Hi all,
I've come across leather straps in various trim stores that have been seamlessly spliced together and then rolled into large rolls (similar to binding in the garment industry). My goal is to figure out the best way to splice HUNDREDS of straps in the most EFFICIENT way possible. The leather i'm using is fairly soft 2 oz. cow hide and the straps are 1/2". Right now, I cut the straps using a belt cutter so all of the straps are straight. I've tried hand tools to splice but that process is far too slow, and i've tried the machines with the circular blade but the leather is too soft and does not cut cleanly. My products are primarily hand woven leather bags, and i'm currently losing a lot of leather because i can't joint the pieces. If i was able to joint them, i could cut them to the exact size prior to weaving.
I need an efficient "industrial" splicing technique, and a list of the proper machines to do the job.
Any help would be greatly appreciated...and i'd be happy to send you free bags in return if i can solve this problem.
-Ben.
PS. I've attached a simple sketch of the lap skiving for you visual folks.