A stroke of idiocy

[bikermutt07]

Somebody had mentioned I needed a skiver.

Well, for what you have to spend on one you don't get much cutting surface.

According to Mr. Johnson any pull through skiver is good for three inches of width. Whether it's a four inch, 6 inch, or even an eight inch. That's great for a belt, but not much good for even a wallet. 

The readily available hand cranks I have seen are about $1400.00 new for a six inch. That could work for many more things than a belt or a wallet, but still not big enough for say a holster.

And $1400.00 is way way out of my price range.

I'm getting there (to my point). Today at work a guy was changing out a blade on a flooring cutter. I didn't put a tape measure on it but I figure it's a 12 inch blade. It had a single edge sharpened of about 60 degrees. Hmmmmmm.

Ok, here comes the idiocy part. Do you think a hand crank laundry wringer could be set up like a skiver. I would have to "machine" a bracket for the blade. But I think this could possibly work.

I can get a quality wringer for $150.00.

I can salvage the old blade and VOILA!!

Well, anybody ever march to this drummer?

[RockyAussie]

Well If you got that amount of time on yr hands..... why not get a bandsaw and turn it on its side, nock the teeth off and sharpen it,  pully up the hand crank on the wringer. Remember to leave room for a strap folder to feed through the wringer as well. Ha whala. Honest I would do it sept I already got 2 bandknife splitters.

[bikermutt07]

17 minutes ago, RockyAussie said:

Well If you got that amount of time on yr hands..... why not get a bandsaw and turn it on its side, nock the teeth off and sharpen it,  pully up the hand crank on the wringer. Remember to leave room for a strap folder to feed through the wringer as well. Ha whala. Honest I would do it sept I already got 2 bandknife splitters.

Well, I've seen your small Gerry-rigged skiving sander, so nanner nanner manner.

Which actually works quite well. 

Heck, it don't hurt to try.

[RockyAussie]

Nuther idea... Get that blade and put in some elongated holes about 3/8" to 1/2" long like in an electric knife and set one end up to attach to an electric jigsaw. I think that could be easier and prolong the need for sharpening a lot but would still have to be taken out for sharpening occasionally. Should we patent this? Ha bugger everyone knows now

[bikermutt07]

See, now you're just pokin fun. Ha!

[RockyAussie]

Honest I wasn............well...... read your subject heading!!!!!!What about a nice level vacume table to hold the leather all down flat and an electric wood planer suspended on an adjustable drop down ...........No i reckon your idea should work OK

[bikermutt07]

Wait...... I've got a Bosch planer. Can I make a vacuum box out of Tupperware and a shop vac?

[bikermutt07]

While I have your attention.....

Not having any close up experience with a skiver, is it just a blade and rollers with some adjustment?

I think I can probably come up with a solution for adjusting it up and down for thickness.

If the rollers will push it is there any kind of offeed contraption I should consider?

I downloaded Bruce Johnson's instructions on adjusting one, and well other than tight tolerances, I don't see too much in them.

Edited September 20, 2016 by bikermutt07

[RockyAussie]

As you described they are pretty much just that. I have had in the past a few types and if all you really want to do is skive mellow veg they are not to bad, but if you ever want to split/skive any soft or thinish stuff your in trouble and taking out the blade to sharpen it sure pysoff pretty quick. Wasting your money on a lot off this stuff I believe and I wish I had gotten at least a Fortuna skiver right from the start and saved a lot of money and agro. Make sure that it has an aspirator (suction device for extracting the waste). 2nd hand generally about 1k or less but new not to bad if you shop around. If that's all to much you wont go too wrong following something along my Multisander adaptation.I hope to do up a new updated version of same this Christmas, and I will post some plans.
Tom posted an interesting one last week but the time to do is something to consider if you are paying yourself anything worthwhile.

[bikermutt07]

Thanks. A grand is pretty rich for a hobby. I think I should have said splitter instead of skiver.

[Matt S]

I have one of them 6" Cowboy pull skivers. With the blade well stropped I can usually split 4" without stretching, so long as the leather is on the firm side. That's enough for the occasional few wallets but if making more I find it better to buy it the right thickness to start with, or send it out to be split.

[RockyAussie]

12 hours ago, bikermutt07 said:

Thanks. A grand is pretty rich for a hobby. I think I should have said splitter instead of skiver.

Sacrilege!!!! how many bikes cost less than a Grand(that are worth having)? You can use the bell knife skiver to split with as well by doing several passes and a lot of fancy shaping as well if look into it. Other than a good sewing machine (cylinder) this would be my next most important purchase. Its not like a lot of tools where you are not likely to get your money back either.

[bikermutt07]

32 minutes ago, RockyAussie said:

Sacrilege!!!! how many bikes cost less than a Grand(that are worth having)? You can use the bell knife skiver to split with as well by doing several passes and a lot of fancy shaping as well if look into it. Other than a good sewing machine (cylinder) this would be my next most important purchase. Its not like a lot of tools where you are not likely to get your money back either.

I haven't ever seen one in person so I don't have a clue as to their capabilities(outside of skiving an edge).

I'll check them out to see what one could do. But we aren't in that tax bracket anymore. I can see the argument of why the mechanical tools in this trade are expensive. I even believe it. But as a part time hobby a 1000.00 is not justifiable for my "wants".

[TheCyberwolfe]

I think I'm with Matt S on this one - while it's nice to be able to make use of the leather you have on-hand, you may be better off just buying the thickness you need for the project rather than trying to split down thicker stock.

[TinkerTailor]

1 hour ago, TheCyberwolfe said:

I think I'm with Matt S on this one - while it's nice to be able to make use of the leather you have on-hand, you may be better off just buying the thickness you need for the project rather than trying to split down thicker stock.

I agree with this, however sometimes and in some areas of the world, ordering the right leather can be cost prohibitive. In addition sometimes a project requires thinner matching leather for just a specific use. On the bags i make, I am frequently making the body out of 4-5oz. Things like interior pocket flaps, rolled handles, and piping/binding i like thinner. For these tasks a pull type skiver would be nice to have, however i am saving my dollars for a fortuna type skiver. I currently roll edges full weight in 4-5oz. Requires wet forming and hammering and swearing. I would use the crap out of a bell skiver. Here is where i would use it:

I should mention, that is the backside of the stitch too. I had to do it that way so the stitching on the turnover matched the topstitching on the outside of the bag.

 

Edited September 22, 2016 by TinkerTailor

[Harry Marinakis]

I use a belt sander as my skiver

It's perfect

[bikermutt07]

The only belt sander I have is a hand held. I know some of the table models are affordable though.

[MADMAX22]

If your looking at belt sanders dont forget craigslist. Its actually a good source for those things. People are always getting a bunch of wood working stuff then for one reason or another dont use it or stop using it and unload everything. 

[TinkerTailor]

9 hours ago, MADMAX22 said:

If your looking at belt sanders dont forget craigslist. Its actually a good source for those things. People are always getting a bunch of wood working stuff then for one reason or another dont use it or stop using it and unload everything. 

Or probably a lot of the time, grandpa bought all the good toys/tools for himself for a retirement hobby after the kids flew the koop, and then kicked the bucket with a garage full.

[bikermutt07]

Grandpa didn't have such modern things. He was a real carpenter. Not a power tool monkey like me.