RockyAussie

Just a note on that point, previously I used to use the the hand knife you see in the 4th picture and swipe through with 2 or 3 swipes. This took a lot longer and I had to resharpen probably about 8 to 10 times to do this amount. I only needed to polish the tip of it once for this lot and the round knife I polished twice. I barely touch the cutting table at all as once the cut is started I pull the strip up a bit and the knife just slides along the scribe mark. This is NOT mellow leather either.

70 more shoulders to straighten up and here is my latest improvement on cutting method. The main change is is that I have secured the straight edge(40mmx5mm flat mild steel) down on one end with a screw with a 1/8" thick bit of leather between the cutting surface and steel.This keeps one end firmly held while I push in my scribe cut. the other advantage is that by putting a Nikko line mark on the table i can quickly see where the leather has to cover and line up to.I often see people asking how to get straight cutting here and something similar may help. Hope the following pics help explain better. Job was easier to do but the time still took nearly 2 hours. Maybe I was just bludging!!!

Whatever thickness you want the leather to be in making a book cover or a purse a wallet or a handbag, you cut a strip of the same leather normally about 20mm or 3/4" wide and longer than needed a fair bit. Use this to surround the object as you would want it to sit and mark it then measure.The object is, that by using the same leather it will be the right thickness on the curves and what is near impossible to get in Auto Cad, it will stretch to length close to the right amount. In time if you use the same type and thickness of material a lot you can just put on more permanent ruler measurements.

You got my vote either way sound good, But I reckon he'd miss all the fun here tooo much

Second thought.... if we git ta pick, let's git a gurl Are you for real???? No Way!!!!! I'm looking down the all activity column this week saw from one of esteemed (VIP) lady members and all I see is "No". .........I had to resist real hard not ta just respond to that ya know.

Hi Roger If your tension is intermittent you will probably find it is a worn presser foot. It allows the shoe or article to lift a bit on the right and therefore the knot shows at the bottom. Unfortunately when I last looked for a new one the cost was over $400 Aus. If you find any at a better price please let me know. Regards Brian

Yes I agree Tom, often when you would like to help, knowing where a person is at, State or at least Country could make the advice a bit more relevant. I was discussing a splitter/skiver machine the other day and had a look online and there in Miami I see a Fortuna style skiver for $850. I thought that was worth mentioning but probably not if you live in Africa or Australia or............ Here for anyone anyway is the link http://www.miamisewing.com/specials/special machines.htm Regards Brian

Just a note on the keepers. The smokey look looks OK when new but in my experience it is a paint type finish that does not hold up well against scratching. A proper brushed nickel finish holds up way better. Wedgetail I f your up this way I have a lot of buckles and keepers in this finish that I will not use and you can have if you want. They cost a bit more but check out Harry at Mr Buckleshttp://www.mrbuckles.com.au/index.html If the quantity is a problem let me know. Oh for that thickness leather the holes are fine in my opinion.

OK . Unless anyone has something better to offer up what I would suggest is get some either spirit dye or raven oil and try a small patch first. If not good take another sample and soak and wash in hot water with a little detergent. Let this go near to dry then soak in the dye if your happy for a full dye cover. Take out and let dry fully then wipe the face and most likely dye again. If this works for you make sure you cut out your working pieces oversize a bit. What country are you in? It may be possible to send me a little swatch.

There are a few ways to colour it possibly. When you say you cant dye it what Happens?What dye are you trying to use? Will water soak in to the top grain side at all? Does it have a greasy or extra slippery feel? Will it take up black dye and is that an option?Make sure the wrinkles go in the same direction as the length of the knife.

Another tip, the cotton bud plastic is something I've used in my watch bands for the pin to go into. They are easy to cut with a sharp knife. For edge coating I use a bit of 3/8" green sponge foam cut to shape at the tip and a stainless egg cup. A belt length with practice will take about 20 seconds with practice.

Sacrilege!!!! how many bikes cost less than a Grand(that are worth having)? You can use the bell knife skiver to split with as well by doing several passes and a lot of fancy shaping as well if look into it. Other than a good sewing machine (cylinder) this would be my next most important purchase. Its not like a lot of tools where you are not likely to get your money back either.

Like Tinker Tailor said. I would not even try this with just moulded Veg as a beginner and I doubt you would get something along that line of snap on attachment to work for any length of time by even the best people here. I would like to be proved wrong.I have heat and vacuum moulded plastic to achieve something similar and to explain the method in the end would take too long unless you have already a lot of this type of equipment. Best wishes Brian

As you described they are pretty much just that. I have had in the past a few types and if all you really want to do is skive mellow veg they are not to bad, but if you ever want to split/skive any soft or thinish stuff your in trouble and taking out the blade to sharpen it sure pysoff pretty quick. Wasting your money on a lot off this stuff I believe and I wish I had gotten at least a Fortuna skiver right from the start and saved a lot of money and agro. Make sure that it has an aspirator (suction device for extracting the waste). 2nd hand generally about 1k or less but new not to bad if you shop around. If that's all to much you wont go too wrong following something along my Multisander adaptation.I hope to do up a new updated version of same this Christmas, and I will post some plans. Tom posted an interesting one last week but the time to do is something to consider if you are paying yourself anything worthwhile.

Honest I wasn............well...... read your subject heading!!!!!!What about a nice level vacume table to hold the leather all down flat and an electric wood planer suspended on an adjustable drop down ...........No i reckon your idea should work OK

Nuther idea... Get that blade and put in some elongated holes about 3/8" to 1/2" long like in an electric knife and set one end up to attach to an electric jigsaw. I think that could be easier and prolong the need for sharpening a lot but would still have to be taken out for sharpening occasionally. Should we patent this? Ha bugger everyone knows now

Well If you got that amount of time on yr hands..... why not get a bandsaw and turn it on its side, nock the teeth off and sharpen it, pully up the hand crank on the wringer. Remember to leave room for a strap folder to feed through the wringer as well. Ha whala. Honest I would do it sept I already got 2 bandknife splitters.

Hi AngieSA, I believe I have one of these in storage. The punch section you see is interchangeable with a lot of other different punches. It operates a bit like a sewing machine and you offer the leather up and just sew along punching holes. One I have does brogue holes (1large and 2small holes). You need to get a cardboard tape made about 1mm thick and 12 or 13mm wide I think and feed it under the gaps in the base. This is for the punches to punch into but not right through and it feeds along with the job.The brass coloured thing adjusts the length of gap from memory. If you need some pics or whatever let me know.

Hi Darren, What machines does this fit onto and how many$? I know that I have found the roller style much better behaved and less need for maintenance than the solid type of feet.

When you put your insole down to the mid sole lift the toe up so it wants to stay up before glueing down the sole. The lack of flex in the sole is I think likely to be an issue that transfers to the straps digging in to much.That 2nd sole should be soft and flexi if even used at all. Look at a well worn sandal and imitate that shape a bit is ideal.

Hi Alex, I am curious if you sorted this problem out. I had not seen this post before. I have several of these mostly in storage but if you need I could have a look a try and let you know how. If it is still not working right please tell me what is happening when you slowly wind it over and if you can send me a picture of the front with needle to hook relationship.Note: a big thing that makes them stitch badly is when the wear foot that the needle goes through is badly worn and angled.This will give a lot of misses in the stitching.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. (unless you wrote those thousand words I'd reckon).

For the sharpening if you have a belt sander or even a disc sander you can do something like in this link following, only difference I do is follow with a hit on the rag wheel and Tripoli polish. Round hole ones only of course.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLHKVj6na6g

Looks in pretty good nick for something of that age. I had one similar once, maybe still do somewhere.The 2 lock nuts have an extended barrel on and are probably done up. As these wear down they can get a little grabby and backing it out may help a bit but check there is no slippery looking bits on the clutch and fine sandpaper off if there is.