DrmCa

Finished 2 'cheese cutter' caps with the peaks wrapped in similar nubuck.

Wow, nice! Great taste and masterful tooling.

Wow, thanks for sharing, Art! I was looking for something similar for ages.

It has regular throat plate, but I cannot swear for the foot set and feed dog as the picture is grainy around them.

Still costs arm and a leg, and I forgot to mention that there is no space for another full size machine table in the house. I will be making a desktop skiver, with built in motor and holding itself in place by its own weight.

I mounted optics from an old fax machine in the glasses frame w/o lenses and that gives about 20-30 magnification at very close range.

Did anyone ever try to build a skiving machine? I cannot afford spending CDN$750 plus tax on a used bell knife skiving machine which would be the most economical option. But I have a welder son, a lathe and a 3500 RPM 450 Wt motor from a dishwasher. I want to try building a machine with a flat rotary knife and bought a HSS slitting saw blade off eBay, this one: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/80mm-OD-3mm-Thickness-72T-HSS-Milling-Cutter-Slitting-Saw-Blade-/351220948325?hash=item51c6665d65:g:Qw0AAOSwyQtV4dxW with the intent to grind off the teeth and sharpen it to a concave shape, then mount it on the motor shaft. The motor would be mounted at about 20-30 degree angle so that the blade would cut off just the strip at the edge that I need. I did not plan how exactly to guide leather through the knife and adjust the guide, it's in the contemplating stage yet. Any critique or tips?

I routinely stitch everything from finest Mirabella and nubuck to heavy upholstery leather on a cylinder arm Pfaff 335 and recommend a cylinder arm. If you buy a cylinder arm machine now, it will save you from spending more money once you realize you need it, and from the headache of finding space for a 2nd machine, or having to sell the flat bed one.

That's a monster of a pulley! I want something similar, but light - in Aluminum. Maybe casting my own.

Very nice, I love the colors and tooling.

Where did you get 8" pulley for the head? I think you are pushing it with 2x9oz.

My sentiment is that it should depend on weight and hardness of leather. If you feel that yours is too light or soft, put the screw through 2 layers, otherwise hide it under the lining.

Word of caution regarding the bike frames. These days they seem to be made of regular 1018 as they feel too soft. The only tubular parts in the bikes that seem to be made of high carbon or alloy steel are the steering shaft and seat shaft. Wicks Aircraft sells 4130 seamless steel tubing in several shapes and many sizes, so if you are making your own tools, they are a good source of steel.

Sold and shipped!

To make things more complex, there are 4-lead 3 phase motors, where you connect one or the other lead to the phase via a capacitor. So 3 lead motors are usually a breeze to work with.

This bag looks so good!

Paypal or if you are in Canada you can use EMT.

I bought those by mistake and have no use for them (until I will start making wallets or clutches, which is beyond horizon). These were made by Ningbo Pasco in China and their p/n is PIN-047 4MM. All 500 for $10. My wild guesstimate is that they will set nicely on no thicker than 4oz leather but do not hold me to it! These will ship at lettermail rate in a padded envelope.

This is how the 3 phase motors reverse - by putting the capacitor to one or the other phase. If the motor runs at the same RPM w/o overheating, you've done nothing wrong.

Very nice! I love everything, including the shape of the straps - you have great taste!

Sounds like one of the V belts in the reducer is slipping?

The only reason why the machine may keep spinning after you shut off the motor is that the brake clutch in the motor is not engaged. Is the brake applied if you remove the rod connecting motor lever with the pedal?

Did you rivet the handle straps to the body?

I stand corrected! Pfaff 335 is a needle feed machine after all. Apparently I never looked ad the needle movement from 90 degree angle yet! Looking for a "slap on the head" smilie... Here!

That makes a big difference, of course my question arose from not knowing that your sandals were so unique.