Antique Heavy Duty Leather Splitter

[Basillex]

I recently got my hands on an old cast iron leather splitter that was used by a smaller European shoemaking company. It weighs a ton (feels about 200 pounds actually - three men had to carry it). There are no markings, but it's quite possibly over 100 years old. It seems to be hand operated only (no sight of a belt attachment).

It is quite dirty, but I'm sure that can be cleaned off well enough. It looks like all the parts are there and working, but I'm not really sure yet. At the moment I am trying to figure out what goes where, how to adjust it, etc.

The blade is still razor sharp (slightly concave grind) and HUGE (14" long edge, 1/2" thick, weighs 5 pounds). There is some surface dirt on it, but no major rust whatsoever.

There are two rollers (one flat/polished, the other has teeth), and the blade is positioned below between them vertically.

I would like to restore it as well as I can, but in order to do so, access to information on a similar machine would be needed for a reference. I'm not really sure I need the machine (as a leather hobbyist, it feels that would be like using a bulldozer in a flower pot), but I do enjoy challenges.

Does anybody know anything about this type of a machine? Any info (mechanics, history, value) would be appreciated.

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

I am sure that Bruce Johnson will. He is a splitter fanatic.

Bob

[WyomingSlick]

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I'm not really sure I need the machine (as a leather hobbyist, it feels that would be like using a bulldozer in a flower pot), but I do enjoy challenges................................

Naw !!................You don't want to mess with it. It's too much for you.

How much do you want for it ? LOL !

Seriously......of course you want to keep it, and use it. Practically anything you can do with one of the smaller splitters........you can do better and easier with this beauty!.

[Mudruck]

Naw !!................You don't want to mess with it. It's too much for you.

How much do you want for it ? LOL !

Seriously......of course you want to keep it, and use it. Practically anything you can do with one of the smaller splitters........you can do better and easier with this beauty!.

Yea, that thing looks old and very dangerous. I will do ya a favor and give you a crisp new $20 for it!

[silverbullet]

Shoot ill go even better give ya $40.00 plus pay for shipping . Very generous aintt I lol Gary , good luck take your time it should turn out beautiful , I see nice paint may be some pin striping or scrolls. Wish I could find things like that.

[oltoot]

You are verrrrry lucky to get one with a blade in that shape. A new blade alone would run you 2-400 bucks. Don't touch any tools to it, only a machinist who knows what they are doing should touch a blade like that. Before you decide what to do, I'd check and see if everything on it is metric or if you are doubly lucky and have found one made for the American market that has employed SAE threads, etc. This I say because cost of tools that you don't already have should be figured in for any DIY approach. Of particular importance will be getting that top (smooth) roller thoroughly and uniformally clean as it will be the one that will be in contact with leather surface and should be mirror bright.

[Basillex]

Many thanks for all of your replies!

WyomingSlick: Thanks for the encouragement!

Mudruck & silverbullet: I appreciate the offers, but it is not for sale (yet)

oltoot: Great advice. Yeah, I do realize the value of such a blade (I started with leather after meddling a bit with knives). So in a way I figured if the machine doesn't work, I'd recycle the steel for forging (just kidding ).

At the moment I am trying to clean everything up with diesel and partly wirebrush (although I am yet to find any serious rust!). I'm posting some photos so that you might understand the mess the thing has been in (and how it eventually cleans up after just a bit of rubbing). On the good side - after cleaning about one third of the parts, it is probably already 5 pounds lighter. There is just soooo much dirt. Removing it will definitely help with the adjustments and the performance - it already shows on the screws, obviously.

It is unlikely that it was made for the US market (after all, I am in Europe, Slovenia). There are no markings on it, except for the stamped number 2 which appears on almost all parts. It makes me think that this might have been a custom made machine for this particular factory. Any other ideas?

After it is roughly cleaned up, I'll put it back together to see how it operates. The top roller is not completely smooth (there are scratches), but I think that can be fixed by thorough sanding.

Taking the machine apart helped me realize much better what each part and screw are supposed to do. I am even more confident now, that everything is there. Putting it back together might be another challenge, but we'll get to that eventually.

[WyomingSlick]

It's looking better and better all the time. One other concern you may have on this machine is the bearings for the rollers. On a machine of this vintage, the bearings are most likely either babbit (lead alloy) or some type of bronze bushings ( Oilite maybe) as evidenced by the oil holes on the top of the frame. Hopefully, they kept them oiled regularly and they are still in good shape. In a worst case scenario, the shafts on the rollers may need to be turned on a metal lathe to true roundness and smoothness, and of course, new sleeves installed. Now you don't need the precision of a high speed, super-close tolerance bearing, but you do want the rollers snug enough that the machine will split the leather uniformly. So that is an appraisal you will have to make for yourself.

[silverbullet]

I'd be willing to bet the bearings are fine, at the speed these would turn it take a lot of abuse and no oil to cause real damage to them or the shafts, if you clean them both gently and lightly grease them when putting back together then oil before use. I would use white lube for reassemble. The grease will protect shafts and bearings sliding together. The oil will mix and thin out with no problems. I do this all the time on engine rebuilds including pistons and rings . On valve shafts I use lead lube a high temp lead base grease. Never had an engine fail me and some were questionable even sloppy guides on ones where no parts available. That splitter looks like a great piece of equipment good luck and enjoy it. Nice to see your taking pictures it may help in rebuilding. If you were near and needed help I'd have offered to help if needed. I'm a machinist by trade with lots of time under my belt in the trades. Gary

[Basillex]

WyomingSlick:

The bearings seem to be in perfect condition, round and completely smooth, no scratches whatsoever. They seem to have been well oiled - the oil or grease is still present and is actually one of the cleanest things on the entire machine (no dirt particles, just oil). Well, actually I was only able to check three, because somebody seems to have messed with the screw which holds one of the wheels, so I wasn't able to take it off and access the fourth bearing next to it yet. But generally, the fit on all of them is very snug - I didn't notice any movement at all.

Gary:

The advice, experience and encouragement you guys are providing is more help than I could ever have wished for! I will add some extra grease while reassembling, just in case.

[Basillex]

You are verrrrry lucky to get one with a blade in that shape. A new blade alone would run you 2-400 bucks. Don't touch any tools to it, only a machinist who knows what they are doing should touch a blade like that. Before you decide what to do, I'd check and see if everything on it is metric or if you are doubly lucky and have found one made for the American market that has employed SAE threads, etc. This I say because cost of tools that you don't already have should be figured in for any DIY approach. Of particular importance will be getting that top (smooth) roller thoroughly and uniformally clean as it will be the one that will be in contact with leather surface and should be mirror bright.

How to properly smooth the top roller is indeed becoming a big question for me now. There are some scratches on it, and they need to come out. Should I dare and just go about sanding it myself with wet&dry? If yes, can I just do it by hand (literally - holding pieces in hand), use a holder to keep it flat or should I create some sort of a jig (like a semicircle of the same diameter like the roller)? I was thinking of starting with 120 and go up (I hope I don't have to go below that). The main concern is to not create any dents or make it "wavy" ...

[bruce johnson]

Very nice find! I don't know who made it, but the matching numbers on the parts indicates it is pretty old. They may have been building several at one time and individually fitting the parts for each particular one, then the parts were pooled for finishing before assembly. The matching numbers were stamped on the individual parts so they would mate up when assembled. This was common in many tools and bench machines I have from the mid to late 1800s. Most used numbers but have seen letters and punched "dots" in different patterns as well.

It looks like a pretty simple design and taking it down and cleaning/lubricating are probably about all you will need to do besides the blade. The milled feed roller looks great! Not much wear or damage to the grooves.

[bruce johnson]

For cleaning that smooth roller I would not start with 120. I would start with just plain steel wool to clean the surface grunge and see what I had. I think 120 is too coarse and may leave more grit pattern that you would then have to take out. I would start finer and maybe into the 300-400 range. You mostly want to take off burrs and sharp edges from the scratches. Once they are smooth, they won't mark your leather unless they are deep and wide. If you work lightly and evenly around the roller I think you can work them down by hand with out changing the profile enough to matter.

[oltoot]

Good start and hopefully finish. If that didn't do the trick, I would think about taking it to somebody who could put it in a lathe take just a whisker off uniformly. As you have observed, you dont want the surface to be wavy. As to the bottom roller be careful not to do anything that rounds the edges of the grooves. That pretty much limits you to liquids, steel wool and elbow grease.

[silverbullet]

You could polish the roller while the machine is together. Add a motor with a flat belt pulley and set it up to run the machine take strips of emery cloth wrap once around the shaft hold both ends and turn machine on and slowly move back and forth on shaft don't allow the polishing to stay on one area too long. Then use the next higher grit till all scratches are gone then wet polish with light oil this way the shaft will always stay true . When done it will shine like Chrome after you get the finish your happy with wash the shady with a rag wet with either or a carburetor cleaner to get the oil off , waxing will help protect from rust and shouldn't hurt the leather after all we use waxes in finishing , Gary