Home built edging machine

[RockyAussie]

In this short video I show part of the process of edging hornback crocodile belts with a machine I made for the job. It allows width of strips from 1/2" to 2" and thicknesses of strips up to 3/8". The thickness of the fluid edging can be adjusted thicker or thinner as required. Normally these type of belts get 2 pre coats and then sanded to smooth out the bumps and holes followed by another 2 or 3 coats and then some final hand edging is done where the machine sometimes can not get higher up on the bones. Normal leather belts generally only require 2 to 3 coats on this machine for a high level of finishing.There is a hand edging video as well on my you tube along with a few others. Here's the link -

 

[chuckgaudette]

Another great video Brian. Thanks.

Chuck

[RockyAussie]

Thanks Chuck .... I wouldn't say great but on the bright side  I can only get better at it. Lets hope we get to see some other people sharing how they do it.

[bikermutt07]

Looks like a good plan for an old bread machine.

[Nuttish]

Interesting machine. Do you mind describing its construction?

[billybopp]

7 minutes ago, Nuttish said:

Interesting machine. Do you mind describing its construction?

Agreed!   I know Brian is quite busy right now, but when the opportunity arises I'd love to see more about this and his other machines!  Really creative solutions.  I'm curious, in particular, how the rollers are made!  Oh ... And I'm NOT entirely sure that Castrol is the best stuff to use for edge coating.  :D

Bill

[gigi]

Thanks a lot for sharing!!! 

Edited June 23, 2017 by gigi

[LumpenDoodle2]

Clever idea, and obviously saves a lot of time for you.   I would also love more info on the construction.

[RockyAussie]

I made this machine quite awhile before my cad drawing days unfortunately but I will try and get you as much info as I can with regards to sizing and close up pics etc asap. As Bill rightly said I am flat out on some 300+hornback belt orders for a couple of more weeks to go to China and I cant be later than I already am. It is fairly simple but some decent welding ability is needed. The trickiest bit was working out how to make the wheels turn in toward each other but once I worked out to run an idling cog inside and used the back of the chain on the left wheel to drive it, it was easy. For the moment I will post a few still shots which may help a bit. The bucket and wheel on the right don't swing in and out but the right one does to allow adjustment for size widths and has a spring inside to allow to move in and out with tapers etc.The wheels were cut out of some 1" flat plate aluminium and some 1" round was set into that and welded on and then bored out to about 5/8" hole. Once the hole was done and the rods threaded it then was lathed and knurled.  I will take a lot of pictures and measurements and try and put them together in as easy way to understand as I can.  Thanks for the positive comments Regards Brian

[Matt S]

Thanks for giving us your time Brian, that machine looks like the dog's doodahs. The extra detail really helps too. Do you think the knurling on the wheels adds much to paint pickup?

[RockyAussie]

21 hours ago, Matt S said:

Thanks for giving us your time Brian, that machine looks like the dog's doodahs. The extra detail really helps too. Do you think the knurling on the wheels adds much to paint pickup?

Hi Matt S, I would love to give more time than I do but that's life I guess.The knurling does indeed help and generally every 3 or 4 years I have to refresh the knurl probably because they are only aluminium and fairly soft compared to stainless. The knurling tool was surprisingly inexpensive from the toy shop here, about $40.00 I think at the time.