This document covers the complete set of leather processing tools used by Shebag for high-end replicated Kelly and Birkin bags. Aligned with hand saddle leather craftsmanship adopted by Hermès workshops, tools are categorized by production process and marked with priority tiers. Tier 1 tools are irreplaceable and determine the minimum quality standard of finished goods; Tier 2 tools hold significant importance; Tier 3 tools serve auxiliary purposes. For industry terminology clarification, the skiver refers to the leather thinning tool used to trim the flesh side of leather, while the pricking iron corresponds to the French chisel for hand stitching hole punching.

Cutting tools are applied in the pattern cutting stage. The single-edge Japanese leather cutting knife falls under Tier 1. Featuring a single cutting edge, it cuts straight lines and curved contours on genuine Epsom, Togo and ostrich leather. Utility knives can only act as temporary substitutes, and dedicated cutting knives are mandatory for high-precision pattern cutting. The rounded head head knife is classified as Tier 2. It handles large curved leather sections and enables flexible cutting of full quill regions on ostrich leather to reduce surface tension and wrinkles. Thick stainless steel rulers, right-angle gauges and curved templates are Tier 1 essentials. They establish all cutting references, and dimensional errors will directly cause misalignment of leather panels. The rubber cutting mat is also Tier 1, serving to protect cutting edges and prevent leather shifting.

Skiving tools form the most vital tool group across all procedures and represent the core of Kelly bag craftsmanship. Manual skivers include broad French skivers and broken-cut skivers. Broad skivers evenly thin large areas of the leather flesh side, reducing thickness at overlapping sections of flaps and bag bodies to avoid bulging where multiple leather layers join. Broken-cut skivers, also known as raising skivers, are indispensable for crafting Kelly bags. They carve stepped thin zones to enable fitted leather panels with natural raised sides, reproducing the three-dimensional contour of authentic designs. Shebag relies entirely on broken-cut skivers to process side panels and flap edges of Kelly bags. The edge beveler, often mistakenly called a small skiver, is Tier 1. A complete set including size 0, size 1 and size 2 is standard equipment. It trims sharp leather corners into 45-degree chamfers, delivering smooth edges after polishing and edge finishing to prevent paint chipping and whitening. Size 2 suits thick Togo leather, while size 0 and size 1 work for thin Epsom leather. Oversized edge bevelers must be used cautiously on ostrich leather to avoid damaging raised quills. The industrial skiving machine, model 801 or Fortuna, is a Tier 1 requirement for mass production. Manual skivers cannot guarantee consistent precision, and uniform thickness for bulk production relies on these machines, maintaining overlapping section thickness between 0.6mm and 0.8mm. Small handcraft workshops adopt a combined workflow: rough skiving by machine followed by manual fine trimming of corners and curved dead angles.

Punching and stitching tools revolve around pricking irons. The French pricking iron, the chisel referenced earlier, belongs to Tier 1. Shebag exclusively employs French oblique flat pricking irons instead of diamond pricking irons. The standard spacing is 3.38mm, matching Hermès official stitch spacing, with a complete set consisting of single-tooth, two-tooth, four-tooth, six-tooth and eight-tooth variants. These tools create slanted trapezoidal holes to form the characteristic diagonal stitching of saddle stitching. Single-tooth pricking irons adjust hole positions at all corners and curves, making them critical for curved stitching. Diamond pricking irons produce vertical holes and deliver a different stitching aesthetic, so they are excluded from high-end replication work. The rubber mallet paired with a punching board is Tier 1. Hardwood or cowhide punching boards are required, as metal mallets damage chisel teeth. Vertical strikes with soft rubber mallets form neat holes without tearing leather. The winged stitching spacer is Tier 1. It draws consistent guideline lines for stitching and ensures uniform distance between punched holes and leather edges. The groover falls under Tier 2. It presses shallow grooves onto leather surfaces so threads sink inward, lowering thread abrasion and enhancing visual refinement. It is primarily used on flat Epsom leather. Grooving should be avoided on ostrich leather to protect quills. The stitching awl and round hand-sewing needles are Tier 1 necessities for bidirectional saddle stitching.

Edge sanding and finishing tools mark the dividing line of finished product texture and are categorized as Tier 1. Sanding sticks and sanding bar kits combining beechwood and sandpaper follow a progressive grit sequence: 240 grit, 400 grit, 800 grit and 1200 grit for polishing chamfered leather edges. The wooden slicker is Tier 1. When used with water or edge finish, high-speed friction compacts leather fibers to achieve glossy edge finishing. Straight and curved slickers are separately used for bag straight edges and rounded corners. Leather flesh-side primer, edge finish and edge paint form a matched Tier 1 set. Primer seals the flesh side to stop fuzzing, and color fixation and penetration prevention are especially important for light-toned Kelly bags such as off-white and haze blue variants. The sharpening board is Tier 1. It maintains sharp edges on skivers and edge bevelers. Blunt cutting edges tear leather fibers and leave permanently rough edges even after subsequent edge finishing.

Shaping, adhesion and auxiliary tools range from Tier 2 to Tier 3. Bone or acrylic leather shaping sticks pre-form crease zones on flaps to eliminate unwanted folds. Rubber rollers compress bonded leather panels to achieve bubble-free glue adhesion. Round and oval punches create holes for tabs, hardware fittings, locks and handles according to different aperture specifications. Thermostatically controlled heat guns soften leather for shaping. Low-temperature operation is mandatory for ostrich leather, as excessive heat destroys quills. In accordance with Shebag workshop priority ranking, Tier 1 tools that cannot be omitted and determine replication quality cover broad and broken-cut manual skivers, a full set of edge bevelers, the 3.38mm French oblique flat pricking iron set including single-tooth and multi-tooth variants, stitching spacers, leather cutting knives paired with steel rulers, sanding sticks and slickers, sharpening boards to preserve sharpness of all skiving tools, plus rubber mallets and punching boards.