Landis 30 Misfeeding Leather

[JustKate]

I wonder if one of you guys with any experience with a Landis 30 crank splitter can help me troubleshoot a feed problem I'm having with mine. Here's a photo to show what it's doing:

The rollers tend to grab more on the right side than they do on the left, and eventually it just crumples the leather into a useless wad. I have just sharpened the blade, and it's cutting very smoothly, so I'm pretty sure I've ruled that out for now. It appears to me the problem is with the roller tension or something that affects how the rollers move. I've been adjusting the roller tension (and adjusting, and adjusting) for two hours and wasted lot of leather testing the adjustments, but it just keeps doing the same thing.

Anyone got clue what might be the cause/solution of this problem?

Thanks!

Kate

Edited March 26, 2011 by JustKate

[JustKate]

Okay, now after a little more trial and error with adjusting the roller tension (because there is not thing one in the manual about how to do this properly), the leather feeds equally on the left and the right.

But now the middle won't feed.

Kate

[JustKate]

Just spent another hour and a half fussing around with it... more sharpening, more adjusting, a few more square feet of trashed leather... Still no luck.

I guess if nobody has any ideas, the next stop will be Tuttle Creek Dam. It might at least feel good seeing it hit the rocks on the way down into the water.

Kate

[Luke Hatley]

Just spent another hour and a half fussing around with it... more sharpening, more adjusting, a few more square feet of trashed leather... Still no luck.

I guess if nobody has any ideas, the next stop will be Tuttle Creek Dam. It might at least feel good seeing it hit the rocks on the way down into the water.

Kate

Kate i thought mabey Bruce J would be on line to help.why not send him a P M.

[Kevin]

How does the machine do with heavier leather? What you're trying to split is pretty thin already and these machines are designed for splitting sole leather. I have one at home that will split very thin and one at work that won't go less than about 4 oz. dependably.

Good luck,

Kevin

[bruce johnson]

Kate i thought mabey Bruce J would be on line to help.why not send him a P M.

I have never been wealthy enough to get more than one Landis 30 and then somebody with more money bought it pretty quick. That put me back to looking for and buying another American. I have been thinking about it for a day and my bulb is still pretty dim. It has to be a tension, blade, or feedroller issue. One side or the other feeding and I'd think that tension is the problem, but if the blade is not square with the roller that could do it too. The blade being too far back from the rollers and softer leather can cause some funny feeding too, but I suspect the Landis has stops too to set the front position of the blade to be right. I'd be curious what it does with some firmer and heavier leather too.

Now not feeding in the middle. That sort of makes me think a blade sharpening deal with drag maybe or a feed roller problem. Are both wheels true and not worn in the middle? Some of them get worn down in the middle because it is most common to stick a strap in the middle and crank away. Eventually that could lead to less feeding pressure and wadding up.

[JustKate]

Thanks for the responses, guys, I know this is probably a tough one...

How does the machine do with heavier leather? What you're trying to split is pretty thin already and these machines are designed for splitting sole leather. I have one at home that will split very thin and one at work that won't go less than about 4 oz. dependably.

This one, I've been using for a couple of years to split 6oz down to 3-4oz., and it's been working perfectly up to now, even with W&C leather, which is relatively tough to cut through.

One side or the other feeding and I'd think that tension is the problem, but if the blade is not square with the roller that could do it too. The blade being too far back from the rollers and softer leather can cause some funny feeding too, but I suspect the Landis has stops too to set the front position of the blade to be right. I'd be curious what it does with some firmer and heavier leather too.

That ended up being part of the problem. The set screws had wiggled loose, so I defied the instructions in the manual and played with them. That made it better, but it still has problems with some of the tougher pieces I've got. Probably from those couple of "special" grade sides I got from W&C a while back.

Now not feeding in the middle. That sort of makes me think a blade sharpening deal with drag maybe or a feed roller problem. Are both wheels true and not worn in the middle? Some of them get worn down in the middle because it is most common to stick a strap in the middle and crank away. Eventually that could lead to less feeding pressure and wadding up.

That's the other part of the problem. When I put the feed rollers close together and look at the gap between them, I am seeing a slight bow. I"ve actually been seeing that for a while, but I guess it's just now getting to the point where it's affecting how the machine works. Are those rollers just going to have to be replaced, then?

Thanks again,

Kate

[bruce johnson]

Kate,

I have had guys tell me the rollers can be remilled or trued by a machinist. The first time you take one apart it takes a good part of the day (or having a manual) to figure out how everything comes apart. After that it takes about an hour.