Rant: My first leather paring knife slip almost ruined a custom cover

I was working on a custom order for a client in Austin, trying to pare down some thick goat skin for a spine. My hand slipped and I took a huge, jagged chunk out of a corner piece I'd already cut to size. I had to stop, take a breath, and grab a scrap piece to practice my angle and pressure for ten minutes straight. I ended up salvaging it by turning that corner into a rounded one, which the client actually loved. Has anyone else had a close call with a sharp tool that forced a design change?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannahsingh13d ago

My buddy sliced right through a belt blank once and had to turn it into a key fob last minute.

joel_martinez13d ago

That salvage job turning a gouge into a rounded corner is a great save. I keep a jar of scrap pieces just for that, to test my blade's bite on different leather grains before I touch the good stuff. It's saved me from a few disasters with my skiving knife on veg-tan projects. What's the thickest leather you've had to pare down successfully?

susan_wright3413d ago

Honestly, @joel_martinez, testing on scraps seems like a waste of time. I just go for it on the main piece and learn from the mistakes.