One of the very first "custom" jobs I did was to make a proper sheath for the half-moon knife. I rarely use it. I totally agree with using the larger size rotary cutter. The two most common tools I use for cutting are the rotary knife and a common box cutter / utility knife. I have several other types of knives, cutters, skiving tools, including a very good set of leather scissors, similar to the ones you showed. My steel and aluminum rulers all have an added backing of non-skid tape (from Amazon). So disappointing when you're using a straight edge and it moves whilst relying on it to cut a straight line. That can be quite tragic. Very good and informative video. Thanks for sharing.
My uncle was a foreman clicker in the shoe trade all his working life and my brother owned various leather businesses. Both used the clicker knives you showed and made their own favourite blade shapes from hacksaw blades and worked on large thick end grain blocks. The term clicker comes from the noise of the blade flicking off the board, it pre dates the use of press tools, and was pretty much all you’d hear in the cutting room hence the name.
Which company did your uncle work for? Those old clicking presses, the mechanical type (Ramsden and Chaplin was one brand) were designed to be used one handed, they had a habit of chopping off fingers, thankfully, the modern clicking presses, the hydraulic presses, require two hands to function. Used them lots, from a saddlemaker down under.
The small disposable "hook bill" knives are AMAZING. I first saw one when I went to the distributor for Cowboy sewing machines in the USA. They are so easy to use and to cut curves with. I know you can get them through Weaver Leather in the USA and they are not very expensive. For straight lines I also tend to use a rotary cutter, or just a plain box cutter utility knife.
I have many knives and almost all you have shown I had/have and some of them recently sold and will sell the rest of them, which I don't use, keeping the best ones and ones I like. Even that circle cutter I had for 15 years and sold them almost the same price I bought. Nowadays it's easy to buy and sell. sometimes lost money selling old stuff and sometimes made more money.
When I first starting playing around with leather I used a very sharp box cutter then as time went own I started buying cutters I now have every leather cutting tool known to man, but be leave it or not I still go back to the box cutter for most things. I do like the roller blade and the click knife but my go to is the box cutter. I also made a fixture for sharpening and stropping the box cutter blades. great video keep them coming. Happy trails
@@mikeboone4425 I have a Stanley utility knife that is about forty years old. I re-sharpened the blade so that it is no longer hollow ground, but a very steep “V.” I strop it every time I pick it up and every time I put it down. It has a tubular holder that stands vertically on the bench with the bottom inch of a pill bottle as a hard bottom to protect the blade. The current blade is about ten years old. I dropped the last one on the concrete and broke off the tip. Using this against a piece of safety glass makes cutting leather a breeze. I make a lot of phone holsters, so there are a lot of little cuts and small curving cuts. It is probably the knife I use the most. However, even ‘straight out of the package’ utility knife blades are very sharp and are a good investment for a beginner.
@@lyndencouvillion8451 The only thing I have done is cover the entire handle with pig skin but that was about 20 years ago or more way before I was fooling around with leather. I do as I said like the chisel blade that is the blade with one flat side . As for sharping I have never used a stone only a stropping now and then and when there new . Happy Trails.
Many decades ago when I did leatherwork, I only used a Stanley type knife for cutting out, then i bought a belt cutter for strips of leather. Met another craftsman who had a clicker press and dies, so for the price of a pint I was able to convert a couple of bags of otherwise waste offcuts into key tags or 'trick braid' bracelets. An Argentinan craftsman i talked to in Spain was using woodcarving gouges to chop decorative mirrors frames from shoe leather.
I really enjoy your videos, and this one in particular. I appreciate your mention of the danger of half-moon knifes. What you call a half-moon knife, we call a head knife. The round knife is similar, but wider in width and shorter in depth (from the blade to the handle) than the head knife. The new leather worker immediately purchases a head knife or a round knife, because it is cool and Medieval-looking, but it won’t cut. That is when they get very dangerous. A serious gash on the hand will eventually convince the newby to keep his or her hand behind the knife. These things must be scary sharp or they will not cut properly. Once they are correctly sharpened, they are also extremely fragile at the edges. They can cut you and you don’t know you have been cut until you see the blood on the workbench. When I use my head knife or round knife I strop it every time I pick it up and every time I put it up. Each has its own 8-oz leather case for storage on the tool board.
Hi, thanks to your tuition and inspiration, today i am finally about to cut my first belt. I have been building up equipment and leather, which has been quite a journey in itself. During lockdown your videos with the upbeat tones, were a really great source of escapism. Thank you so very much.
Wow! Tools makes work easy and neat. You made me understand, these tools.I am trying, to perfect my skill with cutting tools. Thank you for sharing Sir 😁
Very detailed sir thank you very much I subscribed and look forward to watching several over your other videos. Have taken up an interest in the leather. I have been making things out of canvas and black webbing straps for years.
@@harryrogers I tried to find a link Harry in the description for the tooling on Amazon and I did not find it, did I miss something? I was trying to find all of the Cutters you had in that video.
Firstly, that new heading on your TH-cam videos page is so impressive ! Sums up your different activities "at a glance" ! And you're 4K too, so we can fill a wall of our home with your films when they play ! A brilliant introduction film for newcomers such as myself to this craft ! Look as though there is an amazing amount to learn in what must be a heritage craft going back throughout human existence ? It looks to be a very relaxing activity too ? The comments from your knowledgeable correspondents too are so interesting to read - so very in-depth discussions that are going on ! So as the only newcomer commenting so far, a totally successful film introducing the tools - as always THANK YOU for making it and the other associated ones available to us ! I hope that educationalists in related fields will get to know that you are creating this series - for instance the Times Educational Supplement and Guardian Education have websites, and could be an opportunity for you to get interviews from them, publicising your series of films ?
Thanks Phil, I really appreciate your comment, and I am very pleased you like my new banner...it was tricky getting it to work on phone, desktop and TV, but some good guides on TH-cam. All the best Harry.
@Time4Clocks Investigate the utility "youtube-dl". Take a look at the documentation. Within the list of options, there is one "-F" that lists all of the formats available for a specified video. If it looks promising, install the utility, and run it including the -F option on a video to see what formats are available. I've just done that with this video, and there is indeed a version of the video at resolution 3840x2160 so a 4K version is available. Running the utility without the -F option will download the video, but you may not necessarily want to as it is 1.73 Gigabytes in size...
@Time4Clocks I did once try downloading a 4K video and playing it on a 1K screen. Apart from taking ages to download, when I played it all I saw was the top LH quarter of the picture - and the computer struggled to play that. There must be black magic involved that knows the resolution of the screen, and automatically plays the right version? Anyway that utility youtube-dl is useful for downloading ones you want to keep... Must see if you have a clocks website with a handle like that! LATER - yes you DO! Must study it!
Thanks for the video chat, Harry. I am a Blacksmith who is trying his hand at knife making. Ergo, I am trying to learn how to make my own sheaths. I will make my own cutting tools. I am thinking the 1/4 moon would be a good starting design... I subbed and liked. Thanks for the help and chat... Take care...
This was a realy realy helpful one. I am considering to buy a half moon, so i can use it at living History events. Also the safety argument is a really good point. I already that cheep skiving knife already from your recommendation. I got mine for something 3€ with free shipping
New veiwer. I am really enjoying watching your videos. Going on about 2 hours of mini-binge watching. Looking forward to see more. Thanks and God bless
MR.H Rogers what is your experience with wet formed Veg Tan leather..? Would you consider making a video on the subject..? A question, why is it only veg tan leather, that can be formed using wet molding? Why not chrome tan ,oil tan and some other hybrids of combination of the two types of tanning..? Is it really only veg tan leather that is moldable? Any thoughts on using hot steam for molding.. Thank you so much for your time and consideration with this matter..
I love the round knife though I really don't like those large blades and large handles. The smaller knives in half moon are fantastic tools that speed up ones cutting work greatly. Held in different ways for different tasks and using different parts of the blade. Keep them stropped between uses and you'll only need to sharpen very rarely. Sharpening them is really tricky and takes a lot of time. But they are quite simple to strop once the right edge is achieved.
Can you recommend a good U.K. based clicker die manufacturer, as I have watched your blade bending video etc, but do not want to go to that expense, the dies you show size and build quality would be ideal ,,,, cheers
Hi Harry, thanks for another great video. Question regarding the protection of the die blades; I saw you used a piece of sacrificial leather over the PE cutting board, your thoughts on using a self-healing cutting board instead? I imagine it would be more convenient, but also more expensive. Have you found the PE cutting board dulls the blade?
I like the softer leather to protect my blades....I personally think other boards are too firm for thinner blades. If you are using heavy blades this is clearly not so much of an issue.
I have the half moon knife, aka head knife as shown made by George Barnsley and Sons - it's very good and reasonably priced. However, to keep the cost down it only comes with a basic cutting edge, and you must do the final sharpening & polishing yourself, on stones & a strop. But once you get there you only need to strop and very occasionally use a fine stone Search YT for sharpening a round /head knife. I also have a Japanese style leather knife with the offset blade, as shown. It's very useful, and easier to sharpen One of the cheapest and easiest knives to use is the Stanley/utility/boxcutter knife, and they are even better if you sharpen & strop the blades. In fact, although they're meant to be disposable, you can resharpen a blade many times
Saddlemaker Down Under here. I prefer the half knife aka head knife. Been using a Joseph Dixon half knife since mid 1980s, went to buy another and found Dixon is closed some years back. Let their quality go down hill towards the end. I use Blanchard and C S Osborne now. Pity Dixon was allowed to drop in quality, I have some excellent old Dixon, just bought a Thomas Dixon ploughgage which I pulled apart, cleaned up and it works beautifully, Did not have to sharpen it, which surprised me.
One of the very first "custom" jobs I did was to make a proper sheath for the half-moon knife. I rarely use it. I totally agree with using the larger size rotary cutter. The two most common tools I use for cutting are the rotary knife and a common box cutter / utility knife. I have several other types of knives, cutters, skiving tools, including a very good set of leather scissors, similar to the ones you showed. My steel and aluminum rulers all have an added backing of non-skid tape (from Amazon). So disappointing when you're using a straight edge and it moves whilst relying on it to cut a straight line. That can be quite tragic. Very good and informative video. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing that. Best wishes Harry
My uncle was a foreman clicker in the shoe trade all his working life and my brother owned various leather businesses. Both used the clicker knives you showed and made their own favourite blade shapes from hacksaw blades and worked on large thick end grain blocks. The term clicker comes from the noise of the blade flicking off the board, it pre dates the use of press tools, and was pretty much all you’d hear in the cutting room hence the name.
Which company did your uncle work for? Those old clicking presses, the mechanical type (Ramsden and Chaplin was one brand) were designed to be used one handed, they had a habit of chopping off fingers, thankfully, the modern clicking presses, the hydraulic presses, require two hands to function. Used them lots, from a saddlemaker down under.
Thank you so much! I want to get into leather working, and needed a kind of gentle, intro video to what kinds of tools cut leather! Thank you so much!
The small disposable "hook bill" knives are AMAZING. I first saw one when I went to the distributor for Cowboy sewing machines in the USA. They are so easy to use and to cut curves with. I know you can get them through Weaver Leather in the USA and they are not very expensive. For straight lines I also tend to use a rotary cutter, or just a plain box cutter utility knife.
I have many knives and almost all you have shown I had/have and some of them recently sold and will sell the rest of them, which I don't use, keeping the best ones and ones I like. Even that circle cutter I had for 15 years and sold them almost the same price I bought. Nowadays it's easy to buy and sell. sometimes lost money selling old stuff and sometimes made more money.
When I first starting playing around with leather I used a very sharp box cutter then as time went own I started buying cutters I now have every leather cutting tool known to man, but be leave it or not I still go back to the box cutter for most things. I do like the roller blade and the click knife but my go to is the box cutter. I also made a fixture for sharpening and stropping the box cutter blades. great video keep them coming. Happy trails
Thanks
Same here.
@@lyndencouvillion8451 What I really like is the chisel blades what a clean straight cut .Happy Trails
@@mikeboone4425 I have a Stanley utility knife that is about forty years old. I re-sharpened the blade so that it is no longer hollow ground, but a very steep “V.” I strop it every time I pick it up and every time I put it down. It has a tubular holder that stands vertically on the bench with the bottom inch of a pill bottle as a hard bottom to protect the blade. The current blade is about ten years old. I dropped the last one on the concrete and broke off the tip. Using this against a piece of safety glass makes cutting leather a breeze. I make a lot of phone holsters, so there are a lot of little cuts and small curving cuts. It is probably the knife I use the most. However, even ‘straight out of the package’ utility knife blades are very sharp and are a good investment for a beginner.
@@lyndencouvillion8451 The only thing I have done is cover the entire handle with pig skin but that was about 20 years ago or more way before I was fooling around with leather. I do as I said like the chisel blade that is the blade with one flat side . As for sharping I have never used a stone only a stropping now and then and when there new . Happy Trails.
Fairly new to leather working and I found this very useful, thank you!
Many decades ago when I did leatherwork, I only used a Stanley type knife for cutting out, then i bought a belt cutter for strips of leather.
Met another craftsman who had a clicker press and dies, so for the price of a pint I was able to convert a couple of bags of otherwise waste offcuts into key tags or 'trick braid' bracelets.
An Argentinan craftsman i talked to in Spain was using woodcarving gouges to chop decorative mirrors frames from shoe leather.
I really enjoy your videos, and this one in particular.
I appreciate your mention of the danger of half-moon knifes. What you call a half-moon knife, we call a head knife. The round knife is similar, but wider in width and shorter in depth (from the blade to the handle) than the head knife.
The new leather worker immediately purchases a head knife or a round knife, because it is cool and Medieval-looking, but it won’t cut. That is when they get very dangerous. A serious gash on the hand will eventually convince the newby to keep his or her hand behind the knife. These things must be scary sharp or they will not cut properly. Once they are correctly sharpened, they are also extremely fragile at the edges. They can cut you and you don’t know you have been cut until you see the blood on the workbench. When I use my head knife or round knife I strop it every time I pick it up and every time I put it up. Each has its own 8-oz leather case for storage on the tool board.
That's very good advice, and thanks very much for your comments.
Hi, thanks to your tuition and inspiration, today i am finally about to cut my first belt.
I have been building up equipment and leather, which has been quite a journey in itself.
During lockdown your videos with the upbeat tones, were a really great source of escapism.
Thank you so very much.
Thanks that's good to hear...good luck Jonathan.
Amazing ❤ need everything about leather stitching please 🥺
Wow! Tools makes work easy and neat. You made me understand, these tools.I am trying, to perfect my skill with cutting tools. Thank you for sharing Sir 😁
Thanks for the videos Harry Rogers..Where can the Clicker knives be purchased?
God Bless you Harry Rogers!
Very detailed sir thank you very much I subscribed and look forward to watching several over your other videos. Have taken up an interest in the leather. I have been making things out of canvas and black webbing straps for years.
That's great and all your experience will be very helpful.
@@harryrogers I tried to find a link Harry in the description for the tooling on Amazon and I did not find it, did I miss something? I was trying to find all of the Cutters you had in that video.
@@1ton4god hi..I just linked other films in the description. On my home page banner is an Amazon link to a selection of tools etc. Rgds Harry
@@harryrogers thank you Sir.
Firstly, that new heading on your TH-cam videos page is so impressive ! Sums up your different activities "at a glance" ! And you're 4K too, so we can fill a wall of our home with your films when they play !
A brilliant introduction film for newcomers such as myself to this craft ! Look as though there is an amazing amount to learn in what must be a heritage craft going back throughout human existence ? It looks to be a very relaxing activity too ? The comments from your knowledgeable correspondents too are so interesting to read - so very in-depth discussions that are going on ! So as the only newcomer commenting so far, a totally successful film introducing the tools - as always THANK YOU for making it and the other associated ones available to us ! I hope that educationalists in related fields will get to know that you are creating this series - for instance the Times Educational Supplement and Guardian Education have websites, and could be an opportunity for you to get interviews from them, publicising your series of films ?
Thanks Phil, I really appreciate your comment, and I am very pleased you like my new banner...it was tricky getting it to work on phone, desktop and TV, but some good guides on TH-cam. All the best Harry.
@Time4Clocks Investigate the utility "youtube-dl". Take a look at the documentation. Within the list of options, there is one "-F" that lists all of the formats available for a specified video. If it looks promising, install the utility, and run it including the -F option on a video to see what formats are available. I've just done that with this video, and there is indeed a version of the video at resolution 3840x2160 so a 4K version is available. Running the utility without the -F option will download the video, but you may not necessarily want to as it is 1.73 Gigabytes in size...
@Time4Clocks I did once try downloading a 4K video and playing it on a 1K screen. Apart from taking ages to download, when I played it all I saw was the top LH quarter of the picture - and the computer struggled to play that. There must be black magic involved that knows the resolution of the screen, and automatically plays the right version? Anyway that utility youtube-dl is useful for downloading ones you want to keep... Must see if you have a clocks website with a handle like that! LATER - yes you DO! Must study it!
Thanks for the video chat, Harry. I am a Blacksmith who is trying his hand at knife making. Ergo, I am trying to learn how to make my own sheaths. I will make my own cutting tools. I am thinking the 1/4 moon would be a good starting design... I subbed and liked. Thanks for the help and chat... Take care...
This was a realy realy helpful one. I am considering to buy a half moon, so i can use it at living History events.
Also the safety argument is a really good point. I already that cheep skiving knife already from your recommendation. I got mine for something 3€ with free shipping
New veiwer. I am really enjoying watching your videos. Going on about 2 hours of mini-binge watching. Looking forward to see more. Thanks and God bless
Como siempre muy útil sus comentarios y experiencia.
MR.H Rogers what is your experience with wet formed Veg Tan leather..? Would you consider making a video on the subject..? A question, why is it only veg tan leather, that can be formed using wet molding? Why not chrome tan ,oil tan and some other hybrids of combination of the two types of tanning..? Is it really only veg tan leather that is moldable? Any thoughts on using hot steam for molding.. Thank you so much for your time and consideration with this matter..
Thanks I will give that some thought, I have done a video on a wet formed knife sheath that might be of interest. All the best Harry
In the us the half moon knife is a Head knife or a Round knife it can be very very dangerous to use but works great for tight curves in thick leather.
Have you ever try a scarpel/surgical blade to cut thin leather? It could work?
I love the round knife though I really don't like those large blades and large handles. The smaller knives in half moon are fantastic tools that speed up ones cutting work greatly. Held in different ways for different tasks and using different parts of the blade. Keep them stropped between uses and you'll only need to sharpen very rarely. Sharpening them is really tricky and takes a lot of time. But they are quite simple to strop once the right edge is achieved.
Very good video, thanks for explaining all the kinds
Thanks for the video, Harry.
Thanks Keefe
Great video, but please where do you source your leather ? I have only been able to get furniture offcuts but these are too thin
Phil take a look at Metropolitan Leather.
Thanks a lot for the very informative clip. From Washington.
tyfs enjoy your informative "calm/collective" vids
Hello, the ruler that you mentioned in the video. What is the name/brand and where can I find it or something similar in the USA? Thank you.
Hi if that is the safety cutting rule, then it's a Linex Ruler.
Linex 30cm Silver Hobby Cutting Ruler, E2930M amzn.eu/d/cWsQ1RY
спасибо, интересно посмотреть сам процесс заточки
Thank you so much! I just started today, and this was so helpful
Hi Harry What is the make of the rotary cutter? Cheers
Interesting video Harry, Thanks.
Do you have a resource you can share on where to buy that Linex ruler?
Linex E2930M on Amazon UK
Thank you and you are very knowledgeable.
Can you recommend a good U.K. based clicker die manufacturer, as I have watched your blade bending video etc,
but do not want to go to that expense, the dies you show size and build quality would be ideal ,,,, cheers
Hi S J West Press Knives are good
Would be great if you could name the brands and where to purchase these tools! Thank you!
Hi if you want some quality tools in the UK then George Barnsley is worth looking at, and also old Dixon tools secondhand.
I think it's fair to say that the half moon is the knife of choice in the UK but not in other parts of the world like the US, Canada and France.
Hi Harry, thanks for another great video. Question regarding the protection of the die blades; I saw you used a piece of sacrificial leather over the PE cutting board, your thoughts on using a self-healing cutting board instead? I imagine it would be more convenient, but also more expensive. Have you found the PE cutting board dulls the blade?
I like the softer leather to protect my blades....I personally think other boards are too firm for thinner blades. If you are using heavy blades this is clearly not so much of an issue.
Ох и классные же резаки у мастера. 👆🏻
I have the half moon knife, aka head knife as shown made by George Barnsley and Sons - it's very good and reasonably priced. However, to keep the cost down it only comes with a basic cutting edge, and you must do the final sharpening & polishing yourself, on stones & a strop. But once you get there you only need to strop and very occasionally use a fine stone
Search YT for sharpening a round /head knife.
I also have a Japanese style leather knife with the offset blade, as shown. It's very useful, and easier to sharpen
One of the cheapest and easiest knives to use is the Stanley/utility/boxcutter knife, and they are even better if you sharpen & strop the blades. In fact, although they're meant to be disposable, you can resharpen a blade many times
Interesting. Thank you.
Where do you get your custom clicker press cutters from?
SJ West Cutting Formes
Thanks for that!
what brand clicker knife is that?
Take a look at George Barnsley of Sheffield
Where would one find the quarter moon knife?
George Barnsley makes them
Saddlemaker Down Under here. I prefer the half knife aka head knife. Been using a Joseph Dixon half knife since mid 1980s, went to buy another and found Dixon is closed some years back. Let their quality go down hill towards the end. I use Blanchard and C S Osborne now.
Pity Dixon was allowed to drop in quality, I have some excellent old Dixon, just bought a Thomas Dixon ploughgage which I pulled apart, cleaned up and it works beautifully, Did not have to sharpen it, which surprised me.
Yes shame about Dixons, George Barnsley of Sheffield is worth taking a look at.
@@harryrogers I have now looked at Barnsley and will place an order shortly. Thanks for the information
Thanks
Hola , no entiendo su idioma, tiene muy buena herramienta algo q no conocía aprendí hacer billetera sin buena herramienta
Hola y buena suerte haciendo carteras
Great video!
👍🏻
This half moon cutting knifes looks a lot less dangerous then full moon cutting blade on my table saw
It gets really complex are you kidding me? It's like trying to rewrite the entire English language. It's not that easy. Please help.