Manual Skiving Machine?

[DavidL]

The schmedt skiving machine is the one I'm looking at. Has anyone purchased one for veg tan and chrome? Is it easy to use and does the blades last long? The description shows that it comes with a few different rollers, how large is the longest one?

[Andrew Chee]

I had one of these. I tried using it for mostly veg tan leather and found that it didn't really work very well. It would cut into the leather and I ruined a lot of pieces with it. The blades are razor blades so they are easy to replace. You could spend a few hundred more and get a used Chinese bell skiver and you would have a much better skiver. These things aren't cheap.

Andrew

For example. The scarf-fix is $379. I was able to buy a used consew bell knife skiver for $600. Definitely more money but works much much better.

Andrew

[DavidL]

Thanks, I will check out the machine skivers.

Any difference between a well built chinese machine skiver vs a renamed chinese skiver sold in USA or Canada besides warranty?

Does any one know the difference of a bell skiver or round knife skiver, also the top and bottom feed differences?

If anyone has a review of a chinese bell skiver I would be interested.

[Andrew Chee]

There's no such thing as a round knife skiver as far as I know. Supposedly a German Fortuna skiver is better than a Chinese clone but I if you get it from a reputable place it should work well and be cheaper than a German machine. As for top and bottom skiver, they are better for heavy leathers but I feel they are less precise On the thin stuff. Much more expensive too. If you mainly need to go edge skiving rhen a bottom feed siding even for heavy leathers. If you need to do a fill two inch split on belt leather than you need a top and bottom feed.

Andrew