Arttu

You can do double stitching with a single needle machine, it just takes a little longer and some practice to get the spacing correct. A lot of high end bespoke shoemakers use single needle machines. I personally use a Pfaff 193-5B (single needle, post bed, wheel feed) for shoemaking and have never even considered a double needle machine.

Hello! First post on these forums! I make shoes and boots as a hobby and recently acquired a skiving machine. It's an old machine branded "Moenus". I can't find much information on the company, but I know the company is German and has been around for awhile (I'm not sure if they are still in business). The machine was rebuilt by a machinist and machine enthusiast who dabbles with leather work every now and then. He had replaced all the bearings in the machine and in the motor and repainted both. Judging from the underside of the machine, the colour matches the original paint. I looks like he had even machined some new parts for it, and the machine has a new Fortuna bell knife on it. What I like the most about the machine is the small custom table he had built for it. It has little wheels and even little retractable handles, so it takes up very little space and is easy to move around. As for now, I work in a corner of my small apartment so having a full size skiving machine with a large table was not an option (well, I wouldn't mind but my wife might). My first thought was that it's a re-branded Fortuna, but I have no way of telling for sure. Just from looking at it closely, I can tell that it must be at least 40-50 years old, but I can't find any dates or information on how to read the serial number. It has the original power switch which is made of bakelite. Bakelite hasn't really been used since the 50's as far as I know. The motor is a German one branded "Georgii Kobold" and seems to be original. The motor is set up as 3-phase 380v, but I only have single phase 230v available in my apartment. I might try setting it up with a capacitor (the motor sign says its 220/380v so it should be possible, although it might lose too much power). If I have to use another motor, I think I'll set it up with a continuously running knife and pedal feed on the feed wheel (either with a servo motor or a normal one with scr/pwm power modulation). Making shoe uppers means skiving small curved pieces that require a lot of precision so a slow feed is desirable. I paid 300 euros for the machine which is roughly $345. The price seemed fair considering it's a rebuilt machine, but confirmation on that would be nice, haha. My question is; does anyone have any information on Moenus or this particular machine? I'd love to know how old the machine is. Also, input on dealing with the motor is greatly appreciated. I've included photos of the machine.