big crescent shaped knife things

[Prince]

Excuse my ignorance, but what are, or rather, how are those big crescent shaped knife things that look like some exotic ninja weapon used? Actually, come to think of it, they'd probly make nice spatulas.

[Roger]

i guess you are talking about a head knife?

it it used for cutting thick leather. i use shears for anything up to 8 oz and 10 and over i grab my head knife. it is kept evry sharpe and glides through like butter.

i'm sure someone can give you a more detailed answer

[Brandon]

I've seen on TV in Australia, they use that to cut pan cakes/ pizzas.

[barra]

http://www.leffler.com.au/saddlery/dixroukni.htm

http://www.leffler.com.au/saddlery/dixsinheakni.htm

Azmal. From the links above, the first one is a round knife and the second a head knife. They are multi purposed and are used to cut and skive. To cut a couple of methods can be used. Personally I only have round knives and there are 2 schools of thought on sharpening. Some sharpen the whole knife and some only half. The whole knife theory being as the knife is starting to become dull and grab the leather then it is simply flipped over to the other sharpened edge. I only sharpen half and at the first sign of it dulling I give it a quick lick on the strop. I have one knife that is so old and worn that I now have a head knife that is in pristine condition.

1. If you are cutting out large item/shapes you can use the SHARP tip and push around the shape. If the leather is thick I usually go around once to make a shallow cut. This makes a little channel that can assist you to keep the knife on track as you use a little more force on the 2nd time around.

2. To square off a strap you roll the knife across the squared off strap. The knife can be used to make shaped points of various styles, square point/English point etc.

3. To skive the knife is pushed and/or sliced through the leather.

There are 3 rules.

a. Keep it SHARP as a dull knife is a dangerous knife.

b. Keep it sheathed when not in use.

3. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER have your free hand in front of the knife when cutting. When the temptation pops into your head (and it will), grab a suitable dull implement and beat some sense into yourself.

Barra.

[Prince]

yes, thats it, the pizza cutting one, the round knife. Actually I was thinking it might be used similarly to a pizza cuter in that you could 'wobble' it down where you wanted to cut, can it do this? Also does it have to be on a flat cutting surface to cut normally with it?

Edited July 29, 2007 by Azmal

[Brandon]

yes, thats it, the pizza cutting one, the round knife. Actually I was thinking it might be used similarly to a pizza cuter in that you could 'wobble' it down where you wanted to cut, can it do this? Also does it have to be on a flat cutting surface to cut normally with it?

Ok, though I bot one a few years ago from Hidecrafter and Andy sharpened it for me before shipping, it was 'never' used! It is still very sharp, I only played with it with some scraps for a simple reason that my working space is too small.

From what I've read and seen from videos, you cut them with the pointed edges most of the time and the 'middle' part is used for skiving or 'wobble' when you're coming to the cutting end or rounding a cut.

Most cutting will be done on flat surface with the exception of trimming edges of certain projects. Many who had mastered it will use it to cut almost anything for slots to fringes. Sorry, that all I know.

Attached is a pic of that round knife I bot from HC and the one on the right is one I bot locally before the shop went bust. I was told that the Hong Kong shoemakers used them.

Both were coated with metal polish cos they're white elephants.

B.