Advice on a skiving tool please

[zuludog]

ROCKOBOY -

I've turned an old plane blade and an oddment of wood into a Japanese style leather knife and the result was pretty good. A friend did the grinding & shaping for me on a bench grinder then I finished it with a fine stone & a strop

Search YouTube for 'Japanese leather knife'; there are several videos showing how they are used for both cutting out and skiving. The asymmetric/offset blade was a bit odd at first, but now I've been using it a while I find it works pretty well

HUNHUNT

I have made 40mm wide hacksaw blades into skiving knives and 25mm wide hacksaw blades into kiridashi Japanese style craft knives. When you've worked up the blade with a bench grinder, then a stone, then a strop the edge is excellent. Be careful as it is tricky sharpening such thin hard steel on a bench grinder. Be patient and use lots of water quenching/cooling or you will burn the steel

Unfortunately for us, old industrial hacksaw blades are a highly sought after commodity, and any engineer that uses them will almost certainly have a queue of people waiting! Search Google & YouTube for 'donkey saw' and you'll see the sort of machine that the new blades are intended for.

BILLYBOP

Yes, a shallower angle or longer bevel is preferable for skiving leather, but this is difficult to do on an angle grinder. I bought a cheap coarse diamond stone from a chain tool merchants (Screwfix) just for that purpose, then did the final work on a fine oilstone and a strop

No actual cash changed hands for all this work, it was all done on favours - a few pints; restoring an old sheath; making a knife; and so on

Edited August 10, 2017 by zuludog