strap cutter

[steeltoymaker]

This is a strap cutting machine I recently made. It makes square right angle cuts on leather up to 3/8 thick. It uses ordinary utility knife blades. 

[LeatherWorthy]

Now that looks like a lot of fun!

[RockyAussie]

Very good idea and I must say your attention to detail looks very good as well. How much testing have you done and does the wood piece hold up well?

Are you selling them or plans? Best regards Brian

 

[Thor]

You must have spent a lot of time on this nice looking tool. Must be of great help for anybody not being able to make a straight cut on a 4 cm stretch.

[RockyAussie]

1 hour ago, Thor said:

You must have spent a lot of time on this nice looking tool. Must be of great help for anybody not being able to make a straight cut on a 4 cm stretch.

Don't forget that the speed of repetitive cutting with a good tool would likely pay for itself quite quickly.

[Thor]

3 minutes ago, RockyAussie said:

Don't forget that the speed of repetitive cutting with a good tool would likely pay for itself quite quickly.

True and still, using a square and a sharp knife will be a lot faster. Placing the straps aside each other and square on top, run the knife along the edge and you're done. Faster than placing it into a machine, pulling a lever and so on. However, I'm sure there are uses for this. I would prolly have a chisel withe a square angle made up if I needed to. I'm just not a friend of too many machines in my shop as they take up a lot of space and I'm pretty limited on that.

[steeltoymaker]

To answer a few of your questions:

No testing so far. I am making a table and fence extension that should be about three feet long. I wasn't planing to sell them or draw up plans but if anyone is interested I could provide more pictures and answer questions. It really wasn't very hard to make. I just used stuff laying around to build it. I don't know how well the wood block will hold up but it should be ok. It's oak with the end grain up. The left table section slides back and forth a small amount and is tightened down by two nuts so the wood cutting block can be firmly held in place. Even with a split block it doesn't matter because it doesn't have anywhere to go. 

It's not ever going to replace a knife. It is made for repetitive work and there is a clamp on stop to speed things up. The time it saves is more in the measuring than in the cutting. 

[RockyAussie]

The principle reminds me a lot of a docking saw when I was wood machining. The stopper would make a big difference of course as to the speed of repetitive cutting. I think a tape measure on the back fence would be quicker and easier to do, but mostly we used to make up template lengths to more quickly set the fence stop. One of the main ways I make belts is after edge finishing etc, is to dock them to length and then finish of the end.(Note picture) Cutting a 100 keepers quickly to a set length from a long strip would be an advantage. At present I do keepers cutting with a clicker press and I think this docking tool would be far faster to set and cut. It may need an adjustable bolt along the top or bottom arms to stop the blade from going to deeply.  I would be interested to buy if you care to sell any. Some pics and measurement would be good if you prefer not to make. Regards Brian

[Thor]

Really jealous on your shop Brian

[RockyAussie]

1 hour ago, Thor said:

Really jealous on your shop Brian

They are always tooo small I think, but like yourself some of the best work comes from the person rather than the place.

 

[Thor]

11 minutes ago, RockyAussie said:

They are always tooo small I think, but like yourself some of the best work comes from the person rather than the place.

 

True and thanks for the compliment. Can't always stay in the basement though. Guess one day I'll have to build a shop in the yard. One with lots of daylight, customer area and shop. Maybe a coffee lounge at least LOL