Right handed English paring knife ~ ground side
The English paring knife is a strip of tool steel with one end set at an angle and sharpened to a fine edge. The one illustrated below is made by the Sheffield firm of John Nowill & Sons.
At first glance the left and right handed knives seem identical, but the angle of the blade and the ground side of the blade give rise to a slightly different pair of blades ~ they are enantiomorphic [127398].
If you search for paring knves in Google you will get a wide assortment of knives deemed suitable for paring. The word is more commonly used in the sense of peeling a thin layer ~ as in paring an apple. Because of this it is difficult to find this type of knife listed except in specialist hobby ~ bookbinders ~ or leather shops.
Crafts people need to feather the edges of leather ~ or other materials ~ from time to time. For this they need a very sharp blade which can be held at a very acute angle to the leather surface. The lack of a handle's thickness permits the blade to be used almost co-planar with the leather.
For successful paring the leather needs to be securely anchored and to be resting on a very hard ~ very flat ~ surface. Many illustrations show paring being done on a lithographic stone ~ not an easy item to come buy ~ or to move around. My picture ~ below ~ shows me using a piece of cardboard.
Great care is required not to cut too deeply. One moment of loss of concentration can ruin an expensive piece of leather. Beginners are advised to undertake lots of practice before paring down an expensive piece of Morocco. A cut too far can ruin the whole piece of leather.
