Leather Cutting Knife

D

Daniel Swanson

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Mar 13, 2018
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my brother is getting into Leather working as a hobby and asked me to make him a leather cutting knife. I’m thinking a traditional pinned full tang handle, nothing fancy, and a fairly stubby rounded blade. My question is- single or double bevel? I have no experience with single bevel knives, is there any trick to it or just bevel one side at a more acute angle and leave the other flat?
 
I have a head knife ( the round one), but the leather knife I use the most is a simple 2" blade and flat sided handle. It is made from 1/16" by 1" W2 stock. The tip is angled at about 45°. It is sharp on the end, double beveled.
 
If you're cutting big heavy harness leather for saddles, then I guess a head knife would be nice, but personally, I've yet to find anything that cuts leather better than a box cutter with a new blade. I also use an exacto number 11 for intricate inside cuts and a little strop that I can pass the blades across to extend their life. If you're dead set on making him a knife, you want thin and sharp!
 
Read the link that Willie71 Willie71 posted, very worth while. I would argue the point that a roundknife is a superior leather cutting knife once its use has been learned. There is a reason that most leather working pros use one and have for centuries.... because it works. I don't make saddles (do ride em though) but do make a good part of my living with dead cows well...and live ones too. Anyhoo, its the one tool in the shop that is never put away, its always on the bench.
 
Dave, I've seen what you can do with a head knife and I'm sure you're right, I just haven't learned to use one. I've tried, but after using an xacto knife to cut a million miles of frisket material for screen printing over the last 40 years, I don't think I could ever get used to pushing a knife versus pulling one. This is just my opinion and that's why I said "Personally" in my post. I also must have had a bad teacher as I pretty much learned to make sheaths from Chuck Burrows who used what Tandy calls a industrial knife to cut his leather. It's kind of like a curved xacto blade. Very thin and very sharp with replaceable blades that you pull towards you.
 
Lot of folks call that a "cut off" knife, there are several variations of it. There is a learning curve for sure with a roundknife. I started working leather with a Case trapper, then a cut off knife, various exactos etc before moving onto a roundknife. Probably cause the guys I kinda learned some leather work from were saddle makers, thats what they used, just like you and Chuck. Certainly excellent work can be done with a pull cut. The difficulty I see that folks have with a pull cut is keeping it perpendicular, particularly on curves. Also curves tend to be a series of angles not so curvy. If a guy has the skills to use one or the other and can do good work, motor on. There is no right way, just what works for you.
 
This is all excellent advice, thank you. He’s been using an exacto so I’ll probably just make him a nice sharp high-bevel (single bevel) kiridashi. He’s a proficient sharpener so should be able to keep it sharp. If he really wants a round knife down the road I’ll make one but the kiridashi would most closely replicate the way he cuts with the xacto.
 
Daniel Swanson said:
This is all excellent advice, thank you. He’s been using an exacto so I’ll probably just make him a nice sharp high-bevel (single bevel) kiridashi. He’s a proficient sharpener so should be able to keep it sharp. If he really wants a round knife down the road I’ll make one but the kiridashi would most closely replicate the way he cuts with the xacto.
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Or make two, one with the bevel on the left the other on the right
(something I want to do for myself)
 
Make it thin. I use .040 stock on my roundknives. AEB-L @63 RC.
 
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