Sandy felt this might merit its own thread, so here we go:
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At one time I used the leather workers old standbys, the head knife, and the round knife, almost exclusively but seem to have drifted away from their use. Perhaps it is because I no longer cut out larger projects or that I no longer like the preparation required in maintaining the circular edge of these knives. I find that the common utility knife does an excellent job. I am referring to the knife that has a handle that is in two pieces and clasps a double ended blade that can be reversed as it wears down. Do not opt for the one that has the ability to slide the blade in and out of the handle. The cheaper, with just the two halves, is sturdier, and they can be purchased almost everywhere. Make sure that you acquire the "Heavy duty" blades as they do not flex like the standard variety. Although these blades are quite sharp they will drag and pull when cutting leather. They should be honed sufficiently to remove the grinding marks and then mirror polished on a buffer or stropped on a good bench strop that has been impregnated with jeweler's rouge. Return to the buffer or the strop as often as you find active resistance to cutting. In some leathers this is needed quite frequently. This honing and buffing takes quite a long time to wear out the blade and you have a quick replacement in the knife handle if you have prepared it for use. Alhough you can cut moderate curves easily, small radius cuts are always difficult to cut clean. A good tip to remember is that leather or gasket punches cut nice clean holes that can connect the knife cuts with a minimum of effort. These punches can be located in almost any hardware store and are relatively inexpensive. I would not recommend that you purchase Osbourne punches unless you are going commercial as they are very pricey. There is a set of 12 punches "Made in China" that range in size from an 1/8 " to 1" that costs around $10.00. I see them every where in the tool sections of flea markets. Used carefully, they will last for a lifetime. When cutting leather, I find that the kitchen cutting board made of white polycarbonate is the finest thing that ever happened to a cutting table. They do not readily dull the knife edges and they DO NOT STEER THE BLADES FROM PREVIOUS CUT MARKS. This feature makes the board worth the price alone if you can't steal the wife's. Happy cutting! SANDY

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Oops, shoulda posted here...

I cut leather with a knife I made myself. It is like a woodcarving knife, with a full flat ground blade of O1. Sharp like a razor. The blade is 1.5 inches long, and maybe 5/16" wide and is sheepsfoot in profile. The blade is 1/16" thick at the spine.

Another little helpful hint------- When you can hear your knife cutting leather it needs to be stropped. This is particularly so on leathers that are over 4/5 ounces in weight. Listen while you cut, providing you are not whistling while you work! Sandy

Dang! Am I the only one useing the band saw? Just lay out your pattern on the leather and have at it with the band saw. Cutting the patterns out was always the part I hated when it came to makeing sheaths. Then I discovered the band saw. I mean, after all it was just setting there doing nothing at the time.

Of course the band saw can be used for cutting leather----But--It does have definite drawbacks and limits. A good size bandsaw table might measure 15 or 16 inches square while my cutting table in my shop measure 4 by 8 feet. I can lay a full side on the table and cut out anything with very little waste with sharp knives. Even a moderate sized double shoulder will run from 11 to 16 square feet. In order to cut on the saw the pieces would have to be about a maximum two feet square to manage the different cuts and directions of the cuts on a bandsaw with a 12 inch cutting capacity. If you have small pieces of scrap that are large enough for various parts of sheaths and holsters I would certainly give it a try. Handling large pieces of leather that would have to be rolled up in order to cut would not appeal to me. It is sometimes awkward to handle on a large cutting table-----And--I am a little set in my ways! Sandy