Just bought an American leather splitter... Not working for me.

[AWORKOFMARC]

Please forgive my noob status and ignorance. I just bought an American leather splitter, beautifully refurbished. But I am unable to split the leather --i must be completely retarded because I thought all you had to do was set the gauge for the thickness and crank the handle, feeding the leather in from the back.

No matter what lever/gauge setting .. and I've tried several, right down to the tightest. I see the roller moving well in conjunction with the thickness level but the 5/6 oz leather just feeds through, coming out the bottom entirely unscathed, must less split with any finished split piece coming out the top.

When he showed me the machine in the back of his truck there was a piece of sample leather, already having been fed in the machine to show me the thinness --it was about 1mm form an 8/9 oz sample.

 

Edited January 21 by AWORKOFMARC

[DieselTech]

Beautiful looking piece of machinery. Congrats on the new splitter. 

I'm no help to you, but you sure got a nice looking piece of machinery.

[Wepster]

 

[AWORKOFMARC]

After reading thruogh the link (TY for posting) I'll look at adjusting the tension. But no matter what thickness I fed through it same outcome..  I hope I didn't get a lemon.

Heres a pic of the rollers... I see how its off kilter a bit too...

 

 

[Aven]

Restoration means cleanup, and parts replacement if needed, it doesn't necessarily mean setup and ready to go.  Have you looked at the blade to make sure it's sharp?

[AWORKOFMARC]

Yes, sir, its sharp. I'll play with it today... tension screws etc.

[bruce johnson]

I could write a book on adjusting these but it's Sunday and I'm not feeling the greatest. Lets see if we can narrow this down and make life easier - I am sure it is just adjustments. You are trying to put something through this machine it was never intended for but can be adjusted to do. 

 

What kind of leather are you trying to split?

How big is the gap from the blade edge to the bottom roller?

If you move the top adjustment to thinnest setting, how far apart are the top and bottom rollers?

Is the blade all the way forward to the stops inside? Loosen the hold down clamps and center screw and slide it forward. It should hit the stops at both corners of the blade. Back off the back-up screws about 1/4 to 1/2 turn. 

You mentioned "off-kilter". Which roller or both?

Let's get you splitting here

[AWORKOFMARC]

Sorry, sucks that you don't feel well, so doubly thank you for taking the time.

What kind of leather are you trying to split? 
As a test 5/6 oz leather - but really anything. The main idea was to have a machine I didn't have to arm wrestle with like the hand splitter where you're pulling it through by hand. Which seems to work fine for anything less than 2" wide. I wasn't aware this American would require finessing micro settings manually.  This guy in the video at the bottom made it look so easy stating "Split to 25 thousandths of an inch"

How big is the gap from the blade edge to the bottom roller?
I've varied that using the 2 square spring bolts at the bottom. When I first got it that bottom roller was so far up it didn't allow the top roller down enough to thereby allow the level gauge all the way to the end/thinnest setting. By lowering that bottom bar and moving the blade out as far as it allows it allows the gauge to move more to the left/thinnest.

If you move the top adjustment to thinnest setting, how far apart are the top and bottom rollers?
Pics attached to show where it is now. Big gap a little less than a quarter inch, blade all the way out.

Is the blade all the way forward to the stops inside?
No all the way out.

Loosen the hold down clamps and center screw and slide it forward. It should hit the stops at both corners of the blade. Back off the back-up screws about 1/4 to 1/2 turn.
I'll do that now.  The back up screws are...?  The 2 sideways top facing forward in front of the blade?

You mentioned "off-kilter". Which roller or both?
It appears the off-kilter was due to the bottom roller one side being slightly higher, with a slight adjust to one side of the the square spring bolts corrected that.

I took the blade completely off to inspect. Despite there being a couple flea bites on the cutting edge, I was able to knife slice a piece of 4mm leather like butter so I know that's sharp. So we can rule out a dull blade.

Let's get you splitting here
Thanks for taking the time.

 

 

Edited January 21 by Northmount
Moved out of quote box

[AWORKOFMARC]

 

This is the blade all the way forward. Not sure what back up screws are.

The more I am into it everything on this appears to work flawlessly mechanically. The gears glide smoothly, all parts move as they're supposed too. The blade is extremely sharp so it comes down to t0otal NOOB operating ignorance. I haven't the patience. I'm just a small hobbyist and this was a splurge spend.  It's easier just to buy the right weight leather  to begin with and I'm not seeing myself ever being so busy this is a necessity ---so that said....

Coming up -- One nicely refurbished American Splitter for sale $1,400.

 

Edited January 21 by AWORKOFMARC

[DieselTech]

2 hours ago, AWORKOFMARC said:

 

This is the blade all the way forward. Not sure what back up screws are.

The more I am into it everything on this appears to work flawlessly mechanically. The gears glide smoothly, all parts move as they're supposed too. The blade is extremely sharp so it comes down to t0otal NOOB operating ignorance. I haven't the patience. I'm just a small hobbyist and this was a splurge spend.  It's easier just to buy the right weight leather  to begin with and I'm not seeing myself ever being so busy this is a necessity ---so that said....

Coming up -- One nicely refurbished American Splitter for sale $1,400.

 

Are you going to sell this now, if soo I might have a home for it. Thats if you are in the U.S & shipping wont kill me. 

Thanks.

[bruce johnson]

1). The blade edge needs to be about 1/16” or so from the bottom roller when it is centered over the roller. Any more than that and the leather slides right under. 
2). if changing the along tension moves the bottom roller, it is not assembled correctly. there should be two jam nuts on the threaded studs and they should be up against the bottom of the frame. The springs allow for expansion and the roller to drop if you are taking off more than the 1/16” gap. Those nuts are what allows the gap and side-to-side leveling the bottom roller

3). there should be vertical tabs on the blocks and cover the bottom roller shaft goes through. The blade needs to be up against those stops to set the position. Then back off very slightly so the blade corners aren’t rubbing on them. That blade appears to either be short, the stops are gone, or something funky. The blade rest  on Americans is longer than a Landis and the blades don’t hang over as far, but ideally should hang over some. That is the purpose of the two screws on the back  is to keep the blade in position and not slide back with pressure. The bevel up or down on the blade?

4). Too much gap between the top and bottom roller to push thin leather. Dial in the bottom roller setting first. Then drop the top roller. There are two threaded slotted studs on the top with a jam nut. Loosen the nut, screw the studs down on each side and tighten the jam nut when you like the roller position.

try this first and let me know
 

[AWORKOFMARC]

Part of this is just not knowing what tabs on blocks are or jam nuts or stops... and not having a diagram that spells it out. I haven't found any manual. So. that said. Here's some pics

I've positioned the blade forward to meet those little square tab stops and then backed of just a hair so the blade is not touching.  The Jams (or what I think are jams) are not actually against the bottom of the frame as seen in the pics.

How do I bring the bottom roller up --proper?  By turning the square bolts? Or the jams?  I was able to make it move up and down using the square bolts -- so is that how I close the gap properly  to 1/16th inch between the blade and the roller by using those square bolts?

[AWORKOFMARC]

Here's from the back side -- using the square bolts to bring the bottom roller up. the leather still drops down and comes out the bottom --nothing thru the top. So I tighten the gap a wee bit more and then the leather won't even come through as if it's not being gripped enough by the bottom roller to push it through the bottom or top.... but then if I turn the square bolts and bring the roller up too far it seems to meet the blade and not allow the handle freedom to turn and I'm being baby gentle with this bc I don't want to damage the blade.

Edited January 21 by AWORKOFMARC

[AWORKOFMARC]

1 hour ago, DieselTech said:

Are you going to sell this now, if so I might have a home for it. Thats if you are in the U.S & shipping wont kill me. 

Thanks.

If it comes to that I'll let you know... also considering to ask him to allow a return if I can't figure it out here.

[DieselTech]

6 minutes ago, AWORKOFMARC said:

If it comes to that I'll let you know... also considering to ask him to allow a return if I can't figure it out here.

Keep me in mind. If you decide to send it back or send it down the road. 

Thanks. Hope you get it figured out & can use it.

[bruce johnson]

To adjust the bottom roller, here is how I do it. I loosen the jam nuts first (like yours already are). I tighten the square head bolts to push the roller up almost to the blade if not kissing it. Then I tighten the jam nuts up against the frame to pull the blade down and set the gap. Tighten the two jam nuts against each other to hold that position. Then a test and if I need more pressure I tighten the square heads to compress the springs more.

for thinner leather you will probably need to drop the top roller some also. 

 

[AWORKOFMARC]

So at least it splits leather... TY Bruce!

This is where I am -- it seems to split --kind of. I'm sure it comes down to now finessing the settings to get more even splits. the first attempt after making the adjustments was the best --the tan color longer split at the right side. The rest after that got mangled as you can see. I dunno if that's because they're pull up more oily or why..

 

Edited January 21 by AWORKOFMARC

[bruce johnson]

These splitters were designed for dense stiff shoe sole leather. They will do vegtan and stiffer latigo well. Much softer and the leather can wad up against the blade and not split evenly 

[AWORKOFMARC]

22 minutes ago, bruce johnson said:

These splitters were designed for dense stiff shoe sole leather. They will do vegtan and stiffer latigo well. Much softer and the leather can wad up against the blade and not split evenly 

 

What a very fine gentleman you are for walking me through this --all the while you did not feel good. Well... I hope my pain helped take your mind off your pain hahah.  Seriously.. I learned a ton here and I now know how they operate. 

It's good guys like you make these forums worth it for us retardo-noobs. If I had known the splitter was specifically made for the stiffer leathers it would have saved all of us. But. Here we are. I hope this thread lives on because your guidance has been incredibly generous and patient and there's a lot of good info for the next guy..

Feel better fast Sir! If there's anything I can do lmk.
Marc

Edited January 22 by AWORKOFMARC