Head Knife Vs. Skiving Knife

[electrathon]

As for skiving with round knives, look down at your fingers and ask yourself how much you like them. You like them, right?

I skive all the time with a round knife. A good quality flexible blade makes it easy. I also use them for other knife purposes other than skiving. I have cut off a total of zero fingers over the years. In fact, I do not believe I have ever cut my self with one. When I hand it to someone else I always warn/remind them that I keep it "scary sharp".

There is only one thing to remember with a round knife and you will never be hurt: Keep your non-knife hand closer to your body than your knife hand is, and cut away from yourself.

Leather Wranglers has a few good knife videos on their website. Lots of good info for free.

[MonicaJacobson]

@Nuttish, thanks for the website - it was a good read and there were a lot of fun tools on there. I was less worried about cutting myself (though the thought crossed my mind) and more about keeping that large of a blade sharp. I am not remarkably skilled at sharpening, but I guess whatever happens, I'll have to get better.


@electrathon - you're just confirming my feeling that I have to buy all the tools. At least eventually. I'll look up the videos on LW -thanks for the pointer.

[Tramps Leatherworking]

I agree with electrathon, I use my CSO head knife for skiving, and most of my other cutting... I have yet to cut myself with a round, or head knife, because I am very careful, and have respect for what any knife can do to your skin... I love it...

The other knife I use often is a 7" Jeremiah Watt Straight Knife...

I never use a utility knife, they are not stable/accurate enough for me...

[electrathon]

@electrathon - you're just confirming my feeling that I have to buy all the tools. At least eventually. I'll look up the videos on LW -thanks for the pointer.

Yes, I forgot to add that to my post. You need to buy all the tools. I am a tool guy, so I am not the guy to advise against buying cool tools. It is hard to have favorites if you don't have ones you like less.

[billybopp]

I have a round knife, but haven't used it too much yet .. for cutting nor skiving. It seems to do OK for both jobs, but I have a hard time controlling it which probably means nothing more than I need to practice. I've also been eyeing up Lisa Sorrell's skiving knives. They aren't fancy, but I'd bet they're well made and of good metal. Now .. Wonder if they work OK with cheese??

Bill

[HippieLee]

Billy, practice and a sharp blade go a long way to getting the feeling of control. In my very limited use so far I could tell I got better at controlling it as I used it more and much better when it was sharp. I was stropping it before almost every cut..which I imagine is a consequence of it being a tandy blade lol. But the cuts I got when it was sharp were so good it's worth all the extra stropping.

[zuludog]

Remember, as all the books & videos tell you, that it's easier to use and control a very sharp knife than a blunt one

[Wicked Welts]

'Sharper Is Safer' has been a motto of mine for a while now, only after learning the hard way of course!

Monica, if it wasn't for my cheesy bump post I'd be voting for this thread to get stickied. There's almost TOO MUCH information for this noob and my brain has stretched almost as much as my list of must-have sharps has!

[MonicaJacobson]

Ha, yes, it's fun to see what surfaces when it comes to tool preferences.

@Tramp, interesting idea about the instability of clicker knives. I tried to use a dexter knife: but I think it was too long, and required too much force for a good cut.

[Oldtoolsniper]

Monica,

The blanchard knives are not High Speed Steel (HSS) that steel is used for drill bits, lathe tools and other applications where " High Speed" is used. That is where the name comes from. You can sharpen it with wet/dry sandpaper or most any stone however, since it's used in drill bits, lathe tools and other applications where precision counts a jig for maintaining the angle and a grinding wheel is the preferred method of sharpening.

I own a blanchard skiving knife. This knife IS NOT HSS, in fact I can't imagine why anyone would manufacture a hand tool out of high speed steel unless it was for Edward Scissors Hands. How could you possibly wield it at high speed by hand?

I sharpen the blanchard and 90% of my tools both leather and wood working with wet/dry sandpaper on 1/4" thick shelf glass. Google "Scary Sharp" method and you will find lots of detailed instructions. It's and easy way to get into super sharp tools for not a lot of cash outlay. The learning curve is relatively short and you really only need to learn sharpening, not stone flattening, reading Japanese for the water stones, cleaning up oily and watery messes and storing each type of system. Sandpaper fits in a file folder and the glass can go on a shelf.

You mentioned your husband is a woodworker. He may already be set up with the scary sharp system. Take a look at any gouges he may have. They will cut leather as well as carve wood. Chisels and hand planes will work on leather too. I mention the carving tools because there are a gazillion types and shapes of them, there is a perfect corner rounder out there in any size and sweep you can imagine. Size is width and sweep is the curve. They are cheaper than most " leather tools". I get most of mine at flea markets and garage sales. Don't be afraid to grind a chisel into the shape you want. If it's a $1 yard sale chisel it's good to learn on.

Edited April 11, 2015 by Oldtoolsniper