Initial Cuts and Picker Tool - Resourcing A Butcher Tool.

 Cheap pair of old scissors that broke. Separate the two blades. One blade is usually curved, while the other is straight. For this knife i used the straight one, removed the cheap plastic finger handle by breaking it off, drill a hole into the end of a piece of hard wood, vice the blade, hammer the wood onto the end of the scissor blade. You can take your time with securing the handle to the blade (and indeed you should) and making this tool nice.

The point is this - the steel on a cheap pair of scissors is fine whithout any heat treatment to harden or to temper - the angle of the tool as it sits in the handle perfectly for getting under the hide comfortably and zipping it open from underneath; this tool is a great companion to a choke knife or ulu which is terrible at making initial cuts and getting into tight spots (yet, outstanding at ALL other tasks).

cheap, light, available

Had the edge been ground on the other side, it may have made a crooked knife.