Endeavour
The name was a suggestion from a close friend in the community. It stands for the courage to venture into the unknown.
Origins
In 2019, we went looking for a skiving knife for our own use. The search led us to a blacksmith we still work closely with today. Commissioning just two knives felt like poor work to offer him, so we opened the order to our Discord community — which answered in numbers.
Forty knives arrived, and we sat on the floor of a student apartment deciding what came next: we would learn to hand-sharpen at scale. The thin margins from those knives went straight into stones and sharpening supplies. Three years on, we have hand-sharpened more than a thousand beveled tools — skiving knives, blade punches, and everything between. It began with a little courage to venture into something new.
Hollow Ground Bevel Profile
The bevel is hollow-ground — its surface caves inward relative to a flat plane — and carries a 15° microbevel as the actual cutting edge. The geometry serves two ends: sharpening removes material only from a narrow band rather than the full bevel face, and the thinned profile minimises leather displacement through the cut.
Mercury Chamfer
The perimeter of the blade carries a gentle convex, hand ground and polished using a technique we developed, inspired by the spine on Japanese kitchen knives. Your fingers press against the blade constantly in use, and the rounded, polished edge keeps that contact comfortable through long sessions.
Specifications
| Steel | RWL34 |
|---|---|
| Sharpening | Ultra steep hollow grind, 15° micro bevel |
| Geometry | Single Bevel |
| Blade Angle (Shallow) | ~76° |
| Blade Angle (Steep) | ~60° |
| Weight | 120 grams |
| Dimension | 3.2 cm wide, 18.5 cm long |
Premium skiving knife praised by customers for exceptional sharpness out of the box. "Cuts through leather like butter" and "razor sharp," customers said. Ergonomic handleless design offers superior control and comfort. Maintains edge well with stropping. Some caution advised due to extreme sharpness. Fast shipping and excellent packaging noted.
- The best skiving knives I've tried, and I have tried many.
- Cuts through leather like butter.
- By far the best skiver I have ever used.
I've been aware of this skiving knife for a long time, but held out thinking I could make do with the cheap skiving knives I had been using. What a fool I was for not jumping on this sooner.
This thing is scary sharp - so sharp that I felt compelled to make it a sheath immediately for safe storage and handling (also gave me an excuse to use my new Artemis pricking irons ;).
The RWL34 ensures this knife STAYS sharp. If you've been on the fence, this is your sign to GO FOR IT. Shipping to the US was reasonably priced as well.
Overall, I have nothing but praise for this skiving knife and JunLin!
Amazing love it . Everything about the knife presentation and fast delivery thank you , will be ordering again from you .
Skiving with this knofe is a whole new experience :D I love the design, rounded edges on the sides make it really pleasure holding it, length of the knife allows shallower skiving angle and the out of the box sharpness is out of this world. It cuts through both chrome and veg-tan like a hot knife through butter. Jun Lin did an amazing job with it and I love his attention to detail. Thank you for making such an amazing tool :)
For some reason (perhaps other beginners will understand) I have never been able to skive leather with any confidence or accuracy until I got this knife. It is a pleasure to use and a genuine relief to find I can skive edges effectively and reliably.
Nothing better than this
The best skiving knives I’ve tried, and I have tried many. Beautiful cut, easy to sharpen to a razors edge. Love these!
The quality of the product is stunning! It shipped fast and was delivered very quickly and the packaging was amazing! 10 out of 10!
I'm a newbie at leatherwork. I had terrible results with skiving. Turns out it wasn't me, it was my tools. Endeavour has changed all that. Razor sharp straight out of the box. I absolutely love it. Excellent tool. Buy one. I promise you won't regret it.
I get it. You want a skiving knife, but don't want to spend a fortune. Maybe you bought the amazing knife, and yep, it's as bad as everyone says. You got a French skiver or a safety skiver, but those are slow and uneven. This is the answer. It is surgically sharp and holds that sharpness. My one warning is you MUST pay attention and use safe cutting practices with this knife. It's not a toy and I've got stitches in my thumb to prove it.
Hello!
Thank you for the quirky review. We are incredibly sorry to hear the tragedy. I trust that wounds heal faster than memory from a well learnt lesson. Happy leather to you!
Great quality and crazy sharp. Was skeptical first about how it would feel in the hand, but it is perfect.
I have just received this from Junlin and it is an absolute work of art . So comfortable in the hand with all the edges polished and smooth . The cutting edge is absolutely razor sharp out of the box . The shipping to the uk was faster than some uk suppliers and the communication from the company first class . On top of this there was a lovely handwritten note and some free rubber finger protectors. I am already looking at my next purchase from them . I might buy the shallow angled blade not because I need it , I just think they are works of art for my tool kit .
Thank you , a pleasure to do business with.
Unbelievably sharp straight out of the packaging. Well made and fits perfectly in my hand. Will definitely be back for edgers in the near future.
I haven't tested it yet, but the feel is great..
Thank you!
Beautifully crafted, high quality tools. Very sharp. Cuts through leather like butter. Won't hesitate to buy more tools.
Really comfortable skiving knife. You can easily make very deep skives with it and the blade stays really sharp for a while. I enjoy it a lot!
Amazing skiving knife!
I ordered this after doing a lot of research and I'm glad I did. It skives like a dream and is very well built. Junlin makes some of the best leather tools out there!
I have used other leather skivers including top of the line French Edgers and excellent Japanese skiving knives, and this is by far the best skiver I have ever used. Incredibly sharp, and the design and angle makes skiving leather simple and intuitive. I wish I'd bought this earlier - it does a better job faster and easier than anything else I have used. Don't mess around with anything else - just buy one of these.
Extremely ergonomic and sharp
Very easy on the wrist great handling
Much much better than other more expensive skiving knives I own
after countless cheap tools off amazon, I stumbled upon JunLinLeather, and I couldn't be happier. The tools are crafted with surgical precision, and Jun Lin is very prompt to respond to any inquiries. Highly recommend it!
Great knife!
Very sharp out of the box. I was able to thin the skin for some belts around the buckle with consistent results without the need for a dedicated skiving machine.
Very sharp right out of the box. Great customer service. Will buy from them again!
Amazing knife, holds edge well, feels good in my hand. Cuts like butter.
arrived quickly and in great condition. excited to put it to use!
I literally just got the endeavor (steep blade) delivered 30 minutes ago. Out of eagerness I took this out of the box and without even stropping it, tested it on the same leather I used for my last project. What a result! This was night and day! I thought that I had done a decent enough job at sharpening cheap amazon skiving knife that it did a passable job. I was wrong. This knife really does GLIDE through the leather. It doesn't "catch" at all like my other knife does at times. I can feel the initial resistance when it goes in but once you're moving, it's smooth. Almost entoxicatingly good. Now I want to skive all my projects!
If you're on the fence about this knife, do yourself a favor and just order it. You'll thank yourself that you did.
Super sharp and makes skiving easy work!
My son-in-law has been working on Christmas gifts with his new Endeavour skiving knife and he told me “It’s Excellent!!! It really does the job!!” Thank You For The Great Products 🤩👍