs in. I would say that this was a partial success. It skives fine now, but I cannot do anything too wide. The gusset I wanted to skive was alittle less than A4 size and I don't think I will risk skiving it. In summary, the most important things to make is a 10-15 degree wedge for the blade to lie on, something for of moving the anvil up and down accurately (ie a screw, although I had something lying around), and a broad,smooth and gently rouned anvil. The braces and metal construction I used was completely over the top, but were spare things about to be thrown out. Some pics Final Design The black nob is part of the tranlation stage, which moves the leather up or down. Brass thing is the anvil. As you see not circular and about 1.5" in diameter First attempt with the too small anvil. You can see how quickly the blade cut in. Hope this is useful to someone. Cheers Alex Edited February 21, 2015 by alexitbe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scrobbesbyrigcyr Report post Posted April 4, 2015 Impressive construction! Do you find that the Stanley blades blunt quickly? My gut feeling is that you might be better off with a chisel ground, rather than a sabre ground blade. Good luck with the development. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
