Learning Leathercraft with Jim Linnell – Lesson 2: Using A Swivel Knife
Join us in this weekly series on carving a wallet back with tips and tricks from award-winning leatherworker Jim Linnell!
Find the free pattern for this project on the Leathercraft Library at bit.ly/LearnWithLinnell
Materials Used In Lesson 2:
4-5 oz Vegetable Tanned Leather
A few things learned from this video:
Using Jeweler’s Rouge to buff and polish your swivel knife is important. The different agents used to tan leather can get stuck on the knife blade when cutting, so stropping your blade can help remove anything might be sticking to it and causing it to drag. Make sure to maintain the correct angle of the blade when stropping as you can remove the cutting edge from your knife if you roll the knife end when sharpening.
The proper grip for the swivel knife is to place the forefinger in to the yolk up to the first knuckle, with the thumb resting on one side of the barrel and the middle figure just opposite of that.
Always make your cuts by drawing the knife towards you.
For nice clean incisions when making curving cuts, move the barrel of the swivel knife with your fingers rather than moving your whole hand.
Tapering out the cut is important. Cut roughly one third to one half the thickness of the leather, however as you cut down the length of the design, feather it out lightly by lifting the blade to fade out the cut.
When cutting to intersecting lines, stop just short of touching the other cut. If you cut past the line, you can leave a blemish in the design.
When cutting a spiral design, such as a scroll seen in floral patterns, move your project so that you are always pulling the swivel knife toward you.
Maintain good moisture content. If you are getting nice, clean cuts and good depth without struggling to get your tool to cut correctly, moisture is likely correct. If cuts are not opening up, your leather could be drying out.
When pulling towards you, learn to look in at your swivel knife at an angle to ensure that the blade is cutting perpendicular to the lather. If you lean the knife to the side to see what you are doing, you can undercut the leather which can distort your design.
Leatherwork shouldn’t be something you do as fast as you can, but rather something you can do as carefully as you can.
The trick to swivel knife finesse is practice, practice, practice.
Join us next week as we move on to the next step of the project, stamping in the design!
Great stuff! Thanx, Jim! 🙂