What Is The Point Of A Head/round Knife?

[Trox]

Yes a round knife can do all the cutting techniques that is required in leather work, no other knife can do that.

Tor

[silverwingit]

Good thread!

Just a few quick points that I'd like to expand on. I'm in the right tool for the job camp. As a result I have a host of different leather blades, from a Stanley cutter to a couple round knives and most everything in between; clickers, curved and straight skivers, etc.

If I'm cutting a long straight line I get my best results with a freshly stropped Stanley blade and a good, thick straight edge. But that's the extent of my use of that style knife. For most other cuts I use one of my round knives. For detailed curves I use a freshly stropped CSO small round knife with the handle cut down and rounded to fit my palm perfectly. With two fingers on the blade and the handle nestled securely in my palm, the knife is no longer scary but a precision instrument over which I have very solid control. I have ~never~ cut myself with it. For less detail curved cuts I use my Weaver round knife. It holds an edge a bit better than the Osborne. For really detailed work I will revert to a clicker knife with a freshly stropped curved blade.

There are a few distinct advantages of a round knife over a Stanley cutter. One has been mentioned briefly -- round knifes are push blades. This is important for me with thin leather as the push blade and curved center portion can be put to use in ways that don't deform thin leather. It's also easier to cut around corner with the multiple pass method using a push blade. Someone also mentioned that just seeing where you are cutting is easier with round knives. The round knife is actually three blades in one. With a cut that contains combinations of straight and curved segments, a round knife makes the job much easier and more accurate -- with a single blade. Just tip the blade to use the pointed ends for fine cuts and back to the curved section for straight segments. When one point needs stropping you just use the other one instead of having to drop your project and grab the strop.

I feel like there are as many leatherworkers in the "he had a round knife so I had to get one as well" or have them as a badge courage or whatever camp as there are "well ~I~ don't need a round knife because ~I~ can to it all with my $5 Stanley knife" camps.

It's silly, learn to use them all well and to apply them to their best advantages!

Michelle

[Oldtoolsniper]

Whatever you use learn to sharpen the tool at hand.

Go on EBay and find a head knife for $20-30 and learn to sharpen it. I posted the picture of my pile waiting to be rehabbed in the box of chocolates for a reason. Forrest Gump said it. It's true with these knives, even from the same maker they can vary significantly and how they hold an edge and how hard they sharpen. Some of them have had a hard life, get those and learn so your mistakes in sharpening them won't cost you an expensive knife. Some are thick, some are thin, some are brittle and some just glide through whatever is in front of them. I rehab and sharpen old handsaws and the same thing applies to these. There were no computer controlled tempering ovens back then, a calibrated eyeball did the work and it might have had a few drinks the night before.

[Art]

Pay attention closely to any knife, especially those of questionable lineage. There are some toold that have been sharpened by someone with a trademaster (cheap) grinder who knows not a lot about knives/steel/heat treat. It is very easy to overheat or burn a spot on an edge and ruin the knife. I could do that then buff the evidence away. I won't or if I did (haven't killed an edge in decades), I will disassemble the knife and heat treat it, then sharpen. If you find a knife that's a little iffy, buy it for practice, and id you want to heat treat it, come on here and I will tell you how. There are a few of us on here that can help.

JLS said:

Oh, I don't go back quite all the way to the 70's (just a kid) - so nowadays 'round these parts we say 4140 and D2 for steel.

CSO is still using 1065 and 1075. I have D2 and BG-42 in addition a lot of tool and bearing steel in the shop, but there are a lot of knives that get great mileage out of steels of less than 1% carbon and no chrome at all.

Art.

[JLSleather]

But,,.. But.... but chrome is SHINY #$!@#!@$!~!!!

[oltoot]

I went through this whole thread quickly and only saw one brief hit on the "answer". It goes beyond the knives/tools comparisons to the total systems to be employed. 1) proper cutting surface; it takes two to fully enjoy the differences. For cutting there is much discussion and many different opinions on the best surface and I won't repeat all that, just say that a good surface must be somewhat penetrable by the point but not be too fragile and so then all cutting can be done away from the user with the point and connected one third of the blade and without blocking visibility. 2) for the other area of use , skiving and other related actions, the surface must be slick, hard and non staining. For most skiving the center third of the blade is used though the whole blade is employed for some tasks. So an experienced user of round/head knives never cuts toward him/herself and never obscures the cutting activity with hands, fingers or other body parts. Now, of course, accidents/slips do happen and a little blood is drawn once in awhile. It does take a little practice to learn to sharpen them and there will be a few cases where a straight knife is called for but once they are learned there is no need to consider abandoning them in favor of anything else. All this from the perspective of one who is 70+ years old and has been at this for 50+ years. My day job was cowboy and I wore out a lot of ropes and PTL I still have all my digits and have never passed out from blood loss.

Edited September 15, 2015 by oltoot

[electrathon]

This is a video of a round knife cutting through a stack of leather.

https://instagram.com/p/svqvXNogvV/

[natenaaron]

ooooooooOOOOOOoooooo sharp. I would have liked to get a wider shot to maybe see how much pressure he was putting on the blade. I don't think it was much though.

[JLSleather]

A video? Of course there is

[DoubleC]

You ask a question on here and you get mostly help and then a joker (sometimes more) that tells you, 'I taint never needed no rounded knife so taint no one needs no rounded knife. ' and scoffs at you for even asking. I remember when this use to happen to me when I was new and I wonder why some people are allowed to continually scoff at questions and treat real answers with disdain. I hope you found your answer in among all the noise and cruel jokes. Cheryl