RockyAussie

I think the previous owner has angle grind cut away that front section and if I am not wrong they have cut away the back section as well probably in order to get a deep bag to fit further in or something like that. Long and short that machine is not likely to hold up to much downward pressure without bending or breaking the hole cylinder arm apart. Spare parts is all I think it could be good for.

Hi @jimi, sorry for my late reply, I've been way too busy. The command you need to get the hang of is the loft command. Basically it is a fancy extrude. In simple explanation ...do a circle or any closed polygon shape on the plan base level. I always take a line out from the middle and go wide past the edge and make it another colour so it is easy to see. Go to front view then draw a line up to the height of your next level and again if you have 3 tiers in mind, do this out on the far side. Back to the plan view and do a smaller or larger oval or square as long as it is a closed polygon then Move the shape up to the level you want and repeat the process if you want 3 levels. If you are wanting this to say have 2mm walls then offset 2 mm on these shapes. Hit the loft command and select the base shape then the next level and then the next level then hit enter twice. Magic. You can also go to the top level first and down to the mid level and get a totally different solid shape. Have fun and check this video out -

Just my 2 cents...Some binding tapes are very bad on corners and some are wonderful even though they measure the same and the same applies with some leathers as well.

Great minds think alike?? I have been working on something very similar to that for the Cowboy machine and I think you have inspired me to get it up and going a bit quicker now. Are you happy with the feed in? I was thinking of a wider mouth at the start myself and sort of funnelling in as it goes a bit like the strap folder ones. I do have a new range of product on the go at the moment that calls for a LOT of custom made piping. Interesting idea and I might give that a go. Opening out for the tab ends should be as simple as not gluing up the first and last 2 inches I think. The pointed end should be easy to fit into and through the guide as well.

That is what I have been using as it allows for different thicknesses of leather as well as different size bottles and cans. 2mm and I get it 100 metre rolls.

Thanks @chrisash,Sounds interesting, I may give that a go. Thanks @Constabulary. I know you don't mean the video itself That is Soooob true and I should of known better really.

Looks pretty good to me. Why you not made friends with the class 4 yet?? should be perfect for that sort of job.

This is my latest video showing a quick and effective method for cutting and folding leather straps for handbags, purses and shoes etc. Please note this is showing my first trial tests of my folding guides checking them for size and performance. They worked well but as for me with a camera in one hand filming ........a bit clumsy I know. If this interests you think about subscribing as I will be doing a few more other videos over the next few weeks along these lines. The link -

I am thinking that the construction method may not help here. If the zip looks alright until you stitch the sides then it is the method. In case it helps here's a link to one of my video's showing something that may help.-

I presume you would have seen this before but in case not here is a link. (They do have a very good assortment of watch band gear) https://www.esslinger.com/bergeon-31227-watch-strap-cutting-plier/

I don't generally run any fabric full length but do so around the pins and buckle areas. This is a link to one of how I do them sometimes -

A patching machine is about the only type of machine that can do this sort of operation but.......some feed better than others. They only feed from the top and stitching through the shoe where you have you will come across a stiff heel counter in there which may be very difficult to get through in a tidy way. Getting even looking stitches with these type of machines takes a lot a practice and concentration and I recommend that you get a heap of various leather scraps and do a LOT of practice before you start on any shoes. Nice work there and I hope that you can master the technique required.

That is true if you wanted to do a fold it over in 1/2 again. It is quite easy to run them through and get an allowance to do that by having the strap cut less wide but in this case I have concentrated on bringing them together to meet as tight as possible in order to use as a strap as is if wanted and also I prefer to use 2 separate straps put together if I want more thickness. I think they look better that way and in many cases I am putting a top over skin as shown in the crocodile bag handles above. The main aim here is to do the job quickly, neatly and easily as possible. These straps take me a few minutes to make and I can show you many a video of makers/teachers? showing had to make these straps in time frames I could never recommend. I give credit to the person in this video for a lot of things that he shows and shares in his video's but the methods shown in this one just can't work for me.

Thanks for the info on that @Rahere .that folding devise looks pretty good in action. Not video's yet but here are a couple pics showing some strap folding with my folding tools.

I am working towards that but I am way quicker at designing stuff like this than I am at doing up video's to show case them unfortunately.

Yes they are and they work great once you get all of the design specs worked out. Video's coming soon. I am working on a range for the Cowboy strap cutter and folder combo machine at the moment and hope to get a few vids done shortly. The basic design is pretty easy to adapt to any machine and if you want to give me the width of strap and the thickness once folded I could make you them up for about $25 US dollars plus post (about $15 dollars to the states I think). Should be able to do quite a few sizes for the same postage cost. I would need the diameter of the rollers and the distance from the centre of the rollers to where you screw the folder plate down and the spacing between screws. Give me a week to get these video's done and I think you will be quite impressed.

Have you found a solution yet? I may be able to help. First make sure there are no bits of leather rubbish sticking to either of the 2 large wheels that the knife runs on as that will make the blade jump around and sharpen intermittently. Next make sure that the blade has not got any cracks through it and they can be hard to see. Turn the wheel slowly by hand and Carefully feel the top of the blade for any jumps. Where the blade is joined is often a place to watch for. There are a LOT of different things to adjust on these and sometimes a lot of knowledge is required when going from thick hard leather down to soft garment type leathers.

Thanks for the input @Rahere. That sound like what we would called a French edge this side of the pond. Not quite what I am talking about but this Video shows a good example I think - Unfortunately this is a bit outside of a lot of peoples price range. I would love to have one though. These are some of the guides I have made for my little folder below (they work very well and cost very little to produce) The guides at the back in this picture are made for my roller machine and the squarer shaped ones at the front are the new ones I am working on that don't need a roller machine. This shows some of the strap work on the handles and as well the leather strapping used with the patchwork. I will try and get a video done up showing them in use in the next few days.

WOW!!!! thanks @jimi that double needle juki set up is awesome but it would be great to see it doing some leather. Might be a little expensive though. The second vid is also showing a master of metalcraft in action and I can not help but admire his skills. Again it would have been good to see it folding some leather. I have been for some time printing some folders for my little folder rolling machine but I am starting to experiment with a design that does not need the rolling machine for those that want to do it by hand. (cheap, simple and efficient) Mostly I just want to see what other type of things people use to accomplish the job.

Thanks @Constabulary. They look nice but it would seem you would end up with an exposed edge on one side of the strap with them ones, which is hard to imagine what that would be useful for. I have been working on some folding pieces that fold into the middle but I would like to see if anyone has any special tools or methods for that process already. Sounds better than above except that one side would be one big fat fold and the other more of a joined look. I expect that the technique would be quite time consuming unless there are any tools that can do such a fold?

I am curious to see what sort of techniques and tools you would use to make folded leather straps such as used on a handbag?

I think the machine I did this on along time ago has been packed away but I can show you where on some other machines if that is of any help. As your model pulls downward to go into reverse it would need the spacer at the top. On the machines in these pictures the forward stitch has the rod at the bottom and reverse is at the top. Note that on this 441 style machine that the plate that the stitching adjustment rod goes through is wider at the top to reduce the stitch length in reverse. It is common on these machines for people to further increase this measurement with a wedge to get a better reverse stitch length. On this old 331 Pfaff I have taken the plate on the front off all together to obtain a longer stitch length. This involved a LOT of checking first to be sure that the dog foot length etc would not go longer than the hole would allow. This allowed quite a lot wider stitch length than standard and I have had no issues in over 20 years with it. In this 335 style machine where I am pointing I could put in a spacer under this plate to reduce the forward length stitch in comparison to the reverse stitch length. By spacer I mean something on the one end to angle the plate. Some people use a washer. Myself I would print up a plate once I determined exactly how much angle it needed. A spring under the screw would be great if there were room as that would allow for variations if need be. Note that at the top in this case also has a wider section to correct the stitch length in reverse. Now this Adler below has one interesting feature in that it has an adjustable stopper to set which stops the forward stitching from being able to go longer than it is set to. Now if the forward stitch is limited by this stopper and the rod adjustment nut is turned out further then the reverse stitch length is free to still have a longer stitch in reverse depending on how far the nut is opened out. Note: on this machine the reverse plate gets smaller at the top instead of wider. (Just something to think about) I hope that this is of some help.

Firstly I must thank @Uwe for his fantastic help to us all and his excellent video work. I can't say my answer here is all that good but here goes.....I ran into a similar problem on a different machine and how I fixed it was by putting a spacer under the plate that the stitch length adjustment rod goes through. By putting a spacer at the top you would stop the adjustment rod going up so high thus making the back stitch length shorter and conversely by putting a spacer at the bottom you would limit the forward stitch length whilst not affecting the reverse stitch length. You could possibly wind the knob back a couple of notches every time you went into reverse but the spacer idea would cut out the need to do this once you get the spacing right. Bad side to this solution is that you may lose a little off of the maximum stitch length going forward perhaps.

Could be done if you are very mechanically minded but unless you have plenty of time to play with, you would be better off getting what you need from the start.Keep in mind that a bell skiver well set up can be used as a splitter quite well as well and that can save you a lot of floor space in the end. I had an early Fortuna many years back that operated the same as the machines you are looking at and was very happy to be rid of it. They can be modded up to have a separate motor for the bell and a separate suction which will take up more space but I would think it better to spend my time making money and not wasting it. Campbell Randall also stock the roller feet you may want for better skiving. If you have not checked my video's on skiving I would have a look as it will show one in operation and better than most others can achieve I must add.

They look to me to be pretty much all the same but I would not be buying any of them myself in a hurry as none here come with an aspirator (suction device) Also I have a great preference to having the blade spinning at all times as I find I get neater results. When the feed is a slow start on these so is the blade spin and that in my past experience is not a good thing. I would recommend having a look at this Techsew model https://www.techsew.com/en/catalog/product/view/id/1164/s/techsew-sk-4-leather-skiving-machine-with-vacuum-suction-device/ or even better perhaps something like this FAV AV2 at Campbell Randall but with the vacuum working. You can see at about 20 minutes why the vacuum is worth having.