I recently bought a mint condition Osborne 86 off e-bay. It arrived with no instructions and when I went on-line to Osborne looking for instructions, I received a single page that was of little help. I'm interested in finding instructions for it's use. I'm planning to use the splitter on cow and water buffalo hides that have been tanned. The final use for the split leather is headstalls, reins, ect. I have mounted the unit on a very sturdy work table, verified it is razor sharp and played with the adjustments to determine how they work. Now I want to get to work but have questions"
1. is the leather worked dry or does it have to be with added moisture?
2. If the leather to be split is heavy, do I have to taper the entry point to allow the split to start through the roller/blade?
3. what is the prastical limits of the width to be split. The blade is 5+ inches in width but sure seems like a heavy pull to split the full width
4. Is the use of (pliers) or other tools necessary to pull the leather through the unit
5. should the leather be split in a single pass or must it be multi-passed to get to the final product
6. im using diamond sharpening tools for all my hoof knives and finish with jewelers rouge and buffing wheel..Someone have better method for the splitter blade?
7 will the splitter work with any success on rawhide?
Jim Lucas
cacaufarmer@yahoo.com