C.S. Osborne 84 splitter

[NikolovLeather]

So recently I bought several things from C.S. Osborne and decided to share my experience. 

I needed a leather splitter and even though there was little firsthand info on that particular one I decided to get it because of the good name they have and the few videos on youtube where it seems to work great. But the reality is that is a piece of garbage that is waaay overpriced. First of all there are a lot of wobble in the rotating axle. So if you pull the leather down (this way the rotation helps you and the pull is easier) the axle moves and you just can’t get even split, no matter what you try. So you should pull it towards yourself which is quite harder but not impossible. 

Second minus is that even though it is 8 inch wide you can hardly pull more than 3 inches wide piece of 3,5 mm leather through it (pulling towards myself, not being helped by the rotation) And my blade is hair popping sharp, I personally polished it. 

Third (and probably the one I hate most) is that the parts that touch the leather are not stainless. See the attached picture of vegetable tanned I just splitted, the machine was used yesterday and wasn’t left in damp environment. 

Totally unusable piece of .... garbage. 

And being on the topic about that “legendary” brand - in the same order I got a round knife and a skiving knife. The round knife was wobbling in the handle so I filled it with superglue just to find you that the whole thing is bend and because of that cutting in a straight line  is qiute challenging. Also there was a chip in the blade, but I guess if you can’t sharpen you don’t buy a round knife, right?  The skiving knife has really thick edge right behind the blade which catches on the material being cut. Something that is really annoying and not a problem on my no name chineese skiver from ebay. 

To summarise - I am totally disappointed by C.S. Osborne and will not buy anything from them again. 

[bikermutt07]

I'm really sorry for your loss. If I'm being honest, I haven't heard a good thing about their quality in the 5 years I have been doing leather work.

Edited May 3, 2019 by bikermutt07

[Rockoboy]

There used to be a bloke on here from C.S. Osborne, who would be all over this like seagulls on a chip! I am not sure if he is still around.

[mikesc]

would be all over this like seagulls on a chip!

Worthy of Les Murray :)

I'll "steal that" if I may..

[Rockoboy]

2 hours ago, mikesc said:

I'll "steal that" if I may

Help yourself ... who is Les Murray?

[mikesc]

Brian..

Help yourself ... who is Les Murray?

You probably know some of his work , but maybe didn't know the name..
Les Murray died on 29 April..IMO, and the opinions of very very many ,( including myself ) he was one of the world's best poets of the past 100 or 200 years, ( an Australian ) , who wrote with an "Australian voice".
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-48089957
Right up there with the greats ,along with Seamus Heaney ( who captured Irish life, in English , for us Irish )
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seamus_Heaney
Enjoy.. :)))

btw..I'm not at all religious, Les Murray was, very, it doesn't stop me appreciating his work..in the same way as I view the Sistine Chapel..magnificent..

edit..T'was not I who placed that green circle over to the left ( it just showed up )..But as an Irishman, I appreciate the choice of colour :)
2nd edit..Ah no..that green circle showing up for me ( apparently most of you see it all the time ? ) was because the Mozilla foundation ( who make Firefox ) just got around some of my code blocks ( security code I added ) temporarily..I just fixed it ..and no green circle..and no "loads of other" things on other sites ..which is as it should be..Stroppy message will be sent to Mozilla ..my browser, my computers, my security rules..now they are "frozen out"..

Edited May 4, 2019 by mikesc

[Rockoboy]

1 hour ago, mikesc said:

You probably know some of his work , but maybe didn't know the name..

Nope, still got nothing, even after following that link, I guess I am a philistine.

As for my initial metaphor, that is likely something said by Paul Hogan, Sir Les Patterson or Barry McKenzie.

[mikesc]

I think they both , Paul Hogan and ( can Barry Humphries count as one person ? ) based a lot of what they said, and how they said it.. on his style*..
I also appreciate them, all of them, enormously.. :)))

*Read some of the books mentioned in the BBC link, I think you'll see what I mean..

Edited May 4, 2019 by mikesc

[Rockoboy]

1 hour ago, mikesc said:

can Barry Humphries count as one person ?

Barry Humphries can also be Dame Edna Everidge or Sir Les Patterson. Each has that Aussie ocker persona, the same IMHO, as Paul Hogan and Barry McKenzie.

1 hour ago, mikesc said:

Read some of the books mentioned in the BBC link,

Thank you for your recommendation, but its not really my thing. I much prefer my copy of British Anglers Manual 1836 edition or my Zane Grey 1st editions for classic literature.

Edited May 4, 2019 by Rockoboy

[mikesc]

13:1–13:23 :((

[Vikefan]

Good to know.. as I just contacted them today about the price of one.  Maybe that one from Tandy isn't bad at all? 

Any thoughts about that?

Thank you,

Vikefan

[keplerts]

I stopped buy anything new by C.S. Osborne.  The old stuff is good is you can find it.  For the money, Weaver's Master Tool line is high quality and reasonably priced.  I love their punches, edgers, etc.  Give them a look.

[jcuk]

I brought an 86 splitter about 25 years ago it served me well, every time i used it. It still has the original blade in it, but the lack of being able to do lap skive with it was the only thing it lacked.  So last year i saw an 84 splitter on EBAY it was a good price,  so dived in and brought it. I can get it to do what i want it to do,  but it can be pain at times and the quality is no where near the quality of the old 86 splitter. I  was going to sell the 86 glad i didn't,  if had room on my bench they would both be there and i know which would get the most work.

Hope this helps

JCUK

[bikermutt07]

I have the 8 inch Weaver Heritage model and I am happy with it.

I do not know how old it is or if the current offering from Weaver is of the same quality.

I bought mine used. I just recently honed the blade. What a difference?!!

[grmnsplx]

Shitty. I bought one of these from Buckskin maybe 6 months ago. It's still in the box. I hope my experience isn't the same as yours. 

Edited May 5, 2019 by grmnsplx

[BattleAx]

I have an C.S. Osborne 84 it work pretty good. If I put English Bridle through the splitter works great but the natural veg tan gives me trouble at times. I am happy with my splitter bought it new 5 years ago..

[garypl]

20 hours ago, Vikefan said:

Good to know.. as I just contacted them today about the price of one.  Maybe that one from Tandy isn't bad at all? 

Any thoughts about that?

Thank you,

Vikefan

 I bought the Tandy Pro splitter around Christmas when it went on sale for $199.  I have been using it to skive straps and it works very well.  I have no regrets about this purchase.

Gary