Rafflenbeul Machine Which Function?

[Oakley]

Hello,

I bought a few old shoemaker machines. One of them is an old Rafflenbeul machine. Can somebody help me and give me advice which was the function of that machine. Is it still used in modern shoemaking shops?

Thank you in advance.

Regards,

Oakley

[shtoink]

I would say that this is a roller press. What it was meant to press, I don't know. It might have been used to stretch a piece of leather in different directions, create a uniform thickness, or even remove excess moisture from your laundry. It's hard to say without possibly more information or pictures. I did try to look up more information in the company and found that they did make quite a few machines that were specific to shoe making, but I saw no other machines that resembled this one.

I realize this isn't exactly a complete answer, so maybe there is someone here who might be more knowledgeable than me and my internet searching skills.

[celticleather]

These rollers were used to compress ('plate') the soling leather for shoes, making it harder and therefore resistant to wear. Nowadays most soling leather is pre-cut to size, and has already been 'plated' at the tannery or by the soling supplier.