Antique skiving machine - do I pull the trigger

[bondebond]

Greetings all.  First time poster, long time lurker.

So I'm early on in the stages of moving from hand crafting everything into using machines.  And I'm still early, early in the craft.  Thank you all for sharing your wisdom, experiences and opinions.

That said, I ran across a tired, old Manufacturers Supplies Co. skiver yesterday at the local Habitat for Humanity store for $100.  It calls to me.  It would actually be a restoration project in and of itself.  It has been repainted a time or two and the original paint is now flaking off.  The included picture gives you an idea.  It has a lot of surface rust from being stored in a self-storage unit for years.  I know a little about its history as I talked to the self-storage facility's manager when I recently bought a Union Special 81200 carpet serger from him and saw this unit in the corner.  I should have offered to haul it off for free for him, but didn't think about it at the time.  Now, it's $100 at ReStore.

I have only done a little bit of hand skiving and that is challenging of course.  What I'm wondering is if this is something I'm going to kick myself in the future for not snagging now.  I am a big fan of the American Restoration TV show and have no problem looking at something and seeing what it can become again.  Most of everything is there but there are a few loose parts that I don't know if it is 100% so it's a gamble.  The spring tension adjuster arm is just sitting on the table.

It is missing one of the manufacturer plates but the only one attached is shown in the photo.  It is made in Germany and seems like it is a 10A model but I don't know the difference between that and a 15A.

Some questions are: what do you think is the likelihood of finding a bell knife and some of the presser feet would be?  It only has the one presser foot that is attached.  It seems like even from this age of machine, bell knives are a standard size and screw pattern.  Is this a valid assumption?  The current bell knife is pretty rusted and I'm not sure that the pitting can be overcome with careful sharpening.

I know I would be taking a chance and that's part of the fun but if I can't find just those basic parts, this thing is going nowhere but the metal recycler.

Thanks to someone else's previous post here, I was able to pull down the manual - thanks!

Thoughts?

[eglideride]

It might be worth $100.00 just to "have it" working or not, just because it is cool. Especially if you have to room to display it.  Pretty big paper weight though.  More pics?? (This coming from me,  a guy with a "Sanford" problem.)

[bondebond]

I hear you on the paperweight. I'm going to have to build a sturdier desk in that case. 

I will see about getting the rest of the pics off my phone so I can trim them to proper size. I've been out of town for a week on business and things are just now returning to normal. 

[LumpenDoodle2]

At that price, I'd grab it, but there again, I'm a sucker for a 'project'.    

[bondebond]

I did go back and get it down to $75 so it is sitting in my shop. When I get to an actual computer, I'll try to post pictures. It does work but the belts need replacing due to age, along with rust removal, paint (lead) stripping and a host of other restoration work. But it is functional with a decent bell knife. 

[eglideride]

Sweet! Pics later would be cool!

[Nuttish]

I restored a similar Manufacturer's Supply Company skiver. These are rebranded Fortuna machines. They are very common. You can get guidance on what to replace from the super helpful people at Campbell Randall. Do not waste your time even calling Manufacturer's Supply Co. They're still around, but do not care the least bit about supporting old machines.

Generally, I would say that these machines are so well made that the restoration is worth doing, even if you spend a few hundred bucks on parts.

Presser feet will be one money hole, but you can get suitable Chinese knockoffs on Alibaba that work just as well as the German and Italian parts with a bit of cleanup on the buffer. Same with guides (you can also have these laser cut).

The machine will operate on any inexpensive sewing machine table ($100 servo machine is fine). 

The pulley on the sewing machine motor will likely be fractional, while the pulley and all fasteners on the skiver are metric. Finding a suitable off-the-shelf belt will drive you crazy, so I'd recommend getting round weldable urethane for the pulleys and flat weldable urethane for the interior endless belt. It's very very cheap by the foot from McMaster. You can weld the belts well enough to work with a butter knife, a spirit lamp or lighter, and a vice.

Campbell Randall has reasonably priced bell knives, grinding wheels, springs, etc.

Unless the machine has been abused, I hope most other parts will just require a deep clean and lubrication. 

Badge

Urethane belts

I can tell by looking at the knife advance knob and profile of the casting that this is likely a Fortuna.

[bondebond]

I ALWAYS forget to take a lot of good "before" shots on all of my projects, but suffice it to say that it requires a complete paint job.  I thought about just really getting it functioning well but the two layers of lead paint are flaking off left and right with handling.  So...I'm neck deep in stripping it.  The original lead based paint does NOT like to respond to modern chemical strippers (and I'm using the "harshest" kinds I can get my hands on - none of that earth-friendly stuff either).  It does soften it up after the top layer of paint has been removed.  It's just really slow going around all of those curves and crannies.  I'm also using the heat gun and a wire wheel where appropriate.  I will conquer.  Eventually.

The urethane belts is a great idea.  For the flat belt that runs the grinder, the previous owner had a section of webbing folded over and stitched down the middle with a belt staple to make it a loop.  It works but definitely needs replacing.  Where do you get those?

I did poke around Campbell Randall.  Thanks for turning me onto that site.  I found some parts to my new-to-me Consew 227 that I've looking to source somewhere.

Thanks!

[johnv474]

I know someone who bought one of these for $400 in as-is condition from an auction and felt he got a good buy, working or not. The person I know who owns one (bought new, well over $1000) says he loves it and keeps finding new uses for it.

I'd say you got yourself a safe investment as well as a potentially extremely useful machine!