Cutting

[tardis86]

Last night I was trying to cut out a small keychain pattern on some really thick leather , like 3.2mm. and I was having trouble cutting it straight, as in the edges looked like crap. I was using a small xacto knife, should I use a bigger utility knife? like the construction style?

[Red Cent]

That equals 8-9 ounce leather I believe. I cut this weight with this: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=carpet+knife&view=detailv2&&id=C20941CA5D724F345BC12BD0CDE34DF443D4FEEC&selectedIndex=176&ccid=3sI8g2bQ&simid=608027263846253341&thid=OIP.Mdec23c8366d08298e172bd93f9accd83H0&ajaxhist=0

It has a thinner blade than the utility blades and has four cutting points. You can buy them with the top of the blade covered. Difficult to cut sharp curves.

[TheCyberwolfe]

Step 1: Get a bigger knife for heavy leather. A small exacto is designed for delicate work, not muscling through heavy leather. The razor knife Red Cent linked is fine, there are many styles to choose from.

Step 2: make sure the blade is sharp. Even razor knives can be improved by stropping, so strop as needed with any blade and you will see a difference.

Step 3: maybe don't rely on getting through it in a single pass if it's getting mangled in the process.

[Halitech]

I use a heavier bladed box cutter and on 9oz leather, I usually make 3 or 4 swipes to get all the way through. 1 cut is fine on 3-4oz but with a very good quality head knife or similar, don't think you would ever do 1 pass cutting

[zuludog]

I make knife sheaths from 3,5mm veg tanned leather, and I use a craft knife with disposeable blades. In Britain this knife is often known by the brand name 'Stanley', even if they're not actually made by that company.

I believe they are usually known as 'box cutters' in USA

But I re - sharpen the disposeable blades which removes the shoulder of the bevel on the blade, and makes them slide through the leather even easier than a new blade

For resharpening I use a few grades of finer & finer stones followed by stropping

In fact I got my stanley knife for £1, about 80 cents, from a car boot sale. I cleaned it up, including the rusty old blades that came with it; resharpened them, and I'm still using it

I make one fine or shallow pass followed by 3 or 4 stronger passes to cut completely

I once got talking to a retired cobbler, in a pub, where else? He said that if you were not an expert with a round knife, a Stanley knife would be as good as anything for an amateur.

He also said that ''them green mats'' were as good as anything he'd ever used

You will need two knives

The first will be a stanley knife as described, used for cutting leather

The second can be anything you like. Use it for sharpening pencils, cutting cord, opening boxes, and all the other little cutting jobs you do. It's purpose is to make sure you keep the first knife razor sharp, and use it exclusively for cutting leather.

Edited January 16, 2016 by zuludog

[zuludog]

Got my sums wrong. £1 = about $1,50

Edited January 17, 2016 by zuludog