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Update 2. New one arrived old one still here waiting. After some playing I'm having trouble siting the vacuum hose next to the bell knife. The suction seems adequate but some bits are not going down. I'm wondering if there's an optimum shape and position for the intake hose? I'm starting to think about building an all round chute with the suction at the bottom. Thoughts?

I use a 341 clone myself and am very happy with it. The only fault I'm finding is the size of the feed dog hole which may be problematical with very thin leather but I intend to address that. Another point to consider is a speed reducer with a servo motor will give more torque. On mine I can dial in the whole range of speeds from very slowly to quite fast enough thank you. The downside to speed reducers can be they don't always get on with needle positioners which I like very much but am having to live without for the time being. I am learning to do without though and it's not as bad as I feared. You seem to be on a similar journey to my own and I hope I'm not teaching Granny to suck eggs but I'll offer some advice. Save the veg tan for special. Likewise the Decovil and other stiffeners. Look to Chrome tan for some inspiration. Some leatherworkers will spend months on a project for others to say "well done", I'm not one of em. I like working with leather and being constructive and if I can get a tiny bit back on the £1,000s I've spent I'm not gonna turn it away. When I go to my leather shops I'm always looking for coloured Chrome tan of the right thickness/temper. Saves all that dying and gives me inspiration. I'm about to tackle piping in a proper way and if I can make the piping in a colour to contrast the bag it will give me an edge. Here's a pic of some keyrings that I did while messing with a new compressor and my skiver. All different weights, Made with what I could find amongst the leather.

@Novalee Before you confuse yourself with machines you need to think a bit more about what you might want to do in the future. If it's bags that you want to do (as I do mostly) working with thin leather is fine for bags that don't need to stand up but might limit your options in the future. Having said that, even the most robust bags like satchels and briefcases don't use uber thick leather and even then it's likely to be softer than the stuff some are using on here for their saddles, holsters, gunbelts, etc. Just saying your machine doesn't have to handle the thickest material and usually the price goes up with the thickness.

Welcome from a fellow Brit. Changing to a servo is a must and is pretty straightforward. You'll still want a speed reducer. Smallest pulley on the motor and either replace the handwheel with a large pulley or fit a speed reducer in between. Either way will enable one stitch at a time if that's what you want. Having College up the road will be very handy but they can be pricey, especially for original parts.

Use a straight edge, sew, cut off surplus.

As I wrote elsewhere, I ordered a compressor from Amazon and it arrived with a slightly damaged air filter. I reported it and told them it was the air filter, they asked me what I wanted to do and I said replace it with another. I think this was Tuesday. They then told me to view the returns label, the replacement would arrive on Thursday and someone would pick up the defective one on Saturday. I then spent a goodly amount of time trying to tell someone that a replacement air filter would suffice. There's nowhere on the site to do that. Amazon have things so slick that it's actually better (for them) to do one in/one out. Once I got over myself and stopped getting frustrated it dawned on me that I couldn't fault the service. They have things so dialed in that it would mean more faffing around to do it another way. Rant over. I have my new compressor and I've got it setup and it's working well. If I can nit pick just a little, I have my skiver working really well. It has only one motor but I can use it reeaally slowly and get a very good skive but the microswitch on the vacuum won't open unless I go just a tad faster. I have had it perfect but then the switch doesn't close completely. Like I said, nit picking. Maybe I'll sort it in the future. I'm happy.

Thanks for the info @ElfLeather. It's not an experiment I intend to repeat anytime soon. Too many variables. Worked on the dividers, didn't work on the feed dog. Being an ex fabricator/welder It's surprising I haven't had to use it before now. The mig is too handy and less faff where it can be used.

Update! I decided to go with the Hyundai 8ltr (above). I checked it out first on YouTube and there's a guy there who bought one from B&Q. It turned up with a dented air filter so he decided to return it. Had lots of problems cos was bought with some coupons some of which weren't B&Q. Took awhile to get a replacement and that was damaged also. I should point out that both times the problem was minor and the compressor itself was better than expected. I decided to run with the odds which is not like me because if I didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck at all. It turned up today and guess what? The air filter was dented. It wasn't bad at all but I decided to report to Amazon thinking they'd send a replacement air filter but Amazon doesn't work that way. No way to contact the seller and within minutes they were asking me to print out a returns label for the whole thing and giving me a date when someone would be picking it up. I'll probably cancel the return. Even I was impressed with the noise level and when I connected to the skiver it worked like a charm. Just have to fine tune it to come on when going really slowly. The small spray gun and airbrush are in my future.

Looks like a good solid job Keith. Is your brother that slim or does it need more holes/another keeper? The only belts I've ever made have been bog standard one piece jobbies. I was pondering on your build and I wondered if anyone had ever turned the edges on both pieces before glueing and sewing? Would it look cool or naff?

So, after it being fine with my big noisy compressor I've decided to go with a small dedicated one that'll double with an airbrush. so not knowing much about these things, which one of these should I go for, (or other)? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0CNQHPZWN/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3A26UX6N932Y5&psc=1 Hyundai Low Noise Electric Air Compressor, 550W Air Compressor, 4CFM, 100PSI Oil Free Air Compressor, 8 Litre Tank Capacity, 2 Year Warranty, Quick Release Fittings UK 13 Amp Plug, White : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

WELL! Just plugged the compressor into it and blow me, it works a treat. So thank you @RidgebackCustoms I wouldn't have tried it without your explanation. I'll try to get a video but in the meantime, rather than having a 35ft air hose running through the house, can someone please find me a cheapish quietish compressor? Well I tried but as you can see I'm no film maker. It's short but you can just see the waste bag shimmering. Also the black air hose on the floor. I can't believe that after all the time I've had it, all I had to do was plug it into the air. A feeble attempt to show the waste in the bottom of the bag. It's in there I promise.

I might just have to try it with the air to see if it's better. I've just noticed it's got a treadle activated on off micro switch. I was thinking the air had to be on continuously.

That is cool. So does that mean my system is worth a few bob then?

Had it stripped down today and removed the wiper. Couldn't find anything loose or wrong except the bar on the end of the con rod was missing which was strange must've fell out today else it wouldn't have worked. Had to move the intake a bit and elongate the hole co a couple chunkier bits didn't want to go down but apart from that it's been great. Might have to treat it to a new presser foot. Is there one that leaves the center and skives down both sides of say an inch wide to make a non piping piping if you know what I mean. I think Cechaflo does it by just skiving either side and leaving the middle.

Thanks for the info. More than I've received in two years of asking. I've decided to go the simplest way with my domestic (for now) vac and it's doing a good job. I need to put a different shape to the intake nozzle because some of the chunkier skivers can get caught up.

I'll certainly look at those redundant pieces Brian. I wondered what good the wiper was doing when I first got the machine. The video was taken because after the first try with the vac, I could hear it gobbling up the small piece I put through it but I couldn't see it. The video shows only the second small piece I put through it. The piece that was stuck in there was already there and I think was forced in there from a previous build up of waste. I'm rather more concerned with the movement of the bell and maybe other worn bit's. It moves with the speed of the bell. So much so that it can sometimes take a chunk out of the leather when speeded up after chugging along nicely. It does an excellent job if going slowly or at a medium speed but if you slip up and go faster it will give you a different depth of skive or even take a chunk of the leather. Are there adjustable or replaceable bearings that can be seen to? You can see the movement in the video.

Short answer is no but you can turn your work to do it with the needle down or needle up and manually manoeuvre the work 2/3 stitches back and go over again.

Sorry Keith. Tagged the pics on the end of @keithski122s answer. Thought it was you.

Tried em all. Have a rubber one now. Steel was the worst. pics: Vac nozzle. Great fit. Under table plate. Angled top of pipe (brown tape around it.)

I saw a few like that online but they were too small. Just as good a design as any if you're gonna make one though. The ones I saw had three pips though.

I'm made up me. Tried my little "Henry" vac which is very good. Undid one hose clamp and the end of the Henry was a beautiful push fit and it fitted in the available space like it belongs there. Literally within ten minutes I took a short vid to see if it was working. Watch this space.

I will admit to learning most of this stuff as well though forgotten most of it. Never used the try square one but used the compass method a lot. Also using a small leather patch to put the point on works as well. As an aside, talking about learning stuff, I needed the learning at one job I did. I was given the drawings of a water heater to accompany an enormous on site concrete mixer to cold climates. Was 9ft dia and a little taller with a chinese hat roof. Because my face didn't fit I had to make everything out of scrap 1/8th plate so lots of cutting and welding before I could even start. The fun started when the drawings only gave the apex of the roof so with only the radius to go by I had to make the overall diameter and then work out how much of a wedge to cut out to arrive at the required height. Good job I thrive on that shit.

I hate smart kids

Thanks Chuck.

Not talking about bending it. Were talking a quarter of a millimeter. A gentle tap is all that's needed on the end. Nothing to lose but if you're not comfortable...