Leather Splitter

[wlg190861]

I have been thinking about buying a Cobra class 14 leather splitter and was wondering if anyone has experience with this splitter, pro's/cons. Please let me know

[TomG]

Do a search on "cobra splitter" without the quotes, from the main Forum screen and you'll find a number of reviews and such.

Also, SWFLHolsters has a good video on it on Youtube.

https://youtu.be/jvUKPjg1vXw

Hope this helps.

[Andrew Chee]

I've owned one. Good splitter. Only thing to keep in mind is that if you want to split to below like 3oz, you should look into a band knife splitter. Nothing wrong with the Cobra but a stationary knife splitter isn't very good at splitting down thin.

Andrew

[DavidL]

Do you know of band knife splitters below 3k? I've seen one used fortuna I believe that could do very small pieces (width wise) that a member had gotten for under 1k. I've never seen another since, although I never looked around for one as I don't need it.They seem to be harder to find something in your budget unless you have a big operation.

Id love for that not to be true so I could pick one up in the future.

[Art]

Have one. Good splitter, and the knife is around 14". This is as far as you want to go. I know a few saddlemakers that had the Artisan 21" (or so) and they had a boatload of blade alignment problems with it. This puppy looks a lot like the Landis, who made fine shoe machines. However it is much wider and a lot more useful. If you buy one, get the motorized one on the stand, it comes pretty well setup and ready to go. Andrew is correct about not getting much thinner than 3 oz and I'll up that bid to 4 oz. That is 1/16 inch and is plenty good enough for me. You can't just lop off a hunk of leather like going from 11 oz to 4 oz though, you have to take it in steps, like 4 oz at a time, you can push it a little if you want a little thicker piece of split, but if you have problems stick with the less is more concept. I recommend moving the area of the splitter that you run the leather through around constantly. This may insure a more even wear to the blade. Blade wear is hard to judge at this point, unlike some owners, I haven't run everything in the shop through it. Don't know where and don't know when it will need sharpening, but it will. Since I was pretty heavily into knifemaking, I have the tools and the skillset to accomplish this, but I don't think many leatherworkers do. Try and find a local mill or cabinet/woodworking shop and see who they recommend to sharpen your blade. I have sharpened more planer blades than I ever want to remember, and sharpening these blades is a technical skill with a whole lot of don't do this and that, so getting setup and doing it right is very important. Mechanical job, working with power tools and by power tools I mean machinery, electricity, water, and wicked sharp edges. Have it done by a pro.

Final verdict. If you can afford the cost and the space, get the band knife splitter. They are easy to adjust and use, most sharpen the blade right on the machine, blades are easy to change, a moving blade cuts better and finer than a stationary one, can be had in 20" or so width if you need that capacity, and lastly can cut darned near anything, not just leather. Cons are big, heavy, and expensive. Used might make them tolerable cost wise. The Cobra is remarkably small, light, has reasonable capacity, and is the right price, well at leas righter than the bank knife splitter.

Art