Sharpness of the blade is 90% of skiving. A sharp blade is many times more useful than a bell skiver for small goods. Learning about or paying for professional-level blade sharpening is slept on. It's night and day, the pressure needed to make a cut is so low the likelyhood of tearing the leather nears zero. Not to discount the fact that high quality leather skives like butter compared to cheap or dry stuff and belly cuts though. Dense, high temper leather will skive like butter compared to loose, fuzzy and floppy low temper stuff. Almost better to use a drum sander at that point. The only solution to the Pocket Question that I found is to use Corel/Adobe software to make my own damn templates to suit the stitch iron spacing I needed. Template makers don't seem to be open to the idea of creating products to suit specific stitch spacing for different pricking irons. You can split the teeth 50/50 over the seam between the pockets, or better yet rest a tooth just above the seam for a cleaner stitch, but none of that matters if the pocket's dimensions aren't exactly divisible by your iron's stitch space length. On a side note: the stitch spacing of irons ought to be commensurate with the overall size of the piece, e.g. watch bands 2.7-3.0mm irons, wallets 3.0mm-3.38mm irons, clutches/purses 3.38-3.85mm irons, backpacks/luggage/etc. 3.85mm-6mm irons. Also, the thread thickness must be commensurate with the stitch spacing e.g. 2.7mm stitch spacing could use .35-.45mm thread, whereas 5-6mm stitch spacing could use 0.6-.1mm thread/flat thread. Imo large stitch spacing and/or chunky threads lend a 'utilitarian' look that you cannot recover from in hopes of achieving a high-end/luxury feel. Same with the burnt ends of a polyester thread, and the diamond stitch punches we all buy as beginners. Imo french irons are a must. Poly thread is strong and user-friendly, but linen cable thread that's been waxed and hammered flat gives a distinctly luxurious appearance (especially framed by a heated edge crease) Using a bit of glue to tuck and hide the cut ends of the thread is easy to do. It's a necessity with lin cable anyhow. Both edging and learning edge finishing techniques are bottomless pits of despair. Imo veg tan deserves a burnished edge to showcase its quality. Also because trying to color match an edge paint for veg tan is futile, it'll be mismatched as soon as the leather patinates and changes color. Edge paint is for pigmented chrome tan leathers that stay the same color forever and can't be burnished anyhow. I could write a book about edgi.....edge work. It's alot like body work on high end cars, the results speak to the preparation. Lots of sanding, working up through the grits. Low grit block sanding to get things flat. Medium grit to smooth the fibers. High grit unidirectional hand finishing for good measure. If you're bordering on clinically insane - using water to "raise the grain" like woodwork and start all over. Tokonole and Columbus wax are just icing on the cake for a good edge, not the tools needed to get there. Gnome sayin?
Blade sharpness is absolutely my weakness. I've been considering using illustrator to align my stitching to my patterns. I like the sizes of things now but It's one of those things that always ends up on the "Someday" burner for me... As for the stitching, for now I have a "one size fits all" sort of mentality where I'm trying to do the most with the least so I can learn quicker without spending a ton. My goal for the wallets are to get some nice sinabroks or something similar and decrease my thread size to do exactly as you say here! Maybe a few months from now I'll get going on that. All of that was great info on the edging, thank you so much for that information. And all of this! I appreciate it all greatly. I do Gno(u)me sayin.... sorry I tried lmao
@@champagneleatherwork Yeah buying every size and color adds up fast $$ but I did well buying a set of 3.38 Kemovancraft french irons ($42 etsy) for little items. My expensive irons just have more machining on the handles to make them more comfortable and some weight for stability, but you can just wrap the kemovan handles in leather... If you use any kind of polished tapping hammer to close the holes it makes no difference........maybe with a microscope and a bone to pick lol. I get mini spools of poly and linen threads from Artisan leather supply they start under $5. So you could get a new set of kemovan irons and be flush with all new threads for under $100 shipping included. If your granite skiving block is smooth as glass it's perfect to sharpen a blade with sandpaper. After sharpening/honing, my $20 square shoe knife cuts as well as a $250 bespoke Chartermade blade. Like you can use a fingertip to skive with, but remember that cheap leather doesn't skive for sh*t. I've skived practice scraps so thin they're translucent. The expensive knives just have more weight for stability and better metallurgy to keep the edge honed for a few more cuts. Your rounded knife looks bad ass to use but it's probably a b*tch and a half to sharpen properly. I no longer have access to pro drafting software and laser cutters but it's wild how much it can help the end result when you can scratch draw/prototype/tweak stuff in real time like you're in Guangzhou I don't have videos of my edging, not any that I would share publicly at least - but - "The best leather edges I've ever seen" on the MAKESUPPLY channel shows what 150-1000 grit sanding, Tokonole (not gum trash), canvas burnishing cloth and Columbus wax can achieve. Good sh*t. I'm not an author but I'm writing books here. I subscribed looking forward to seeing your vids working on stuff that's why we're all here. Cheers
I have also gone through the same leather problem and concerns you are voicing in your video. After 13 years of leather crafting and 73 years of age, I have learned that it takes Practice, Practice and more Practice to prefect this craft. If there is such a thing as perfection in this craft. And, you will have failure's alone the way. Take them in stride. It is not the end of the world. Leather crafters seem to be their worst critic. You Know like Turing a full bottle of dye over and soaking the peace you spent several hours tooling or stamping. You wanted a red front with a black outline. Now it just became a solid black project. I take the approach that the first attempt is an experiment, the second is tweaking/adjustments and third is the final product. There a lot of good people in this craft that are willing to help out and share there knowledge. Sorry, for my rambling. I have used several product and chemicals to burnish leather. Find one that that works for you and perfect it. Remember, GumTrag comes from a root of a plant and will pernitrate the fibers of the leather, where as Tokonola is basically white glue with additives and lay on the surface of the fibers of the leather. Both are good products. Hope this helps.
Absolutely! I've also found that some of my biggest mistakes have led me to some even stronger successes. I'm kind of ashamed to say that I've never actually used gum trag and I want to try it out. That may just be a new video idea! Hope to see you there! I appreciate the ramble haha
Pretty much the same things I struggled and/or wasn't all that interested in getting better at. For skiving I found that making my own knives made a massive difference. I now use these blades all the time. One is 40mm wide, 4mm thick O1 steel with a very fine flat grind with very small (
nice video Regarding skiving I would recommend move your hand closer blade edge. Consider holding the steel part of the knife rather than its handle. This will give you better control and more forgiveness when maneuvering your knife. Lastly, take it slow.
Appreciate the honesty and awareness that goes into a video like this. We’re all out here going through similar stuff! You’re definitely not alone, and it helps for the rest of us to hear what you’re working on so we can look for things to work on in our own lives. Appreciate your time brother!
Totally agree. We live in a world where social media shows off the best of the best and I personally want to break from that and show the humanity and what makes us unique. Thanks for the kind comment, appreciate your time as well sir!
A few comments you may find helpful. 1 when cutting with a head knife or skiving, wet veg tan cuts better than dry. Not soaking wet, moist wet. 2 Always strop your cutting tools. Even if they are sharp, strop them before every cut. You can't strop too much but you can strop too little. 3 Be mindful of your angles you cut at. You use your skiving knife at too tall of an angle. It should be flatter. 4 Hold your skiving knife more on the blade, not the handle. Your first two fingers should be on the blade and close to the cutting edge. You also always want to be cutting with it, never just pushing it through the leather.
Thanks everyone for all valuable tips🙏🏾. 1) It takes time to master over Skiving knives. Think the angle u handle the nife is the problem. Keep the handle as close to leather. 2) always have 2.4 & 3.38 size pricking irons. Adjust the length of pocket sleeve to tye size of the irons. 3) don't use edge paint on veg tanned leather. smooth up leather from 120 to 2000 for perfect edge with glassy finish. Use tokonole in between from 800 grit paper.
Often the cure for pricking iron misalignment with pattern is to either vary your pricking iron teeth selection (sizes), or adjust the pattern in small ways to accommodate. 3.8mm versus 3.3 mm makes a difference in teeth distance and becomes self evident against the pattern. Regarding skiving,..I rarely do it. I've been leather crafting since 1991 and ALWAYS found it to be a useless pain in the @$$. When you order your leather get it in two thicknesses. #1 in 3.5oz for exterior. #2 in 1oz for interiors. Problem solved. Most leather sellers will split for $0 -$3 per item. Skiving can be a lot like edge creasing: something to waste time on when you're bored. It's like Europe and Asia haven't heard of a hand Dremel burnisher. 🤣 It works wonders. Edges: Probably the most crafter-centric part of leatherwork. Five years ago one rarely saw this obsession with glossy high polished edges. Heck, to this day there are still makers who ignore edges completely and leave them raw. (cringe 😖) The only time I get obsessive about smooth glossy hand burnished edges is when I'm working in a premium leather like Shell Cordovan. Otherwise my customers only care about edges being smooth, flat and uniform. Take a close look at designer houses (Chanel, LV, TOM FORD, GUCCI, etc) and you'll notice customers are buying products with edges that are painted. Usually a custom colored edge acrylic. Personally I like to edge dye everything then either wax burnish or edge coat to match. Sometimes I'll cover with a satin glaze for a slight shimmer finish. Just choose what works best for you, then adjust to customer demand. You'll find your niche. Cheers! 🍺
I have legitimately never thought of trying different weights for pockets. That’s a great idea! Maybe the secret to good edge work is to not talk about good edge work so people don’t expect it haha… just kidding. But yeah I realize that it’s not as desired as we think and definitely over hyped. I will say though that things like Gucci and Chanel people are just buying for the name. They don’t know what a good product is to save their lives lmao. I just want to break that and I want my products to speak louder than my brand itself. You know?
After you edge dye (and sand & polish) rub with paraffin wax and then melt the wax using a hair dryer if you don’t have the electric tools. Lastly a cloth polish & your painted edge should be glossy
Nice vid bro, really good observations, specially for those who are startimg in leathercraft and are looking to improvre their job. So i want to share some tips if it works for you, great. there are some steps to get amazing, mirror glass finish edges even if you are using bad quality leather, or chrome tanned leather (trust me, i used poor quality leather and chrome tanned for almost 4 years till i found a nice leather supplier) 1.- be sure to trace the patterns following the same direction, or final orientation, this is very important cuz when sanding the edges ther will be no resistance and the grain will polish the same direction 2.- i start sanding at 220 grit sand paper, next 500, and 1000 upgrading 500 till getting 2500. 3.- burnish your edge after every sanding, you can use water or tokonole/gum trag etc. if you want, but usually with fine leathers like WC, conceria walpier etc, any premium leather its fine if you just burnish it, you'll get the same results 4.- giving the final touch using beeswax and polishing with a canvas piece really helps a lot to get a stunishing result Then, to help with the wrinkles when you fold the piece i discovered 2 main problems 1.- you are using thicker leather than you need (i use 1mm leather for small leather goods like wallets and stuf) and 2.- you are using the wrong size edge beveler (it happens more than you thought) I also saw you use weaver tools like french skiver and i asume you also use weaver edge bevelers, i recomend you to let that tools go😂 I also used that brand in the begining but i found the quality isnt great, specially when it comes to bevelers sizes, theres no much room to try something else, i moved to palosanto tools and really where a ge changer. Hope some of my tips can help you man, you really do and amazing job and fills my heart to see people that still belieave in the art that a handmade product becomes. Wish you all the succes you deserve EL JEFE CUSTOM LEATHER-MEXICO
Wow! Awesome information here. Thank you so much! I recently did a video experimenting with burnishing and my findings were exactly as you said. Sanding was the most important thing that I found and most materials I used to burnish like tokenol or gum trag didn’t make much of a difference. They key was sanding for sure. I’ve been doing that with everything now. I know that I use thicker leather than I probably should to be honest. I do like the thicker look and feel. In my opinion it makes me believe that it helps differentiate store bought machine made goods from hand made goods. I can’t describe it, I just like the thicker leather. That may change at some point for me though. Perhaps when I up production. I like the leather i use because to me a 3-4oz thickness is the most versatile when it comes to making the most will the least. To solve the wrinkling I have been gluing the pieces pre-folded and that’s helped a ton. I actually would love to switch to palosanto but they are expensive and I feel like I want to work on other things before I make the financial commitment to purchase them. How do you determine which size beveleryou need for your thickness? Thanks again for your comment. Tips like this mean so much and I appreciate the time it takes people to write these. Cheers!
@@champagneleatherwork to find the right size beveler i tend to experiment a lot with glued scraps of leather, you'll get some experience over time and get to know what size to use only by looking at the leather piece thickness
If you take those close up sewing shots and upload them as shorts you’ll get more views on it! (RUclips is priortizing shorts) Also maybe make a knife sheath next? Thad make a cool video topic !
Great idea, I am definitely planning on doing shorts very soon! I have a couple videos queued up but I'll absolutely consider adding a knife sheath. However, I have to obtain a nice knife first.. lol
@@champagneleatherwork You could reach out to a knife maker in your area (especially if they are on social media) and ask to feature one of their knifes because you want to make a sheath for them? You would get a nice knife to practice on, more content for your channel, they get a handmade sheath for one of their knifes, and you both can promote each other.
When I have fluffy edges left over from skiving I generally burn them off with a lighter. You have to be careful though. It's kind of easy to burn the grain side
My first big project was a bag I made for a christmas present. Most of the leather was thin scraps so did not worry about skiving it, but the straps were a lit thicker, so really needed to thin it down for the buckles. I did not have a good knife to skive with, but I did have a belt sander... I clamped it down to a bench and used that to sand away a lot of the material, and it actually came out much better than I feared! would not recommend for thinning edges like for pockets, but if you need to fold straps I will 100% use again.
The struggle is real. With stitch spacing for card sections. I started out with thick 1mm thread, now I'm down to .5mm or smaller thread. With the spacing, try a different sized spaced stitching chisel or eye off the spaces with a diamond awl.
I’m at a .8mm now, probably going to go smaller as well tbh. And thanks for the tip! I have a single Diamond punch I can use that I should start practicing spacing with.
You avoid wrinkles by gluing it already folded so that the leather molds to the folded shape. Use some kind of last with a rounded edge so that you can put your lining on it and then glue the body to it
@@robertfischer5893 stitch punch maybe, although it's ot a problem if you use an awl. edge finish difficulty it increases just slighly you can learn how to do those techniques once and spend less time on them, but you can't undo the creases once you glue everything flat and bend it
I have struggled with this myself smaller thread looks better in wallets I know the camera was zoomed in but look at a store bought wallet and watch band , the t pocket stich is hidden, I’m following you because I want to learn more I’m 63 and done this since eighth grade lol still learning 😇
I've debated using smaller thread. The reason I'm using this size is because I'm trying to do the most, with the least. I very might use some smaller thread in the future once I get more comfortable with making products. I appreciate the follow!!
Skiving sux for sure we all have to do it, sharp blades make a big deal, me personally I’ve been using 6mm spacing mostly for awhile now and like the way it looks and as far as edges when Is good enough 99% of people want a wallet not a show piece and people where I’m from want pay the extra for the time put in to a mirror edge, sand it burnish it sand it again and burnish it and done, just my 2 cents, and my stuff sells really well 😂
I totally agree with this, us peeps in the leather community are the ones critiquing this the hardest and totally agree that the common people buying it don’t care nearly as much. I’d love to find that middle ground where I can be happy and so can they haha. That’s the goal at least
@@champagneleatherwork exactly I found that good is good I don’t charge arms and legs for my wallets either so I think they get really good work for the cost, the main leather i use is Pueblo and it does really well with edge finishing
Well scarving will never get easy. Mistakes happen, especially when the knives are not absolutly sharp. The more power you need the bigger the mistakes. To you overseas, may have a look at the product from Schmedt Germany called Schärffix. Made for bookbinders, but it boes a great job. Yes, you can scarf thick leather as well.
I've actually tried a knockoff of one of these but I couldn't get it to work right. Now that I know a lot more I'll have to give it another go. I am terrible at keeping my Knives sharp lol
@@champagneleatherwork Also had to get the hang on it with the original. But once you get it you can just pull it out quick and I donˋt need a lot of test cuts on the material to start. 2-3 cuts to get the depth and I donˋt ruin the leather. Definitly easier than an electric scarver tith a bell blade, thats hard to get into, especially with the fear you have to deal with. Ah, and have a look at the shärffix vids on yt, hilarious, but informative.
Sharpness of the blade is 90% of skiving. A sharp blade is many times more useful than a bell skiver for small goods. Learning about or paying for professional-level blade sharpening is slept on. It's night and day, the pressure needed to make a cut is so low the likelyhood of tearing the leather nears zero. Not to discount the fact that high quality leather skives like butter compared to cheap or dry stuff and belly cuts though. Dense, high temper leather will skive like butter compared to loose, fuzzy and floppy low temper stuff. Almost better to use a drum sander at that point.
The only solution to the Pocket Question that I found is to use Corel/Adobe software to make my own damn templates to suit the stitch iron spacing I needed. Template makers don't seem to be open to the idea of creating products to suit specific stitch spacing for different pricking irons. You can split the teeth 50/50 over the seam between the pockets, or better yet rest a tooth just above the seam for a cleaner stitch, but none of that matters if the pocket's dimensions aren't exactly divisible by your iron's stitch space length.
On a side note: the stitch spacing of irons ought to be commensurate with the overall size of the piece, e.g. watch bands 2.7-3.0mm irons, wallets 3.0mm-3.38mm irons, clutches/purses 3.38-3.85mm irons, backpacks/luggage/etc. 3.85mm-6mm irons. Also, the thread thickness must be commensurate with the stitch spacing e.g. 2.7mm stitch spacing could use .35-.45mm thread, whereas 5-6mm stitch spacing could use 0.6-.1mm thread/flat thread. Imo large stitch spacing and/or chunky threads lend a 'utilitarian' look that you cannot recover from in hopes of achieving a high-end/luxury feel. Same with the burnt ends of a polyester thread, and the diamond stitch punches we all buy as beginners. Imo french irons are a must. Poly thread is strong and user-friendly, but linen cable thread that's been waxed and hammered flat gives a distinctly luxurious appearance (especially framed by a heated edge crease) Using a bit of glue to tuck and hide the cut ends of the thread is easy to do. It's a necessity with lin cable anyhow.
Both edging and learning edge finishing techniques are bottomless pits of despair. Imo veg tan deserves a burnished edge to showcase its quality. Also because trying to color match an edge paint for veg tan is futile, it'll be mismatched as soon as the leather patinates and changes color. Edge paint is for pigmented chrome tan leathers that stay the same color forever and can't be burnished anyhow. I could write a book about edgi.....edge work. It's alot like body work on high end cars, the results speak to the preparation. Lots of sanding, working up through the grits. Low grit block sanding to get things flat. Medium grit to smooth the fibers. High grit unidirectional hand finishing for good measure. If you're bordering on clinically insane - using water to "raise the grain" like woodwork and start all over. Tokonole and Columbus wax are just icing on the cake for a good edge, not the tools needed to get there.
Gnome sayin?
Blade sharpness is absolutely my weakness. I've been considering using illustrator to align my stitching to my patterns. I like the sizes of things now but It's one of those things that always ends up on the "Someday" burner for me... As for the stitching, for now I have a "one size fits all" sort of mentality where I'm trying to do the most with the least so I can learn quicker without spending a ton. My goal for the wallets are to get some nice sinabroks or something similar and decrease my thread size to do exactly as you say here! Maybe a few months from now I'll get going on that. All of that was great info on the edging, thank you so much for that information. And all of this! I appreciate it all greatly. I do Gno(u)me sayin.... sorry I tried lmao
@@champagneleatherwork Yeah buying every size and color adds up fast $$ but I did well buying a set of 3.38 Kemovancraft french irons ($42 etsy) for little items. My expensive irons just have more machining on the handles to make them more comfortable and some weight for stability, but you can just wrap the kemovan handles in leather... If you use any kind of polished tapping hammer to close the holes it makes no difference........maybe with a microscope and a bone to pick lol.
I get mini spools of poly and linen threads from Artisan leather supply they start under $5. So you could get a new set of kemovan irons and be flush with all new threads for under $100 shipping included.
If your granite skiving block is smooth as glass it's perfect to sharpen a blade with sandpaper. After sharpening/honing, my $20 square shoe knife cuts as well as a $250 bespoke Chartermade blade. Like you can use a fingertip to skive with, but remember that cheap leather doesn't skive for sh*t. I've skived practice scraps so thin they're translucent. The expensive knives just have more weight for stability and better metallurgy to keep the edge honed for a few more cuts. Your rounded knife looks bad ass to use but it's probably a b*tch and a half to sharpen properly.
I no longer have access to pro drafting software and laser cutters but it's wild how much it can help the end result when you can scratch draw/prototype/tweak stuff in real time like you're in Guangzhou
I don't have videos of my edging, not any that I would share publicly at least - but - "The best leather edges I've ever seen" on the MAKESUPPLY channel shows what 150-1000 grit sanding, Tokonole (not gum trash), canvas burnishing cloth and Columbus wax can achieve. Good sh*t.
I'm not an author but I'm writing books here. I subscribed looking forward to seeing your vids working on stuff that's why we're all here. Cheers
Excellent discussion. Many good points.
I have also gone through the same leather problem and concerns you are voicing in your video. After 13 years of leather crafting and 73 years of age, I have learned that it takes Practice, Practice and more Practice to prefect this craft. If there is such a thing as perfection in this craft. And, you will have failure's alone the way. Take them in stride. It is not the end of the world. Leather crafters seem to be their worst critic. You Know like Turing a full bottle of dye over and soaking the peace you spent several hours tooling or stamping. You wanted a red front with a black outline. Now it just became a solid black project. I take the approach that the first attempt is an experiment, the second is tweaking/adjustments and third is the final product. There a lot of good people in this craft that are willing to help out and share there knowledge.
Sorry, for my rambling. I have used several product and chemicals to burnish leather. Find one that that works for you and perfect it. Remember, GumTrag comes from a root of a plant and will pernitrate the fibers of the leather, where as Tokonola is basically white glue with additives and lay on the surface of the fibers of the leather. Both are good products.
Hope this helps.
Absolutely! I've also found that some of my biggest mistakes have led me to some even stronger successes. I'm kind of ashamed to say that I've never actually used gum trag and I want to try it out. That may just be a new video idea! Hope to see you there! I appreciate the ramble haha
Pretty much the same things I struggled and/or wasn't all that interested in getting better at.
For skiving I found that making my own knives made a massive difference. I now use these blades all the time. One is 40mm wide, 4mm thick O1 steel with a very fine flat grind with very small (
I would love to make my own knives, that is AMAZING! And that is a brilliant idea with the stitching!
This man knows his stuff
Sometimes, on small projects, i like a straight punch with a simple saddle stitch.
nice video
Regarding skiving I would recommend move your hand closer blade edge.
Consider holding the steel part of the knife rather than its handle.
This will give you better control and more forgiveness when maneuvering your knife.
Lastly, take it slow.
Such a simple fix and it makes total sense. I will try this for sure!
Appreciate the honesty and awareness that goes into a video like this. We’re all out here going through similar stuff! You’re definitely not alone, and it helps for the rest of us to hear what you’re working on so we can look for things to work on in our own lives. Appreciate your time brother!
Totally agree. We live in a world where social media shows off the best of the best and I personally want to break from that and show the humanity and what makes us unique. Thanks for the kind comment, appreciate your time as well sir!
A few comments you may find helpful.
1 when cutting with a head knife or skiving, wet veg tan cuts better than dry. Not soaking wet, moist wet.
2 Always strop your cutting tools. Even if they are sharp, strop them before every cut. You can't strop too much but you can strop too little.
3 Be mindful of your angles you cut at. You use your skiving knife at too tall of an angle. It should be flatter.
4 Hold your skiving knife more on the blade, not the handle. Your first two fingers should be on the blade and close to the cutting edge. You also always want to be cutting with it, never just pushing it through the leather.
Fantastic comment, thank you very much! Definitely good pointers 👍🏻
Thanks everyone for all valuable tips🙏🏾.
1) It takes time to master over Skiving knives. Think the angle u handle the nife is the problem. Keep the handle as close to leather.
2) always have 2.4 & 3.38 size pricking irons. Adjust the length of pocket sleeve to tye size of the irons.
3) don't use edge paint on veg tanned leather. smooth up leather from 120 to 2000 for perfect edge with glassy finish. Use tokonole in between from 800 grit paper.
Fantastic tips, totally agree number 3 too. This is something I’ve only just realized
Cotton Canvas or cloth for the edging! Errr Burnishing… Texas Roadhouse Napkins work great! Don’t ask how I know 😅😅😅
Hahahaha thanks for the tip
Often the cure for pricking iron misalignment with pattern is to either vary your pricking iron teeth selection (sizes), or adjust the pattern in small ways to accommodate. 3.8mm versus 3.3 mm makes a difference in teeth distance and becomes self evident against the pattern.
Regarding skiving,..I rarely do it. I've been leather crafting since 1991 and ALWAYS found it to be a useless pain in the @$$. When you order your leather get it in two thicknesses. #1 in 3.5oz for exterior. #2 in 1oz for interiors. Problem solved. Most leather sellers will split for $0 -$3 per item. Skiving can be a lot like edge creasing: something to waste time on when you're bored. It's like Europe and Asia haven't heard of a hand Dremel burnisher. 🤣 It works wonders.
Edges: Probably the most crafter-centric part of leatherwork. Five years ago one rarely saw this obsession with glossy high polished edges. Heck, to this day there are still makers who ignore edges completely and leave them raw. (cringe 😖) The only time I get obsessive about smooth glossy hand burnished edges is when I'm working in a premium leather like Shell Cordovan. Otherwise my customers only care about edges being smooth, flat and uniform. Take a close look at designer houses (Chanel, LV, TOM FORD, GUCCI, etc) and you'll notice customers are buying products with edges that are painted. Usually a custom colored edge acrylic. Personally I like to edge dye everything then either wax burnish or edge coat to match. Sometimes I'll cover with a satin glaze for a slight shimmer finish. Just choose what works best for you, then adjust to customer demand. You'll find your niche.
Cheers! 🍺
I have legitimately never thought of trying different weights for pockets. That’s a great idea!
Maybe the secret to good edge work is to not talk about good edge work so people don’t expect it haha… just kidding. But yeah I realize that it’s not as desired as we think and definitely over hyped. I will say though that things like Gucci and Chanel people are just buying for the name. They don’t know what a good product is to save their lives lmao. I just want to break that and I want my products to speak louder than my brand itself. You know?
Great video. I think we all who work with leather have these concerns. Constantly improving that should be all our goals.
After you edge dye (and sand & polish) rub with paraffin wax and then melt the wax using a hair dryer if you don’t have the electric tools. Lastly a cloth polish & your painted edge should be glossy
Love that, thank you. I have a nice heat gun so I'll have to get some wax and try this
Also think about using bees wax instead of paraffin
@@champagneleatherwork
@@champagneleatherwork careful with a heat gun, you are simply warming the wax enough for it to melt & become fluid. Don’t overheat it
@@seattlefoodcritic copy that
Beeswax is 'sticky' and will trap dust and dirt, not repel it. Don't try to reinvent the wheel, use Columbus wax.
Nice vid bro, really good observations, specially for those who are startimg in leathercraft and are looking to improvre their job.
So i want to share some tips if it works for you, great.
there are some steps to get amazing, mirror glass finish edges even if you are using bad quality leather, or chrome tanned leather (trust me, i used poor quality leather and chrome tanned for almost 4 years till i found a nice leather supplier)
1.- be sure to trace the patterns following the same direction, or final orientation, this is very important cuz when sanding the edges ther will be no resistance and the grain will polish the same direction
2.- i start sanding at 220 grit sand paper, next 500, and 1000 upgrading 500 till getting 2500.
3.- burnish your edge after every sanding, you can use water or tokonole/gum trag etc. if you want, but usually with fine leathers like WC, conceria walpier etc, any premium leather its fine if you just burnish it, you'll get the same results
4.- giving the final touch using beeswax and polishing with a canvas piece really helps a lot to get a stunishing result
Then, to help with the wrinkles when you fold the piece i discovered 2 main problems
1.- you are using thicker leather than you need (i use 1mm leather for small leather goods like wallets and stuf) and
2.- you are using the wrong size edge beveler (it happens more than you thought)
I also saw you use weaver tools like french skiver and i asume you also use weaver edge bevelers, i recomend you to let that tools go😂
I also used that brand in the begining but i found the quality isnt great, specially when it comes to bevelers sizes, theres no much room to try something else, i moved to palosanto tools and really where a ge changer.
Hope some of my tips can help you man, you really do and amazing job and fills my heart to see people that still belieave in the art that a handmade product becomes.
Wish you all the succes you deserve
EL JEFE CUSTOM LEATHER-MEXICO
Wow! Awesome information here. Thank you so much! I recently did a video experimenting with burnishing and my findings were exactly as you said. Sanding was the most important thing that I found and most materials I used to burnish like tokenol or gum trag didn’t make much of a difference. They key was sanding for sure. I’ve been doing that with everything now.
I know that I use thicker leather than I probably should to be honest. I do like the thicker look and feel. In my opinion it makes me believe that it helps differentiate store bought machine made goods from hand made goods. I can’t describe it, I just like the thicker leather. That may change at some point for me though. Perhaps when I up production. I like the leather i use because to me a 3-4oz thickness is the most versatile when it comes to making the most will the least. To solve the wrinkling I have been gluing the pieces pre-folded and that’s helped a ton.
I actually would love to switch to palosanto but they are expensive and I feel like I want to work on other things before I make the financial commitment to purchase them. How do you determine which size beveleryou need for your thickness?
Thanks again for your comment. Tips like this mean so much and I appreciate the time it takes people to write these. Cheers!
@@champagneleatherwork to find the right size beveler i tend to experiment a lot with glued scraps of leather, you'll get some experience over time and get to know what size to use only by looking at the leather piece thickness
If you take those close up sewing shots and upload them as shorts you’ll get more views on it! (RUclips is priortizing shorts) Also maybe make a knife sheath next? Thad make a cool video topic !
Great idea, I am definitely planning on doing shorts very soon! I have a couple videos queued up but I'll absolutely consider adding a knife sheath. However, I have to obtain a nice knife first.. lol
@@champagneleatherwork You could reach out to a knife maker in your area (especially if they are on social media) and ask to feature one of their knifes because you want to make a sheath for them? You would get a nice knife to practice on, more content for your channel, they get a handmade sheath for one of their knifes, and you both can promote each other.
When I have fluffy edges left over from skiving I generally burn them off with a lighter. You have to be careful though. It's kind of easy to burn the grain side
Yeah I have actually tried this with varying levels of success. I find that it works better on softer leathers personally. Good tip though!
Skive the tabs on your t-pockets and overlap them slightly. Then you can put one stitch thru both.
I actually JUST saw this in another video, absolutely gonna give this a go. thank you
My first big project was a bag I made for a christmas present. Most of the leather was thin scraps so did not worry about skiving it, but the straps were a lit thicker, so really needed to thin it down for the buckles. I did not have a good knife to skive with, but I did have a belt sander... I clamped it down to a bench and used that to sand away a lot of the material, and it actually came out much better than I feared! would not recommend for thinning edges like for pockets, but if you need to fold straps I will 100% use again.
That’s wild, I would have never thought about doing that. Glad that worked out well for you, I’ll definitely keep that in mind!
The struggle is real. With stitch spacing for card sections. I started out with thick 1mm thread, now I'm down to .5mm or smaller thread. With the spacing, try a different sized spaced stitching chisel or eye off the spaces with a diamond awl.
I’m at a .8mm now, probably going to go smaller as well tbh. And thanks for the tip! I have a single Diamond punch I can use that I should start practicing spacing with.
You avoid wrinkles by gluing it already folded so that the leather molds to the folded shape. Use some kind of last with a rounded edge so that you can put your lining on it and then glue the body to it
This makes so much sense and is so obvious now that you point it out, I'm going to try this for sure. thank you!
"Glue Bending" on a "Folding Jig". Decreases wrinkles, increases stitch punch/edge finish difficulty.
@@robertfischer5893 stitch punch maybe, although it's ot a problem if you use an awl. edge finish difficulty it increases just slighly
you can learn how to do those techniques once and spend less time on them, but you can't undo the creases once you glue everything flat and bend it
I have struggled with this myself smaller thread looks better in wallets I know the camera was zoomed in but look at a store bought wallet and watch band , the t pocket stich is hidden, I’m following you because I want to learn more I’m 63 and done this since eighth grade lol still learning 😇
I've debated using smaller thread. The reason I'm using this size is because I'm trying to do the most, with the least. I very might use some smaller thread in the future once I get more comfortable with making products. I appreciate the follow!!
Skiving sux for sure we all have to do it, sharp blades make a big deal, me personally I’ve been using 6mm spacing mostly for awhile now and like the way it looks and as far as edges when Is good enough 99% of people want a wallet not a show piece and people where I’m from want pay the extra for the time put in to a mirror edge, sand it burnish it sand it again and burnish it and done, just my 2 cents, and my stuff sells really well 😂
I totally agree with this, us peeps in the leather community are the ones critiquing this the hardest and totally agree that the common people buying it don’t care nearly as much. I’d love to find that middle ground where I can be happy and so can they haha. That’s the goal at least
@@champagneleatherwork exactly I found that good is good I don’t charge arms and legs for my wallets either so I think they get really good work for the cost, the main leather i use is Pueblo and it does really well with edge finishing
Norfolk leather has a video explaining how he lines up pockets with stitching holes.
I'll check them out for sure
Well scarving will never get easy. Mistakes happen, especially when the knives are not absolutly sharp. The more power you need the bigger the mistakes. To you overseas, may have a look at the product from Schmedt Germany called Schärffix. Made for bookbinders, but it boes a great job. Yes, you can scarf thick leather as well.
I've actually tried a knockoff of one of these but I couldn't get it to work right. Now that I know a lot more I'll have to give it another go. I am terrible at keeping my Knives sharp lol
@@champagneleatherwork Also had to get the hang on it with the original. But once you get it you can just pull it out quick and I donˋt need a lot of test cuts on the material to start. 2-3 cuts to get the depth and I donˋt ruin the leather. Definitly easier than an electric scarver tith a bell blade, thats hard to get into, especially with the fear you have to deal with. Ah, and have a look at the shärffix vids on yt, hilarious, but informative.
@@panganaranga Awesome! will do, thank you very much!
Leather daddy boiiiii
Better believe it
Was just curious about what burnishing is?
Burnishing is the slicking down of the fibers of the leather edge, ending in a smooth glossy shine.
@edgell3 is correct. I'll dive more into it on another video, probably one where I break down my edge work to a more granular level :)
Hallo from Vienna Austria
I’m looking to learn from you
Thanks! I will absolutely make some tutorial videos on the future
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