Hold the knife
- Rest your index finger in the yoke, the saddle on top of the knife.
- Hold the barrel with your thumb and middle finger (or ring finger).
- Keep your grip relaxed. A tight grip makes curves rougher, not cleaner.
Angle the blade
Keep the knife upright from side to side. Tilt it slightly forward, so the corner of the blade leads the cut. Don’t tilt it sideways.
Pull, don’t push
Nearly all swivel-knife cuts are pulled toward you. Don’t push the knife forward.
To steer a curve, turn the barrel with your thumb and fingers. You can also rotate the leather so each cut moves in a comfortable direction.
Set the depth
Cut to about a third to half the thickness of the leather. Cutting deeper won’t make the design clearer. It weakens the leather.
The leather must be cased first, at the right moisture. For casing, see are you supposed to wet leather before tooling.
Start and end each line
- Start each line with full pressure. The cut should be clear from the beginning.
- Taper the end. Lift the knife gradually as you finish, so the line fades out rather than stopping abruptly.
- Avoid crossing cuts. Stop each line where it meets another.
The order of cuts
Cut the stems and main outlines first, then the flowers, leaves and details. Decorative cuts come last, after tooling. For a worked example, see floral leather carving with basic rose and leaf designs.
Keep the blade sharp
A dull blade drags and tears the leather. A sharp one glides with little pressure, so stop and strop whenever the cut starts to drag.
- Strop often. Every 15 to 30 minutes of carving is a common rhythm, though it varies with the work.
- Use a leather strop with jeweler’s rouge or a polishing compound.
- Don’t press harder to fix a dull blade. Strop the blade instead.
For choosing a blade and understanding its parts, see best swivel knife for leather carving: a buyer’s guide.
Practice on scrap first
Before you cut your design, practice on a scrap piece of cased leather. Work through straight lines, circles and S-curves. Once those are steady, move to the real piece.
Common mistakes
- Pushing the knife forward. Pull the cut instead.
- Pressing harder with a dull blade. Strop it.
- Cutting too deep. It weakens the leather without improving the design.
- Gripping too tightly. It makes curves rough.
Safety
- Keep your free hand clear of the blade’s path.
- Cover the blade when you aren’t using it. The blade cuts even when it’s resting.
For the full sequence of carving steps, see leather carving for beginners.