RockyAussie

Teflon are a fair bit better but I like the roller way more. You may be able to buy some teflon tape and try it. Brian

To not go and waste a heap of time answering a whole heap of variable methods and their pluses and minuses I would suggest advising what sort of a retail price you hope to achieve and what you think a band to suit would cost you. I have made many different types for different purposes and on some more expensive watches the deployment type clasp may be preferred and so on. The actual skin types used and the variety also has a bearing in the method best used to manufacture. Croc skin with folded edges is difficult and therefore more costly. If price is important then none of the videos I've seen here or elsewhere would be anywhere close to realistic in time to produce. A stitched watch band is best for sure. Marketing and a name brand count for a lot I have to say. One of the biggest brands I have made for has sold into Nieman Marcus and Sachs amongst others and is also one of the quickest and easiest bands I've ever done. Was their design and the silverware on it made it extra nice.are you yet able to post any pics of the watch? Below are a few of the bands I have done some low cost some not.Regards Brian

Ok I checked into the 34mm roller and yes I see it. I cant think why they make it as I have never wanted a shorter feed and if anything a longer feed would be better. As far as their feet go I cant say to be sure if there would be any problems in using their 34mm roller on a 50mm wheel. About 20 or so years back when I am not sure if they even made roller feet I made my own, even before I had a lathe. See in pictures below. They start off as a common foot that comes normally with the machines and I just got a bit of round brass and drilled a hole in the middle and smoothed off a nail made for hammering into concrete. I then cut down the foot to fit with a hacksaw and filed and sanded up then drilled it out to take the nail. To stop the nail turning I ground a flat on the side of the nail then drilled and tapped the side of the foot to put a small bolt to touch the nail.The pics should explain mostly I think. It needs some oil in the hole every now and then. Once I had the brass on the nail and installed I just ground it down to shape comparing it to the feed wheel roller. It does not have to be as an exact match as you might think and it is easy to take of the machine and re sand a bit if you think it is needed. After a few years of heavy use they can get a little sloppy but that does not matter much as when the job feeds through it just moves up and ends up straight anyway. Have some fun. Brian

G'day back to you Hennessy. Yes it is a salty backstrap (porosus) skin. Contact glue is what is used and probably because that is all I ever used in years of shoe making and repairs. Years of sweat does take its toll though as you can see. Many customers do buy a new one again but still like to have their old favourite repaired anyway. I myself generally don't get to be the seller and whatever arrangements they do is their business I just like to assist if I can. Normally if the belt looks cared for I fix it for free but whether the seller charges or not is another matter. The seller gets better than double I do so I figger some of the good will needs to come from them as well. I hope that someone puts their hand up soon but so far no takers. Price I have to say is up to the buyer and what ever he is willing to pay. Regards Brian

Thanks for the try Tom. When you go to my profile section across the top there are 3 sections and in the third there is albums. This is where I am trying to post the pictures so that they are visible if people if they care to look there. I am trying to do this so as to not crowd out the gallery section with pics I have posted before in activity threads and some more relevant to how something is made. The aim would be when answering someone's thread that I could refer them to that section rather than chewing up data space repetitively posting pics on LW. I am sorry that I am a complete 1/2 wit with this techy stuff and at the end I guess I could just go ahead and have them all show in the gallery. Thanks again for your help here and for all the help you give to this site as well. Brian

Hi Adam, I am only aware of one size feed wheel. They can come in a few different types as in fine and coarser stones and likewise in steel and even in rubber but as far as length and diameter they are all the same as far as I have ever seen. The bell is a set shape and the feed has to match. The shorter length roller yo mention should give you a bit more angle if you need and the 50mm would be better for splitting purposes as it may require less passes. The one I have shown in the video above is about 31mm long and due to its shape being bigger on one end I can angle it a lot for grooving out as well. I don't know if this link will help but it shows the foot I used in the video.Best of luck Brian https://ko.aliexpress.com/item/2pcs-Roller-Presser-Foot-For-Skiving-Leather-Machines-nippy-fotuna-taiking-801-parts-kit-best-Quality/32782944504.html?spm=2114.53010508.4.103.7VVEtX

No bites on this yet???

Sorry for the boring crocodile backstrap pictures I am trying to get them to load into my profile section where I hope to be able to direct people to see them if they wish. I find sometimes when answering a persons topic question that I find it useful to show a picture or series of that sometimes I have probably loaded before. Rather than chew up data space etc I would like to just post these pictures just the once in my albums in my profile section only. Hope this is making some sense and any help with this would be appreciated. Brain

No stitching. The bumps you see are bone inside and although you could stitch some areas the needle deflection and breaking makes it impossible. The bones often go out to the edge. Some of the belts still look new after 10+ years and some like this worn everyday since 2008 come apart. The top as Wiz says needs to be sanded back and a new backing attached. As the top is normally pulled out of shape I normally attach the top down onto a wider strip pulling the top around to get back into shape somewhat then trim the backing down to the top size. This then normally gets sanded along the edges and rounded then followed by edge coating and ironing. The holes get redone after with an oblong hole punch.I normally do this job for around $50.00au (about $40.00usd) but with shipping and Cities and customs etc the costs get to be a headache getting back here and back there. I am happy to advise and give pictures on the process further if needed. If anyone feels confident and interested to do the job please PM your contact details for me to give to the customer to contact you. Thanks Brian

I dont think so Adam. My wife for years pushes the peddle forward on the Fortuna so that the clutch is lightly engaged and we have not had any problems. I on the other hand generally prefer to have the off so it tends to go back and forth either way a lot. The picture below shows the foot pedal which is quite heavy and can be pushed forward to engage the clutch partly or fully if you want. The FAV machine I have has a screw at the back to set the clutch to where ever you want the speed to run at and again no problems.

Have need of a good leather worker/repairer preferably around Seattle WA that feels confident in doing a repair on one of the belts I made around 2008 as shown in the pictures below. The backing needs replacing and is around 4 to 5 oz. I have included a new belt picture to help understand. Any recommendations as to who has the skills would be greatly appreciated. Brian

It is amazing the similarities in wood working and it has helped a lot with many different ways that I have approached how I go about making the leather work that I now do. Wood machining was my first trade. Brian

Here is the pictures and dimensions of the line up tool in a pdf file. I should point out that most of this device could be made in timber, mostly 2x1 dressed pine I think except that I would use a bit of 3mm aluminium at the line up edge just screwed to the timber. There are 2 pages and the second has most of the dimensions of the one I made here. The top is 2 layers of 16mm (5/8") MDF craftwood in order for it to take a good pounding as you see it does in the video. The top has also been covered in a sheet of teflon in order to allow the products to slide around easily.The centre slide section I have done in aluminium as it is straight as a ruler and easy to keep clean of glue deposits. Hope that gives you all that's needed and any questions just ask. Brian Line up tool.pdf

Ah Ha now I understand. That would probably be easier and I look forward to seeing or hearing how it works out. I'd give you hand to get it out but it's a little bit too far away. best regards Brian

I think you may mean the knife continuously? The blade always running at full speed works best. Sounds like a very good pick up for the price anyway. Brian

I've used open and closed and I have not had much problems with either. The product being made and what it does for for it is more the issue as to which to use. Open or closed come in a wide range of soft to hard ranges.What type of product are you wanting to pad. Brian

I checked out one of these and I think the quick change is excellent and the overall quality looks good as well. I'm not sure about cutting spacers out of pvc pipe as the steel and aluminium ones I have made need to be lathe finished to size to get dead square and to the finish length as well. Holding pvc pipe in a lathe to cut would be hard to do because as the jaws tighten the pipe will distort. A sharp tip will cut in and upset the alignment and a blunt one will give an unreliable cut to size. Aside from those issues I would be concerned about how long they would hold up to wear and tear. With mine I have a heap of thin spacers for adding up to the sizes I want if needed. They go about 1/2mm,1mm,2mm and 3mm and so on.Metric or not it should not matter much. I am sure you will like that wide cut on that machine. Brian