Brixx Report post Posted January 26, 2020 Hi, I am just starting to work with leather as a hobby. I would like to buy a bench top splitter for splitting mainly bridle leather. The usage would be right now for belt ends and for raising leather with inlays. Here in Europe I already searched for splitters and mostly found the Osborne splitters. Has anyone experience with the 84 and 86A? To me it looks like the 86A is more modern whereas the 84 has a scale and can split wider. What splitter would you recommend? Thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruce johnson Report post Posted January 26, 2020 Experience with both and several other styles. A few things to consider. The wider blade does not necessarily mean you can split wider, you just have more blade width to use before you need to strop/hone/sharpen. Most people can pull a 3 inch width through of fairly firm leather, much past that and it gets a lot harder. The 86A is a newer style but basically a mediocre-to-works-OK adaptation of the Krebs splitter adjusting mechanism on a #86 frame. They will both level skive an end or level split a strap. If you pull with one hand and on the #84 push the handle forward with the other hand you can do a tapered skive or lap skive. You can do that on the #86A by moving the adjustment handle as you pull. Either way you are pulling with only one hand. I found the #84 was more consistent for me to lap skive than the Krebs or #86A. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brixx Report post Posted January 26, 2020 Thank you very much! The 84 is around 130$ more. Would you say, it is worth it? Also with the 84 the depth can be locked whereas with the 86a it cannot, right? Has the 84 any disadvantages compared to the 86a besides it costs more? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hardrada Report post Posted January 26, 2020 Check these out before deciding: Sorry, posted the review for the 86 (still worth watching, though). Here's the one for the 86A: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brixx Report post Posted January 26, 2020 Thanks! I know these videos and this is also the shop I would probably buy from. Still, for me it is tough to decide which one is the splitter to go with. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brixx Report post Posted February 9, 2020 Hi, I now got the 84. The blade came sharp, however not sharp enough to split veg. tan. Softer greased leather worked fine out of the box. I got one more question. I noticed that the roller is not 100% parallel to the blade on the vertical axis which seems to be not adjustable. I think it is maybe one millimeter difference on the whole blade length. Is this ok, or a problem? Test pieces seemed to be ok so far and I got the impression that the leather put inside would make it parallel. Thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jcuk Report post Posted February 9, 2020 Hi there i have the 86 which brought 25 years ago wonderful little splitter, i also brought the 84 about three years ago only got it because it allows me to do lap skive - saves time doing these with my round knife. But have noticed the quality is not as good good as my old 86, yes my roller and blade is slightly out too but i know how to allow for this without any problems, as for the blade just give it a good strop and see if that helps - there is video from the same place as the the links to show you how to look after your blade. Hope this helps JCUK Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brixx Report post Posted February 9, 2020 Hi, thank you very much for the information! Good to know that it is ok, that the roller is a little bit off. Regarding the sharpness I will do what you recommended :-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
