Rarere

Thank you for your reply Colt, great looking work too! Did you sew the lining with the 206rb also or did you need to use a home machine for that?

Hi all, I'm trying to buy my first sewing machine and I'm in need for some advice. I have been handmaking small leather goods for a little over a year. While I would like to continue to make these by hand, I have begun a duffle bag project which has prompted me to look at a sewing machine. I have read through all the threads about machines and have gained a lot of information. Locally there is a consew 206rb3 for sale and I thought I was set. It then dawned on me while constructing this duffle bag by hand that a flat bed isn't the ideal machine for projects like this, and a cylinder arm would be the better option. I am based in New Zealand and machines are few and far between. The techsew machine (2700) seems like a great machine for this or any 441 type. After crunching the numbers with exchange rate and shipping it comes to over 3k in nzd, whereas I can pickup this 206rb3 for around 800nz. Now my question to you, will I still be able to construct bags with this machine? I plan on using Chrome tanned leather that is about 4-5oz (total 10oz max thickness). I understand there is no machine that will be suited to every task, but I am hoping that the 206rb3 will be manageable for this job. I also hope to construct bags (duffles, messenger, women's clutches) with waxed canvas and maybe tarpaulin which it seems the 206rb would be fine with. Does anyone have any first hand experience with making items like this with a flatbed? Is it manageable? Thank you in advance Craig

Sorry I completely forgot to update you all. Thank you to all that contributed but Bruce hit the nail on the head. I pulled the whole machine apart and reassembled it. Not quite sure what i did that was different from the original set up but it worked! able to split a 5" wide piece of chromexcel even which surprised me. It's not perfect but I think its the best I will get out of the machine for the time being. I hope this can be of help to those that embark on buying an old hand cranked splitter If anyone is interested this is the passport wallet I made with the splitter

UPDATE I took the blade to get re ground and it came out beautifully. After mounting and some final tweaking I ran a thin piece about 1 inch wide through it. A beautiful split! The smile did not last long however. I tried a piece about 4" wide and it began to twist and warp. After some head scratching my father and I found that the bottom toothed roller in fact has a slight taper on it, which I guess would explain why a wider piece would be skewed. Not quiet sure how to tackle this next hurdle. Grinding the roller so it is even would remove the teeth on one end. Though I don't see it working correctly any other way. Back to the drawing board

Thanks oltoot. After doing some further research I have found that there are a few blade shapes that are used in splitters. The one that you described and the one that I have to deal with. I have attached some pictures. The thing sure needs a sharpen, I can almost run my finger along it in the centre without cutting. It has some damage on the corners where it sits up against the stops, any tips for dealing with this or should I just get it reground to uniform. I suppose by doing this that I know it will sit flush when positioned. I can't seem to find any information online with regards to what angle to get it reground at, should I put my faith in the sharpener?

Thank you to you both for your very informative posts. First glance of the blade it looks visually fine, upon a closer look it need some work done. It looks like it has been rounded and is slightly bow shapes so I think I will take it to get reground so that I know that I have that variable covered off. The shape of the blade is the same as in the image, number 3. Is there a specific angle that this should be ground at that I can let the company doing the work know? Also the edge being the shape that it is, does this make any difference for the set up at all? Thanks in advance for your help

Hi guys, First post here but I have been reading the wealth of information for a little while now. Over the last few months I have begun my leather work journey, making small leather goods items as a hobby. Last week i purchased a leather splitter from a saddle maker. As i am based in New Zealand, these types of items are very hard to come by. The seller was not able to give me a maker name but after some research I have found it to be an old Whitfield Hodgsons & Brough splitter (attached pictures of the model). I tried splitting some veg tanned leather and found that it in fact was not in working condition. It pulled the leather and barely split it, end result was a twisted piece of mess. I have adjusted the bottom roller so that it is now level, though I am concerned that the blade itself needs a makeover. It doesn't look dead straight and I have no idea what the history of it is. The blade is symmetrically shaped, is there a specific angle that it should be ground at? I saw the blade that is used on the Master tools leather splitter is the same shape, they talk about theirs being hollow ground. Is this something that I would need to make sure is done? I'm assuming that the blade is a main factor in effecting the ability to split, but if any one has any other tips on setting up this machine it'd be greatly appreciated. I can't wait to start using it! Cheers