Tool Question

[chrisash]

On 3/13/2021 at 7:19 PM, jcuk said:

Yes but i would change the skiving knife for a round knife or single head knife add some needles and thread and an engineers square, keep the keep the crew punch he has a healthy budget for his current projects.

Heres the link for JH Leather. 

https://www.youtube.com/c/JHLeather/videos

A link for somewhere to get good quality used tools wish we had such a place this side of the pond.

https://brucejohnsonleather.com

On the Chinese tools i know they are not all bad but i am not buying because undercutting various makers from around the world making copies of copies these days too, we already have lost Dixons to this and have a feeling Osborne are feeling the pressure too. Not only are they content with tools i saw in a post they copying thread too, not good in my eyes - i know the quality is maybe there in some of the products, but that does not make it right- people losing  their livelihoods to this practice is wrong all day long in my eyes.

Hope this helps

JCUK

 

P.S. On a personal note i would learn to double hand stitch/ saddle stitch using awl and needle better to know how to do because the weight of leather you will be using on some of your products will serve you better in my opinion.

Nobel thoughts but hard to find real alternatives. with all first world companies making clones of sewing machines in the past, the moment the patents have either expired or have brought a licence to make under their own name, it's hard to blame a company in a low labour cost area not exploiting a perceived gap in the market. also unfortunately European/US companies find that labour costs mean they price themselves out of the market unless they lower their costs, few will pay to modernise with new machines so they lower costs on quality hoping nobody will notice

Ebay is where you will find them but at greatly overpriced values

Edited March 20, 2021 by chrisash

[jcuk]

23 minutes ago, chrisash said:

Nobel thoughts but hard to find real alternatives. with all first world companies making clones of sewing machines in the past, the moment the patents have expired, it's hard to blame a company in a low labour cost area not exploiting a perceived gap in the market. also unfortunately European/US companies find that labour costs mean they price themselves out of the market unless they lower their costs, few will pay to modernise with new machines so they lower costs on quality hoping nobody will notice

Ebay is where you will find them but at greatly overpriced values

I agree there are some overpriced tools on Ebay,  but every now and again there are some bargains to be had plus sometimes when you purchase something on there the seller sometimes contacts you with a few other things they have not listed yet, Which happened recently picked up a Dixon plough gauge at a great price, already have a plough gauge but the price was to good to refuse and to be fair they new what they were selling but were happy it was going to a good home.

 

[Hardrada]

4 hours ago, LeatherMac1 said:

Newbie question......I’ve seen Japanese leather knives demonstrated where the knife is held at an angle so the beveled side of the knife edge runs along the ruler straight edge.  Do most leather workers find it easier to run the knife straight edge against the ruler straight edge instead?Recommendation for someone learning the craft?

thanks

That might be done to kind of protect the very fine edge from being chipped by hitting/rubbing against the ruler.

[OLESKIVER]

5 hours ago, LeatherMac1 said:

Newbie question......I’ve seen Japanese leather knives demonstrated where the knife is held at an angle so the beveled side of the knife edge runs along the ruler straight edge.  Do most leather workers find it easier to run the knife straight edge against the ruler straight edge instead?Recommendation for someone learning the craft?

thanks

ok, are you talking about japanese skiving knives or leather cutting knives? if it skiving, I have never seen what you are talking about so I don't know. if you are talking about leather cutting knives, yes, you always use a ruler or straight piece of metal for a straight edge, even with a stap cutter your first cut on your leather should be made with a ruler and knife to get a square straight edge. If you go to Weaver leather supply's page and scroll down to how to videos, you will find a bunch by Chuck Dorsett on strap cutting, belt making, braiding, lots of things plus he has a live broadcast at 3pm est on yt, plus a fan page on facebook. he does most stuff simplified for beginners. hope this helps.

[okiwen]

Hardrada and others,  good job with the assistance.  I can't even begin to count the number of times that people make a newbie suffer for the sin of not knowing and asking.  By simply saying "buy good tools" often you are speaking Greek, as a true newbie couldn't possibly know what that is without an example.  I'm going through this with the watching kidding groups.  Don't be like them.  Don't be knowledgeable and worthless.  

[zuludog]

16 hours ago, LeatherMac1 said:

Newbie question......I’ve seen Japanese leather knives demonstrated where the knife is held at an angle so the beveled side of the knife edge runs along the ruler straight edge.  Do most leather workers find it easier to run the knife straight edge against the ruler straight edge instead?Recommendation for someone learning the craft?

thanks

A Japanese Leather Knife is usually held so the bevel is facing away from your palm, and the trailing edge of the asymmetric blade is facing away from you

That's because it's not so easy or comfortable to hold the knife perfectly vertically, there is a tendency to tilt your fist and the knife slightly away from the vertical. For a right handed person the thumb tends to move outwards to the right; and similarly a left handed person will tilt their thumb  outwards towards the left

Try holding, say, a pencil or a ruler or a screwdriver in your fist and extending your arm. You will find it's not very easy to hold it vertically; if you relax your hand slightly, the tool  will naturally assume this tilted attitude

This explains why there are left and right handed Japanese leather knives

So for a Japanese leather knife this will bring the bevel to the vertical. If you have the bevel facing inwards with the straight flat side facing outwards there is a tendency to undercut the leather when you make a cut

Have a look at this video, he explains it well -

'How to Use Japanese Leather Knife' by Leathertoolz. Watch other videos on cutting with a Japanese leather knife and you'll see they use it with the bevel facing away from the palm

I think you'll find it is easier to use a Japanese leather knife with the bevel away from your palm whether using a ruler or freehand; and if you do use a ruler this will usually mean having the bevel against the ruler. You're not deliberately holding the knife at an angle, it just comes naturally

For skiving you can use bevel up or bevel down, whichever suits you and the type of leather used. Have a look at videos for Chartermade, Vergez Blanchard, and similar skiving knives as well as Japanese leather knives 

Edited March 21, 2021 by zuludog

[chuck123wapati]

5 hours ago, zuludog said:

A Japanese Leather Knife is usually held so the bevel is facing away from your palm, and the trailing edge of the asymmetric blade is facing away from you

That's because it's not so easy or comfortable to hold the knife perfectly vertically, there is a tendency to tilt your fist and the knife slightly away from the vertical. For a right handed person the thumb tends to move outwards to the right; and similarly a left handed person will tilt their thumb  outwards towards the left

Try holding, say, a pencil or a ruler or a screwdriver in your fist and extending your arm. You will find it's not very easy to hold it vertically; if you relax your hand slightly, the tool  will naturally assume this tilted attitude

This explains why there are left and right handed Japanese leather knives

So for a Japanese leather knife this will bring the bevel to the vertical. If you have the bevel facing inwards with the straight flat side facing outwards there is a tendency to undercut the leather when you make a cut

Have a look at this video, he explains it well -

'How to Use Japanese Leather Knife' by Leathertoolz. Watch other videos on cutting with a Japanese leather knife and you'll see they use it with the bevel facing away from the palm

I think you'll find it is easier to use a Japanese leather knife with the bevel away from your palm whether using a ruler or freehand; and if you do use a ruler this will usually mean having the bevel against the ruler. You're not deliberately holding the knife at an angle, it just comes naturally

For skiving you can use bevel up or bevel down, whichever suits you and the type of leather used. Have a look at videos for Chartermade, Vergez Blanchard, and similar skiving knives as well as Japanese leather knives 

interesting indeed.