Expert Wood working

Homemade Hand Tool Cuts Leather Clean and True

To build this simple leather cutter, I used a piece of an old bandsaw blade and an oak scrap.
Ive got a thing for humidors. Despite the fact that I dont smoke cigars, I love the challenge of building a high quality box for housing fine cigars. The humid environment inside a humidor poses some challenges if you wish to build a piece that lasts the test of time, and Ive figured out a few tricks along the way to make my boxes go the extra mile in terms of handling moisture fluctuations without stressing my joinery.
Recently I began using leather for one of my components and realized I needed a simple way to cut leather cleanly and precisely. I tried using a straightedge and a sharp utility knife but I found that even the sharpest of blades had a tendency to tear - at least slightly - when making the cut. The dragging motion of a knife just didnt work. What I really needed was a nice chopping cut.
Using a piece from an old bandsaw blade and some quartersawn oak scraps I had laying around the shop, I came up with this simple "chopper." The blade is simply set atop the leather you wish to cut, then a couple of blows with a mallet and BAM - youve got a perfectly crisp cut in your leather. Works like a charm!


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