Club Obi Wan

I posted a thing about this a while ago and never started to make one.
I am going to start soon, is there anyone on here who would like to contribute to it at all? I know that Robert already said he would help with some pictures. Is there any one ales who would like to contribute to it? I have not started yet so if you want to join in let me know.
Kindest Regards
Molorom

First Thing - A sharp blade. A real sharp blade. If you have a sharp blade then the cutting is easier, which makes it easier to get even width strands, and makes the skiving easier. This is because the blade is actually cutting through the leather fibers, and not being dragged through them. A less than sharp blade will make a chattering cutting sound, while a sharp blade will make a faint hiss as it cuts.

I use several different kinds of blades when making whips, but they all have one thing in common. They are sharp! I have a Camillus Two Blade that I use for skiving because of it's weight. The heavier weight holds steadier when skiving than does a lighter blade. For cutting the strands, I use a #11 scalpel blade in my cutter. And for some strand cutting and trimming, I use a stainless injector razor blade. I also have two leather splitters that have stainless blades that must be sharp also.

Before doing any cutting, I sharpen my blades, even the scalpel blades.The knife blades are done on a hard Arkansas stone, fine honed until I can shave the fine hair on my arm. At this point the knife is sharp, but not quite sharp enough!.

I then use jeweler's rouge on a cotton buffing wheel, and polish the edge of the knife blade, scalpel blade, and sometimes the razor blade. (you have to be careful and use a good holder to sharpen the scalpel and razor blades. The buffing wheel/rouge combo finely polishes all the micrscopic knicks out of the blade. heavy pressure, medium pressure, light pressure, and the egde is cleaned and polished. Now the blade should be sharp.

One final step, I use a leather stropping board to keep the edges sharp longer.

So, I guess what I am saying is a sharp knife makes the cutting easier. But the first time you use a blade this sharp, be careful. It cuts so easily, your normal cutting stroke may cause you to slide off line and cut strange curves in your hide until you get used to it.

Jerry R