I thought it would work. So I asked my friend who has taught leathercraft for 20 years and he told me 1, "An orbital/vibratory sander does not move far enough to effectively pull the fibers loose. A belt sander will work very well and if you are not careful tear the leather up." 2, " My splitter has a small blade so if I need to skive a larger area I use a well honed wood plane to thin the leather. Both of these methods work much better if you have a helper to hold the leather for you."
I found a great way to thin leather without a sciving knife and it works great. Came to this video to find a way to thin a piece of thick leather but it made some light bulbs go off in my mind and I realized I have a huge tool chest in the basement filled with wood working tools I inherited and I looked for these mini wood planes for specialized wood carving and I thought.. what the hell? I decided to try this and oh my word! They worked like a charm! And I assume a regular size standard hardware store size wood plane while work just as well. I was thinking the entire time that I wished you had used a wood plane because you could have shaved that piece of leather down big time in no time at all!! Try it and you’ll never do this any other way unless you have a fancy machine for thinning leather. It will definitely make all those thick pieces of scrap leather much more usable for small projects.
I have to thin leather out in areas that it's impossible to get a machine or to with with a skiving knife properly, I end up using a dremal, it does the job but it takes a long time and it's really messy.
you may have solved another problem for me...I want to make a "rough out" holster but the leather I want to use is really too smooth. I've been thinking about a way to make it more rough..I'll have to try this. thank you ....
Damn man would have thought that would have worked too guess you got to get one of those spliter things you mentioned good luck with your project and I hope you post videos with the progress cheers
I tried this using my power file which is pretty much a hand held belt sander, with double sided tape to hold it to a piece of board. It worked great, thanks for the video because I probably wouldn't have tried it otherwise.
Awesome! So glad it worked. I got some great private messages and comments on social media on this video. Some folks said that a belt sander is effective because it actually removes material from the surface as it spins. Thanks for watching!!
You're going to get a hell of a lot better results with a bench mounted belt sander. That's my primary means of skiving leather down. Don't have the money for a splitter and screw hand skiving it. Gets better results too.
Hand sanding works well for small pieces. You may have better luck with large sheets if you used the orbital and then used a wide skiving blade just to knock off the fibers before repeating that process.
Just used a belt sander with a 60 grit to thin belt where buckle goes. Worked fantasic and fast. Made a hell of a static particle mess that went everywhere, but shop vac took care of that.
@@TheAdventureCowboy A grinder does the work as well but it also burn the leather maybe rasping the leather after will remove the ash-like part. The rotary sander is similar to a grinder whereas the grinder has high speed and the sander,you can adjust the speed.
@@TheAdventureCowboy round knives and the razor blade skiver work too. that frecker saddlery turns out some high quality goods. i hope you got the results you were looking for
If there is a need to thin the leather, I use a skinning knife (curved blades work better than a straight ones for leather). Keep the blade sharp and it will do its job nice and safe.
Actually, I had started the floral tooling on the plain leather parts, but a bunch of life happened and it got put on the back burner. I still have it on the to-do list though. :-)
This vid convinced me to give up on the thought of sanding. I tuned in because I believe some holsters are made from the split off flesh side of leather, then sanded smoother and packed with grease. Pretty sure that's what some are doing. BTFOOM. (Beats the **** Out Of Me).
I thought it would work. So I asked my friend who has taught leathercraft for 20 years and he told me 1, "An orbital/vibratory sander does not move far enough to effectively pull the fibers loose. A belt sander will work very well and if you are not careful tear the leather up." 2, " My splitter has a small blade so if I need to skive a larger area I use a well honed wood plane to thin the leather. Both of these methods work much better if you have a helper to hold the leather for you."
Great Info!!
Exactly what I needed to see. Thanks from 🇹🇷
I found a great way to thin leather without a sciving knife and it works great. Came to this video to find a way to thin a piece of thick leather but it made some light bulbs go off in my mind and I realized I have a huge tool chest in the basement filled with wood working tools I inherited and I looked for these mini wood planes for specialized wood carving and I thought.. what the hell? I decided to try this and oh my word! They worked like a charm! And I assume a regular size standard hardware store size wood plane while work just as well. I was thinking the entire time that I wished you had used a wood plane because you could have shaved that piece of leather down big time in no time at all!! Try it and you’ll never do this any other way unless you have a fancy machine for thinning leather. It will definitely make all those thick pieces of scrap leather much more usable for small projects.
Nice tip! Thanks
I have to thin leather out in areas that it's impossible to get a machine or to with with a skiving knife properly, I end up using a dremal, it does the job but it takes a long time and it's really messy.
you may have solved another problem for me...I want to make a "rough out" holster but the leather I want to use is really too smooth. I've been thinking about a way to make it more rough..I'll have to try this. thank you ....
You just discovered the reason leather is the protective riding garment material of choice for motorcyclists the world over since. well, forever.
You used a finish sander, designed to remove material very slowly. You are on the right track, just the wrong type of sander.
Damn man would have thought that would have worked too guess you got to get one of those spliter things you mentioned good luck with your project and I hope you post videos with the progress cheers
I tried this using my power file which is pretty much a hand held belt sander, with double sided tape to hold it to a piece of board.
It worked great, thanks for the video because I probably wouldn't have tried it otherwise.
Awesome! So glad it worked.
I got some great private messages and comments on social media on this video. Some folks said that a belt sander is effective because it actually removes material from the surface as it spins.
Thanks for watching!!
The Adventure Cowboy thanks for the reply
You're going to get a hell of a lot better results with a bench mounted belt sander. That's my primary means of skiving leather down. Don't have the money for a splitter and screw hand skiving it. Gets better results too.
Can you sand the rough inside of a leather gun holster to make it smoother?
Thank you sir..this was good experiment..im from india.
Thanks for watching! Always cool to hear from international viewers. 👍
Hand sanding works well for small pieces. You may have better luck with large sheets if you used the orbital and then used a wide skiving blade just to knock off the fibers before repeating that process.
Lol. Nice experiment
Just used a belt sander with a 60 grit to thin belt where buckle goes. Worked fantasic and fast. Made a hell of a static particle mess that went everywhere, but shop vac took care of that.
Yup, tried that myself with the same result.
Angle grinder and flapper disc.
Thanks!!
Absolutely agree! 40 grit works a treat even on thick cow hide. Just don't spend too much time in one spot or the leather may get too hot.
Me: I dunno about this guy's channel. *sees intro* Subscribed.
Thanks Bud!!
Same
I use a Rasp Plane. Works very well.
Sanding leather does work. You need a heavier grit.
And a different sander...
Interesting idea.
Interesting vid. I've tried the same, same result. However sanding edges/cross sand work pretty well.
Lot of people messaged me after this video saying that belt sanders actually work quite well.
I think a rotary sander would do the work rather than the palm sander caz it just goes back and forth
I have had great feedback since this video that a belt sander works great, even a couple positive reports with a grinder and a flap disc
@@TheAdventureCowboy
A grinder does the work as well but it also burn the leather maybe rasping the leather after will remove the ash-like part.
The rotary sander is similar to a grinder whereas the grinder has high speed and the sander,you can adjust the speed.
Good to know...Good stuff...
thanks :)
try a plane, lightly dampen the side you want to skive
Didn't have one. Ended up just using my round knife.
@@TheAdventureCowboy round knives and the razor blade skiver work too. that frecker saddlery turns out some high quality goods. i hope you got the results you were looking for
If there is a need to thin the leather, I use a skinning knife (curved blades work better than a straight ones for leather). Keep the blade sharp and it will do its job nice and safe.
Hazgal?
👍👍👍
What happened to the buffalo scabbard bud ?? Did you ever make it ?? Would love to see it .
Actually, I had started the floral tooling on the plain leather parts, but a bunch of life happened and it got put on the back burner. I still have it on the to-do list though. :-)
The Adventure Cowboy great bud I’ll be looking out for it
Use an orbital sander that is good for wood only
I use a belt sander
You can hammer it thin.
This vid convinced me to give up on the thought of sanding. I tuned in because I believe some holsters are made from the split off flesh side of leather, then sanded smoother and packed with grease. Pretty sure that's what some are doing. BTFOOM.
(Beats the **** Out Of Me).
I found out that a belt sander works quite well from a bunch of people who watched this video.
@@TheAdventureCowboy Oh, OK. I have a belt sander to try it. Thanks.
That answers that question then
Use a Dremel
Darn