Orientation is important for not getting scratches, on skin with hair
try to have the knife pass across hairy areas last.  Splitting could
indicate processing problems, longer infiltration may help. Overdrying
of skin due to processing can contribute to splitting sections, you did
not say what your processing was???? 

Also, anything with hair will cause the knife to dull, and be nicked by
the tough hairs, so frequent changes of knives can help, also soaking them
a bit with ice water may permit better sections.  

Any paraffin should work, you did not elaborate???  If you want
a harder paraffin, Tissue Prep 2 from Fisher works well, but in general,
there is not perfect paraffin for just skin.  

Also, see if you can have the hair removed (shaved or Nair) before 
processing, this will get rid of scratches or at least minimize them.


Good luck,
Gayle Callis