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I did that one Fred. It's a bit discoloured now. Might have to dye it.

Thanks guys nearly finished the pencil case, will post pics later. Chuck, I like your thinking but I want to make him something that he'll use for a few years. Maybe I'll end up just lasering some Dino images on a veg tan flap.

On the same YouTube page there are others that might suit you better Bert.

My 3 yr old Grandson is going to start his first uniform school soon and I've promised to make him a dinosaur backpack but struggling to find the right pattern. I could just laser an image on the flap but I'm looking for something with a bit more to it. In the meantime I've started this pencil case. Finally got it cut/punched out. Will start building tomorrow. He's Dino mad and knows a lot of the names already.

Thanks Sheila, no just rivets. The pattern comes with a cat face and a couple of others also.

This might help Bert. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taQAM4i33OI

I got a commission yesterday for my Owl Bag. Never sold one before so had to come up with a price. We'd had a bit of a conversation where I told her I was getting away from bags in favour of smaller items because some of my bags sell elsewhere for £300/£400 but as a non brand I couldn't get anywhere near that. Then she saw the Owl and asked the question. With no clue (It's been a year since I made it.) I spun it back to her and asked what she'd pay for it. She said £150. Now this woman has so many ailments the poor woman took 5 mins to to tell me what they were. Then she said she wanted it lined with an internal zipped pocket so we agreed on £200. Now the good guy in me wanted to give it to her for cheap but the devil sitting on my shoulder told me that she's getting disability benefits and somehow I'd like to get back some of the money I've laid out for the skiver and the two sewing machines etc. I have the leather for it so it's just time really. What are the hives thoughts?

Good practical project. Well done. I do wonder if it really was for him or for you.

I can only think there's too much pressure. Have you got the tension on the feed roller too tight? Have you tried slackening off the top knob and then, with the lever down turn the top knob until it starts skiving?

It's not as easy as it looks. Good job. I've only done it once on the end of a rifle butt cover.

Dieselpunk.Ro's patterns are digital downloads and so instant and can be printed and used again and again. They also come with a video tutorial. Some are free. He also sells the hardware packs for some patterns. https://www.leather-patterns.com/ https://www.etsy.com/uk/search?q=dieselpunk.ro

Great news (for me)! A bit of judicious force with a screwdriver, a faint crack and the two pulley clusters came unstuck. Everything is now working as it should.

I think I've got it. The pulley train IS in two parts (see the pic) and the clutch can only move part of the train backwards but my train seems to be one solid unit so can't move back. So much pressure has been applied to the clutch shaft causing it to deform. I can only assume (hope) the bolts numbered S141 need adjusting to bring things back to normal by letting the two stone pulleys to come forward and thus be free of the drive.

I'm gobsmacked. The most important pics for my question and I didn't post em. I still don't know how the clutch lever engages/disengages the stone. The only way I can see is if the pulley cluster is in two separate sets and the sideways movement of the lever separates or brings the two sets together but my pulley train is as one and I can't separate any of it so how does the damn thing work??? I have no idea if there's anything missing from the shaft but in the interim I drilled out that sheared pin and replaced it with a round headed set screw to no avail. On the vacuum side I experimented with the position of the scoop and ended up putting it where yours is. The good thing is I managed to fine tune the chain switch so initially the vac doesn't come on but there's enough speed to sharpen the knife. If I want to skive a little more pressure on the treadle starts the vac. Apart from the clutch thing it's all good.

No Mike. I mean a slope so the only part of the foot that presses on the leather is the right hand side looking from the front. Only about 1.5mm is actually pressing on the material. It's skiving well but it does mark the leather because of the pressure needed to move the material with such a small amount of foot. Can't wait to experiment with rollers and flat feet. I'll take some pics. Here ya go.

So what's the consensus on skiver feet? Mine came with just two, a 50mm and a 25mm but the slope on them is so severe that there's not much actually pressing on the material. I believe it came from an upholstery company and there was a couple of pieces of fabric backed foam in the drawer so maybe these feet are for squishing foam down for skiving??? I have some bits in my chinese "cart" including a couple of rollers and flat feet but am holding fire until after the holidays because there's a company in London that might stock them. So what are you guys using and for what material and how do you like them?

OK got some good stuff done today and everything's working well except the whetstone turning. I will try to get to the bottom of it but for the amount of use it'll get it's not a big deal if it stays the same. Messed around with the vacuum, changed the shape of the nozzle and tried it in different places. Ist time, saw the leather coming off the back of the knife so positioned the nozzle there, well blow me down everything came off the front of the knife so changed it and it caught everything except one piece but that was probably down to a different speed. First off skived 2mm VT down to 1mm and that was ok except the backside was very slightly furry so I sharpened the blade and it was really good. It even took a piece of 2.5mm VT down to 1mm in one pass. Well happy. Now I have to clear up the bombsite that used to be my project room so I can do some proper work.

Nice. As someone said a long time ago, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap".

Please help me out here Brian. There seems to be something wrong with the clutch mechanism. Maybe somethings missing but I can't stop the sharpening stone turning and I can't get my head around the way the clutch is supposed to work. You can see in one of the pics that a pin or something is sheared off.

Having just bought a used machine I've been researching a lot and apparently the stones with more grip are more likely to grab the waste. Mine has the neoprene (yellow) one that's been abused and I will replace it but for now I took some emery paper to it in order to even it out and it seems to be working well.

More tweaking today. The safety guard was way too high for the leather to climb once it left the blade so I bashed it a bit so it can work by feeding it in rather than waste an inch so I can pull it. still some work to be done and pieces to replace but it's working as it should. Most of this afternoon was taken up by the vacuum system. There's a sort of elbow by the blade and I'm not sure which way it should be pointing. There isn't much room in there. I think I'll end up cutting the elbow off at the table level unless someone tells me different. The other frustrating thing about the vacuum is that it doesn't come on if using the skiver at low speed.. There's a chain connecting to the treadle and I tried various links to no avail. One link is on all the time, the next one up doesn't start the vacuum at low speed. I think the answer is gonna be some sort of airline switch.

After cleaning it up a bit I started to put it back together. The safety guard over the bell knife was severely out of shape and was was actually touching the blade in places. A few clumps with a hammer got it in reasonable shape. The drive belt was much too loose so sorted that. There is only two presser feet one 1 inch and one 2 inch. they both have a severe sloped profile which I think is unusual. The waste bag had foam in it so maybe the sloped feet is for foam. I gingerly switched it on and tried a piece of leather. The feed roller is smooth and slightly out of shape so I helped it along with hardly any force and blow me down it did a very nice skive first time. I'm proper made up.

OK, spent most of the day looking for air line connectors if one was the right type it was the wrong thread. I was determined to find out if the vacuum system worked. Ended up having to bodge it. Eventually got some air into it via the compressor by the back door and an airline going up the stairs. This is the vacuum pump. Don't know what's inside it yet. Nothing happening at all. Looked everywhere for a switch of some sort, Nothing. Was beginning to think it might be blocked up and then I noticed this under the table top. That spring is on the end of a lever and goes down to the treadle. Pressed the treadle and away it went. I was so happy. Felt a proper nana for not spotting it earlier. Good suction too. Don't know if there's a spark arrester in there somewhere. If not just have to make sure the sharpening stone is well clear when in use. Better pics later when I've cleared everything up.

Nicely done. And practical as well. He'll love it.

OK, a bitter sweet day. The seller wanted £750, I offered £600 and he accepted. When I got there today to pick it up (£30 in fuel) I found a machine that had seen better days and didn't work. The belt that operates the sharpening stone was de-laminating in various places but it did sharpen the blade. The feed roller was smooth - looks like someone drove it into the blade, and wasn't turning. Turns out the linkage that turns the feed roller was missing. found it in the drawer, looks like the pins at each end were too short so I'm guessing wasn't staying in place. Wasn't able to assess the vacuum system because no air available. A couple of more minor things need attention. All in all it needs some TLC but should be able to bring it back for very little cost. He sensed I was about to walk so we got to haggling and in the end I paid him £350 which I'm happy with. Will clean it up and take some pics tomorrow and try to get some air to the vacuum.