Grinding a Round Knife for leather work

The Ulu is very similar and looks like it would work, but it seems the leather working round knife is much thinner wonder if that would make a difference with cutting leather.
 
mccandmatt said:
The Ulu is very similar and looks like it would work, but it seems the leather working round knife is much thinner wonder if that would make a difference with cutting leather.
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I have talked to a couple people about this and it does seem that the thinner stock helps with cutting the leather. You can cut leather with thicker stock but thinner is preferred.
 
im working on an integral head/round knife hybred out of O1 for a leather worker round knife profile to one tip and round knife on the other side. im not looking forward to grinding it
 
Butch - I would be interested in seeing that, and hearing about the grinding!!!!
 
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I just called my friend in Houston and asked him for an honest review of the ooloo I made for him. He replied that although he loved the knife, he found the cutting edge to be too thick. I made the blade from my ever dimishing supply of Rhodesian 440C. The blade started out 1/8" thick but apparently it wasn't thin enough to suit him. So-------I guess the blade profile needs to be thinned down even further.
 
Bootstrap Bill said:
I just called my friend in Houston and asked him for an honest review of the ooloo I made for him. He replied that although he loved the knife, he found the cutting edge to be too thick. I made the blade from my ever dimishing supply of Rhodesian 440C. The blade started out 1/8" thick but apparently it wasn't thin enough to suit him. So-------I guess the blade profile needs to be thinned down even further.
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That is understandable.

If I can get it I will be making mine out of some O-1, 3/64" thick. I plan on heat treating it before I grind and I hope to the powers, that I don't warp the little bastard.

I have thought of using AEB-L.
 
at the handle it will be 1/2 thick and dovtailed into the handle wood
as for the blade im going to grind it kind of flat ground then chase it i think with my "nate" 48 inch platen so a stiff blade and utrathin blade that is slightly hollow behind the edge
 
check out the one i made back in 92 from some tool steel. http://myplace.frontier.com/~rje196021/id19.html
if you want some help making one i'll be glad to help talk you through it. you have my email addy, send me your number and i'll give you a call tomorrow.

i have a few blanks cut that i just need to grind. maybe i need to do a vid when i get around to grinding one.

if you use hardened steel, be prepared to spend many hours throwing sparks and doing a lot of quenching :D
 
Head knifes or round knifes just as a suggestion to those that dont work in leather that much come in a meriad of styles and shapes. Some are basically just half of one and others have a pointer end for detail work. Right now I have a POS tandy one I never use, a gomph which is pristine and very nice but very large so although it cuts great I just dont use it much.

I have two other smaller ones a gomph that is small and thin, probably .07 in the body. It is primarily flat ground turning to a convex grind about half to three quarters of an inch from the tip. My other small one is the same way but forgot the name on it. I also have a Rose which is a tad thicker but tapers more.

All of these have a keen very sharp convex edge that I strop religiously. They cut leather extremely well though.

Handle shape- generally is the rounded palm swell kind (cant think of the right word for it) so that the butt of the handle sits in your palm. This allows you to control the angle and change it as necessary. Remember with a leather knife you need to be able to do straight cuts, meandering swerving cuts and also to be able to skiv some times which is basically laying the blade almost flat and skiving the leather down to a hair thickness almost.
 
Weatherman, I have a crappy Tandy one but always use something else, usually a tiny production folder that works great for that job. Do you find that that type of knife works better for you than others? I'm trying to think of a scenario where a head knife works better than a simple kiridashi, but I'm drawing a blank.

I'm just wondering because it sounds like the knife is for personal use not for sale.
 
The kiridashi types work good for thin leather. I wouldnt want to try doing a cut in 10 or 12oz skirting leather with one though. personally I also have more control with a round knife in general, helps me anyways doing the push cut with them vise pulling a blade toward you. personal preference though, alot of pros use razors and all kinds of different blades.
 
One thing I have noticed with leather working is that there are a ton of tools, I see several blade types alone for different types of cutting, I have been using carpet razors, and a xacto razor for cutting 6-7 oz and while it cuts fine it is always angled so I have to spend a liitle more time getting it even. I tried the Tandy one at Tandy and it did cut nice and even but just did not like the quality of it and figured why buy it if i can make it.
 
Strigamort said:
Weatherman, I have a crappy Tandy one but always use something else, usually a tiny production folder that works great for that job. Do you find that that type of knife works better for you than others? I'm trying to think of a scenario where a head knife works better than a simple kiridashi, but I'm drawing a blank.

I'm just wondering because it sounds like the knife is for personal use not for sale.
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You are correct! it is for personal use. I am getting better at leather work and when I do my leather work I have been using a utility knife. It doesn't cut in one pass, and it hurts my hands and fingers because I have to grip and cut so hard. I figured I would go the direction that the leather masters are and make a round knife. Thin stock, round for push cuts and roll cuts.

It needs to be hard like ~62RC. Needs to be sharp and thin.

Problem that I am coming across on some research after needing some more steel, I could use O-1. But when you look at some of the old custom round knives. People are using saw blades and say it is L-6. I just learned from Aldo because I wanted some L-6, Paul Long suggested it, that only the teeth were L-6 and that the rest of the blade was 15n20 and that is probably what the older guys where using without even knowing it.

I figure if I want to make knives, I might as well try and make a workable round knife.
 
I think 15N20 would be a good choice, L6 would be also but is hard to find in that thickness and is a bear to forge. I think 52100 would also be a nice choice. I tested a few of my worker round knives and they ranged from about 60-62HRC so your right on the hardness. I think 62 would be a good target for final hardness.
 
quint said:
I think 15N20 would be a good choice, L6 would be also but is hard to find in that thickness and is a bear to forge. I think 52100 would also be a nice choice. I tested a few of my worker round knives and they ranged from about 60-62HRC so your right on the hardness. I think 62 would be a good target for final hardness.
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So I don't have a way to test for hardness. Is there a temper temp that I should shoot for with the 15n20 to get 62RC?
 
That should work fine. I would temper at 350F myself and test to see how it does. Its performance is more important then a exact hardness. Its for yourself so try it out and see what happens and how it works for you. Just remember strop often.
 
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