@Leathercraft Masterclass Thank you for taking the time to reply and look up some information! I guess that the most precise guess would be "some german maker in solingen", I haven't cleaned it up yet but I am curious how it will perform! Now my collection of german plough gauges is growing 😅

Hello! I'll try to answer you to the best of my knowledge:) 1. Leather and wood can be glued together quite well, I would suggest taking a scrap of the wood and leather you intend to use and test a few glues to see which works best. In my personal experience simple PVA has worked amazing and the bond is very good. The reason to test it out is that some woods have more or less oil than others and this could affect your bond. Renia 315 will likely work perfectly fine too. 2. In short, have a strong light source and that's pretty much it. Some times you can shift your leather to "open up" to holes allowing the light to hit it at a different angle making it more visible. But it's mostly a guessing where it is and feeling for it with your needles/awl. This will be the case for many softer leathers unfortunately. 3. For finishing your suede edges I would recommend edgepaint, although suede can still be tricky to edge paint since it can sometimes pull the paint in a direction you don't want it. Check "techniques of the edge part 2" for edge painting :)

@Leathercraft Masterclass I will definitely give that a go then! Thank you very much for the help! @Fadi My splitter has a horizontal tension bar with a spring with i'm guessing it doesn't get close enough to the blade for the thinner pieces to make a difference. Thank you both 😁

Diamond plates will not need replacing very often, especially the higher end monocrystalline ones. But they are more expensive, sandpaper works really well and is very affordable. If you are not planning on sharpening many different things then sandpaper will probably to the job you need doing. You won't need to bring the skiving knife back to the sandpaper or stones much after you sharpened it the first time, only in the case of damages to the edge really.

Hey Matt, I didn't really pick any particular size, these were literally just 3 pieces of scrap of roughly the same width I had laying around. Cheap pine timber as well. The most important part is the center piece being 90 degrees where you glue the other 2 boards. That results in a 45 degree jig, but it doesn't need to be ultra precise since it's just to impart a bend and not for any permanent angle setting. The length or width really depends on your preference and the space you have, this one was made for billfolds and notebooks for a size reference and fits easily on top of the bench Hope that helps!

That is pretty cool that they are still going! really liked the video, especially the part where he is slamming the round knife on the bench to sharpen it :)

Looks great! Definitely would also be interested in the link :)

Thanks Philip! If you want the brass piece I can quickly make one and send it to you if you want :)

@Doug Thanks Doug! Another problem is that you find more creative ways of justifying the purchase of more tools for future ideas 😅

I think the best way to go about it without spending a bunch of cash would be to use what you have already, a belt sander as you mention can already be a huge help. If you want to do it all by hand then you'll need a good file and a jig to help you with angle of the blade. Here is a nice video of a easy DIY angle setup for hand filing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9iNDRwwBQQ I would get it as close as you dare before heat treatment, since there is always a chance of deformation. At least that's my limited understanding of how to go about it.

Hi Danny, I don't have much experience in knife making but I would say that if you can use the harder 63HRC steel that might be better for skiving knife. A low angle with hard steel makes for a beautiful skiving knife, much like the blanchard HSS knife. Since you wont be cutting onto a surface like a normal knife would and just slicing through leather with skiving knife there is a lower risk of chipping with the hard steels :) One recommendation I would have though, is to do 95% of your shaping and angle setting before hardening. If you need to do that on a 63HRC blade you are gonna be working at it for a long time.

@Leathercraft Masterclass All good here 😂 Spent this morning reprofiling a HSS round knife to a slightly lower angle, even with a coarse diamond stone it certainly wasn't a fast job.... Although now it cuts like a beauty 😁

@Leathercraft Masterclass That's actually where I got the idea from! Really liked that video and edging iron. Maybe one day I'll find of those.... I've filled it now with a epoxy/sawdust mix, still need to finish it up but it looks good so far. I'll still need to find a thin piece of spring steel to put in between the bar and stock, that piece was missing/rusted away and otherwise the body tilts to much when tightening the screw down. I remember Martin Carswell mentioning that bit of springsteel in a video, just need to find a small piece now somewhere to make it.

I was extremely surprised when this logo turned up under the rust, I couldn't find another reference online with regards to henckels/zwilling leather tools. Might end up emailing the company and see if they have more info. It actually is in great condition and works pretty smoothing after just 15 minutes of cleaning and loosening bolts. The biggest surprise is the fit and finish of the thing, very well made tool. The handle is still attached firmly so I think that I try and restore it by filling the gaps instead of replacing it for now. My best guess would be to use slow drying epoxy with saw dust. Or some kind of wood filler.

Huh, I had never heard of that term before, always good to learn something new, thanks!

@paul p You could perhaps 3d prints it into multiple segments that then fit together like lego pieces

I am not a chemistry expert but I had a few courses on it during my studies, most likely culprit is degradation of whatever pigment/dye was used to colour the leather. UV radiation can pretty much destroy anything if given enough time to do so, also depends heavily on the compound, etc. I am interested in what you find out though!

Maybe you did have a nightly visit from some druids, who decided you had way to much nice leather laying about!! The only place that I have seen similar colour fading is in brazil, the sun is so strong there that anything older than a year and is outside is basically blasted into a lighter and duller shade of what it once was.

Thanks Philip! I definitely enjoy making these :) next up are a upgraded version of my horrendously crudely made edge paint drying racks Basically in the first version I just ripped a few grooves down a board with a circular saw, the end result worked but doesn't win any beauty contests for sure.

@Doug +1 on the woodworking clubs or groups. In the previous city that I was living there was this community workshop thing where they had a woodshop, ceramics, painting, etc. And you could become a member for free and admittance per pay was €2.50 to come in and use all the tools. Definitely a worth while to check if something like that is near you!