First bit of advice is find a leather work store or on line supplier and buy a blade and work from that. The one in the pictures is sold by Tandy. It will save you a lot of headaches, as the blade must be razor sharp to work correctly. And are hard to get sharpened at home with out some luck and fixtures. Even as rusty as that blade looks it took some top layers of skin off.
It also must be firmly clamped or screwed to a bench in use.
To use it you flip the leather so the finish side is against the roller with an inch or so out to grab and pull. There are special purpose pliers made to hold and tighten the harder you squeeze the handles. They are called Lasting pincers
I use the vise grip sheet metal or welding duck bill style. if it is wide material or regular if strap, belt or laces.
The widest cut is about 5" but generally it is less hassle to buy the leather at the thickness you need if wider than 4"
Some conversion info for leather, 1 oz leather is approx 1/64" thick
4 oz " 1/16"
8 oz " 1/8"
16 oz " 1/4"
At most places it is sold by the oz weight, or irons but that has fallen out of favor.
You must also remember to check the leather for any scars or brands or imperfections before you start to pull it through the skiver, As it will send you flying if it lets go or parts, Had a friend that had a piece let go and he hit his head on the bench behind him.
It is also better to take two or more pulls through as it is difficult to get a even thickness. Due to the nature of the product.
Here is their website it sucks really bad find a local store to you and see about the replacement blades they have changed the design some and increased the price. Mine is about 25 years old
If you need more info I will be back late this afternoon and take more photo's etc.
