SWIVEL

KNIVES:
It's All in
the Hand
BY NICK PERNOKAS

hile the history of

modern leather
tooling can be traced
back several centuries
through the Spanish, to
the Moors, some of the
tools that are used today
have a murkier past. One
of the tools found on
almost any leather tooler's
bench today is something
of a mystery. A necessity
for the craftsman who is
producing Western-styled,
hand-tooled products,
the swivel knife probably
did not exist in its current
form even 100 years ago.
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Today, there are a lot of different styles and ments carried out until swivel knives became
makes of swivel knives and almost as many available commercially.
opinions on the proper size and blade as there
are leather workers. However, as recently as a F.K. Russell, of Dallas, Texas, was an early
century ago, craftsman in the saddle shops of leather tool maker who is known to have made
the West were still laboring to produce intri- swivel knives and had patents on other leather
cate tendrils and flowers with rigid cutters. tools as early as 1909. All of his work would
predate his death in 1931. William Salter,
Leather tool guru Bob Douglas of Sheridan, a saddlemaker at Porter's in the Twenties
Wyoming, has actually seen some of these has also been credited with designing the
knives in the collections of early Western modern swivel knife. P. B. McMillen Tool
saddlemakers. Usually they Company produced it as the
were cold chisels that had W.S. Professional Swivel Cutter
linen thread wrapped around
I tell with a double adjustment, and
the handle for grip. The blade my students it is still in their catalogue
was turned by using the wrist. today but no longer available.
Eventually, leatherworkers
that they C.S Osborne produced an
experimented with ways to should try early swivel knife with a non-
make manipulating the blade removable blade. All of these
easier on their hands. The late
as many had knurled handles and were
Don King told Bob Douglas things as neatly finished.
of the swivel knife he made
as a boy when he was work-
they can Bob Douglas made a mock up
ing for Porter's in Arizona. -Jim Jackson of both the old chisel knife and
It was simply a blade pushed Don King's first swivel knife
in to the bottom of a twig with a piece of and took them over to the King Museum
tin on the top of the twig for a yoke. A nail where custom leather worker Jim Jackson
held the tin on and allowed the yoke to turn. works. Jim put both of them to the test and
Undoubtedly there were other similar experi- was able to demonstrate that both were able to

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 fine work. He also likes an angled
blade occasionally on small work.

"I tell my students that they should

try as many things as they can," says
Jim."There are new products coming
out all the time and some of the new
composite blades are really good. You
need to upgrade your tools. It's fun to
try new blades, but I like metal, and I
like to sharpen my blade."

Jim recommends using a jig to sharp-

en the blades. He likes to stroke it
back and forth on a smooth oilstone,
and then finishes it with a strop.

"The key to sharpening is that you

have to be able to see yourself in the
blade when you're finished."
Jim thinks that swivel knives all have
different "personalities," just like the
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"The beauty of using a swivel knife is

produce some good quality cuts. Jim actually was able that it is a simple tool that allows you
to use the chisel by putting one finger on the top and to draw on the leather," says Jim.
turning it with his others.
Barry King is a talented tool maker
Jim was no stranger to this type of knife as his dad, who carries on in the footsteps of
saddlemaker Edward Jackson, gave him a similar stub his grandfather, Don. Barry makes
type knife to learn to carve leather with when he was a the traditional swivel knife that Don
boy. He still uses some single bearing knives that Don made and used. Its simple design
King built but also tries everything else. He has quite includes a free spinning bearing
a few different makes and styles of knives and likes a which makes it an affordable $45.00.
smaller, lighter one for light leather. He also feels that Its height can be adjusted and it
the smaller barrels turn quicker. Jim likes an adjustable comes in five different barrel diam-
knife so he can raise the cradle as the blade wears down. eters. He offers seven different hol-
low ground blades made of hardened
Jim prefers a hollow ground blade because it sharpens tool steel as well as beader blades and
quickly and he feels that it's easier to maneuver for very blades for other swivel knives. The
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blades start at $15.00. His most popular knife on a crummy knife, but a bad blade won't work
has a 7/16” diameter barrel with a ¼” hollow on a good knife."
ground blade.
Lonnie is continuing the tradition of Gomph-
Lonnie Height is another traditionalist who Hackbarth but emphasizes that he is selling
produces a swivel knife that has been around a good service as well.
long time. He runs Gomph-Hackbarth Tools
in Elfrida, Arizona, and was partners with Ellis In Shreveport, Louisiana, there is a small com-
Barnes for years until Ellis passed away in 2009. pany by the name of Henley Manufacturing
Lonnie's smooth single ball swivel knife comes that is becoming well known for the qual-
in a ½” and 5/8” barrel and the height can be ity of their blades. Louis Henley's business
adjusted. It sells for $65.00. has been making mechanical
Lonnie makes an assortment Timber Harvesters for the last
of high carbon steel, hollow A good forty-six years. One of the
ground and angled blades, and secrets of this equipment was
he stresses that you need the
blade will the "Extreme Alloy" which he
correct blade for the job. work on a came up with for blades to cut
timber. When his son, Tony
Lonnie says, "Most toolers
crummy knife, became interested in leather-
have five or six swivel knives but a bad work, he had trouble keeping
and ten or so different blades his swivel knife sharp. Tony
and they don't use the same
blade won't decided to make a blade out
one all the time." work on a of the "Extreme Alloy". Louis
Lonnie feels that the blade was skeptical, but it worked.
is more important than the
good knife. Soon other saddlemakers were
knife. "A good blade will work -Lonnie Height clamoring for the blades for
their own swivel knives. Now they make thirty dif- Louis laughs," Now, when Tony has an
ferent blades in various widths and thicknesses, pri- idea, I don't say anything!"
marily in hollow ground, but they also make beader
and angled blades. Other swivel knife makers have gone
even more high tech. Robert Beard, a
Henley is also making swivel knives with 1 ½” and noted leather craftsman and tool maker
2” barrel heights in five different diameters. There from Farmington, New Mexico, took
are two sets of instrument bearings in the yoke for five years to develop what he calls "the
smooth operation. The only problem is that they smoothest swivel knife in the world."
got so much business for their swivel knives that His Pro Series, 18 ball bearing knife
it interfered with their timber machinery so they comes in an attractive blued finish and
stopped advertising. the blades are shaped to blend seam-
lessly into the barrel. Bob builds the
knife in twelve different styles, from
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3/8” to 5/8” diameter barrels with the
heights being either 1 ¾” or 2 ¼”. The
knife is adjustable, and Bob can cus-
tom build different height barrels. His
most popular seller is a ½” barrel with
¼” straight blade for tiny cuts, a 3/8”
straight blade for general saddle work,
and a ½” straight blade for gentle curves
or straight lines. Bob recommends a
larger diameter barrel for folks with
cramping or arthritic hands. The knives
start at $100.00.

Bob makes almost any kind of blade

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ble cut blades. They range from ¼” to
5/8” wide. Bob has definite ideas about
which blades he prefers.

"The hollow ground blade looks shiny

when you sharpen it but has zero
mechanical advantage," states Bob. He
feels that the corner of a straight blade
can do everything a hollow ground
blade can do, has more stability, and
is easier to sharpen properly. For this
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reason, he suggests the straight blade to his smoother feel and a little different blade. By
customers and students for general carving. using fourteen ball bearings, he created a knife
with no drag at all.
Bob recommends only using a fine natural oil-
stone of some sort to sharpen the knife, and he "Over the years the style of carving keeps
uses a back and forth serpentine motion on it changing," says Chuck, "and we've gone from
to avoid striations. He finishes the blade on a a thicker blade down to a thinner blade, so who
strop with jewelers rouge. Bob also says that the knows what's going to be the next thing."
Japanese water stones are excellent for the job.
Chuck's most popular knife right now has
Chuck Smith of Valley Center, California, is a 7/16” diameter barrel with a 3/8” straight
another toolmaker who has embraced modern blade, although he also make barrels in 3/8”,
designs in his swivel knives. Chuck started ½”, 9/16”, and 5/8”. Chuck also offers a
carving leather in 1948 selection of cobalt blades.
and is widely recognized He believes that there
for both his leatherwork is no rule of thumb for
and his leather carving selecting the size; rather,
seminars. He recently an individual should use
completed tooling a gui- what feels comfortable.
tar for famed musician
Eric Clapton.
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 of holding the knife never seemed as
important as mastering the cuts."

Chuck personally likes to use the same

knife and blade for all of his carving.
He believes that what works best for
any one person is what he get use to. He
points to Cliff Ketchum who always
used a sharpened (automotive) points
file for his blade which worked just fine.
Chuck adds that he has done this too
for decorative cuts.
S7KHVHDUHVRPHRI-LP-DFNVRQ
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7KHIRXUWKIURPOHIWKDVQRVZLYHORQO\DEUDVVFXS Paul Zalesak of Leather Wranglers,
in Albuquerque, has probably taken
the high-tech swivel knife the farthest
into the realm of the non- traditional.
He offers a lightweight custom swivel
knife, the SK3, that even comes in quite
a few colors.

Paul's father was a woodworker, and

Paul learned to carve leather from Jim
Resley. Paul was always curious as to
why his father's wood chisels stayed
sharper, longer than the blades he used
to cut leather.

S,QWKLVSKRWRRI-LP-DFNVRQ
VNQLYHV\RXFDQVHH In 2001 he got serious about finding
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program designed to aid small busi-
nesses in New Mexico, was able to get
"Look at Ray Pohja, he was one of the best carvers electron scanning microscope pictures
ever, and he used a 5/8” barrel with a thick 5/8” blade. of traditional steel blades before and
And he did some fine cuts with it too.” after they were used on leather. He dis-
covered that the reason that they were
"There's no wrong way or right way to use that knife getting dull was more because of the
but there is a right way and a wrong way to make corrosion that occurred on the metal
those cuts," continues Chuck. "Chester Hape pushed when it reacted with the chemical resi-
the knife all the time and was an outstanding carver. dues in wet leather than through abra-
Don King hung his finger over the barrel. The style sion. The different tanning processes
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also affected the amount of time it took for the every year. Many come from places with one-
blade to start dragging in the leather. stop shopping and a wide variety of prices.
How many future saddlemakers will be intro-
Eventually, Paul was able to come up with an duced to the swivel knife through the basic
alloy that had been used in the medical and Tandy Leather Factory model? I know I still
aerospace industries years before which resist- have one sitting on my bench that is about a
ed the corrosion. 1970 model. TLF still sells it for around $13.00
but also have a fancy Al Stohlman model with
Now Paul offers this alloy in his straight and a stacked leather handle.
angled blades that range from 1/8” to ½” wide.
He will custom grind a blade to your choice
of angle and thickness down to almost 1/32”.
That’s pretty thin. Because of the hardness of
the alloy, Paul recommends sharpening the
blades with a diamond hone and finishing
them on a strop with green polishing com-
pound for harder metals. Paul can also make
his blades to fit other knives.

His SK3 knives are custom built with ball

bearings in the adjustable yolks, with ½” and
3/8” barrels, and come in nine colors. They
start at $135.00, built with your choice of yoke,
barrel ,color, and blade combination.
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Weaver Leather offers several models ranging
from an affordable $9.00 to a nice brass one To find out more about
for $33.00. C.S. Osborne still sells the original
fixed swivel knife for $20.00, but they also have
swivel knives
their old swivel model for $65.00. you can contact:

Whatever you end up trying out, there is cer- • McMillen Tool Company
tainly something for everyone. But remember 573-374-7880
what a talented set of hands can do with a sim-
ple tool. As Bob Douglas says,"The Sheridan • Barry King Tools
style of tooling all started with a twig and a 307-672-5657
piece of tin."
• Lonnie Height/
Gomph-Hackbarth Tools
My thanks go out to Bob Douglas and Jim 520-642-3891
Jackson for helping with this article. Bob is
well known for his collection of vintage tools • Henley Manufacturing
as well as all the unique new ones he makes. 318-631-3545
He can be reached at 307-737-2222.
• Robert Beard/Pro Series Tools
Jim Jackson is very well known for his custom 505-632-7039
leatherwork in our circles, but he is also an
• Chuck Smith Tools
excellent painter with showings in several gal- 760-749-5755
leries. If you ever get to see him combine the
two mediums, you'll be impressed. Jim's num- • Paul Zalesak/Leather Wranglers
ber is 307-674-1741. 505-269-8563

• Tandy Leather Factory

817-872-3200

• Weaver Leather
800-932-8371
T&KXFN6PLWK
VVZLYHONQLIHZDVGHVLJQHGWR
GRZKDWKHWKRXJKWZDVQHFFHVVDU\DIWHUILIW\ • C.S. Osborne
\HDUVRIOHDWKHUZRUNLQJ&RXUWHV\/DQD6PLWK 973-483-3232

• The King Museum

307-672-2702