Leatherworking Tools for Daguerreotype Cases
I’ve had to teach myself an awful lot in the service of this wonderful art of mine but of those few have been as rewarding as the wealth of information I’ve absorbed about the bookbinding industry art. I received this e-mail from a reader and since he/she forgot to include a return e-mail address I thought that I’d post my reply here for all to see.
“What kind of tool do you use in the third pic from end under Making Daguerreotypes.”
The tool that I’m using in that picture is a Skife Knife that uses common disposable razor blades. That tool is very handy for thinning small areas of hides or for the Bookbinder On The Go. For more delicate thinning jobs I use my favorite tool, the Schärf-Fix 2000.
Though it sounds like an ’80s action-adventure movie, the Schärf-Fix 2000 is an invaluable tool for making the thinnest possible shavings of leather for covering Daguerreotype cases and other sundries. While not cheap, I can’t imagine using any other tool to accomplish the arduous task of thinning leather.
All the best,
Jonathan
