Using a dremel to skive leather?

[strathmoredesigns]

Thanks, I've been practicing with my skiver too and getting a little bit better. I also just got a set of dremel accessories in the mail and gave it a whirl. It worked! I used a 240 grit 1/2 sanding drum on some veg tan remnants and was able to easily take off an ounce in just a couple of minutes. I started at the lowest setting and kept going up a little bit at a time. You definitely want to keep the drum moving on the leather. My results aren't perfect, but they're better than my skivving results and I've only had about 5 minutes of practice. Here are a couple of pics. Hopefully you can see that it's thinner and it didn't destroy the flesh side.

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[TheCyberwolfe]

I went down to Harbor Freight a while back and bought a buffing wheel and a set of sanding drums that range in size from about 1" up to 4" in diameter. They mount right on the arbor and use common sandpaper rolls for refills, so I can use any grit paper I need. It works well for thinning larger sections evenly without excessive tool marks, and the largest drum is pretty good for sanding edges prior to finishing.

For strap ends and other small bits I typically use a knife though, since it's right there on the bench vs. going out to the shed where my sander is. As with any leather knife, trick #1 is making sure the skiver is wicked sharp, and then you're better off going for multiple shallow passes rather than a complete skive in one pass.

[Brianm77]

+1 on the multiple shallow passes.  I was going to mention that, but it slipped my mind. 

[Mark842]

I have the best luck skiving with a head knife and japanese style skiving knife. I lay the leather flat on marble and use the marble to steady the angle of my knife. I find my head knife works better on veg tanned/latigo and the japanese style on thinner lighter leathers. Both knives need to be extremely sharp to get good results.