Head Knife - single bevel

Type of tool: opener + dry scraper + softener

Use with: Any hide, in a frame or in your lap as a hand tool. As a dry scraper, it will peel layers of skin on the membrane side and clear away ground substance/corium on the grain side. As a softener, it will stretch the fibres of skin apart to soften.

A small rounded-blade dry scraper that fits in the palm of the hand. This is an English style blade called a Head Knife. The handle sits atop the single-bevelled steel blade and the knife can be handled one-handed or grasped with both hands, as you scrape downwards away from the bevelled edge on a hide.

How to use: Keep edge super sharp to use as a dry scraper, or let it go dull to use as a softener. This blade has sharp corners so make sure your hide is tight in a frame when using.

Always move this tool in a downward motion (with bevel facing up to the sky) to keep the bevel intact: “bevel up, scrape down.”

The symbol of the Head Knife became synonymous with hide tanners and leather workers in the British Isles. Its likeness was the public emblem of leather guild shops (a pictographic brand during oral/non-literate times). It is still used by many European hide tanners in their branding and logos.

This Head Knife is similar to the Italian Mezzaluna, the Nordic Ulo, and the Athabaskan Ulu: cultures around the world have come up with the shape that best scrapes a dry hide, while innovating unique handle styles that are emblematic of the creators.

Tool made by Stevan de la Rosa in the Sonoran Desert. The handle is harvested Mesquite wood + the steel is reclaimed.

Measures 4″ x 6″

Prices are in USD. Tool orders ship on Fridays