Skiving Machine Independent Feed Mod

[arz]

As promised here are some photos of the Ellegi/Atom GL12 skiving machine I bought and the start of the modifications I want to make. The machine was owned by an older couple closing their shoe making shop and was in great condition.

The model I bought has two motors: 1 for the vacuum and 1 clutch motor that runs the blade and feed wheel. The feeding speed was much too fast for my use. As I only paid about 200 euro for it I decided I would try to make the feed wheel independent of the blade. I also wanted to be able to finely control the feed speed, for example being able to very slowly feed the leather in and then gradually increase the speed as I skive.

I researched every way possible to add a third motor for the feed wheel.  There are three ways you can do this (that I can think of): 1. a direct drive servo directly behind the feed wheel as found in some new machines; 2. a motor underneath the feed pulley on the right of the machine; and 3, a motor on the top of the table behind the feed pulley, again on the right of the machine.

Option 1 is far beyond most people's abilities, at lest mine! I tried very hard to make option 2 work but could not. My table has upper cross supports, a lower belt guard and a middle sheet metal "wall" between the operator and clutch motor. The only way I might have made this work was to replace the clutch motor with a small servo. I am too cheap to do this! The clutch motor works great so I want to use that for the blade as long as I can.

That left me with option number 3 which is what I went with. I found a new Jake JK-513A servo motor for about $105 from a dealer 5 minutes from where I live. This was cheaper and easier than buying a DC or servo motor, the power supplies, controller etc. It is 550W which is much more power than I need, but the price was right. I recommend a motor where the motor, foot controller and power supply are separate. Without that I could not have done this. My table has so many under supports that I need this flexibility.

I removed the belt from the main shaft that goes to the feed pulley. I then mount this motor directly behind it on the table top. It took a little bit of playing with the placement of the motor, the foot controller and power supply and it works! Not elegant, but it is doing what I want  The feed is now controlled by the foot pedal and servo speed controller and the blade runs continuously. I have used a machine that had a separate clutch for the feed wheel. This offers even better control than that in my very limited experience!

If you have space under your table that would be a better option. Here is someone on Instagram who has done this: 

 

 

Here are some photos. I will post some more when I get a chance. I need to cut a slot in the machine belt cover, mount the belt cover on the motor and buy a few parts for the machine. 

Hope this helps! -Adam

[arz]

One quick question: my blade is run by my clutch motor. Can I leave the clutch engaged (by putting a spring on the clutch arm)? Will this hurt the motor/clutch when turning it on and off?

Thanks, -Adam

[RockyAussie]

1 hour ago, arz said:

One quick question: my blade is run by my clutch motor. Can I leave the clutch engaged (by putting a spring on the clutch arm)? Will this hurt the motor/clutch when turning it on and off?

Thanks, -Adam

I dont think so Adam. My wife for years pushes the peddle forward on the Fortuna  so that the clutch is lightly engaged and we have not had any problems. I on the other hand generally prefer to have the off so it tends to go back and forth either way a lot. The picture below shows the foot pedal which is quite heavy and can be pushed forward to engage the clutch partly or fully if you want. The FAV machine I have has a screw at the back to set the clutch to where ever you want the speed to run at and again no problems.

[arz]

16 minutes ago, RockyAussie said:

I dont think so Adam. My wife for years pushes the peddle forward on the Fortuna  so that the clutch is lightly engaged and we have not had any problems. I on the other hand generally prefer to have the off so it tends to go back and forth either way a lot. The picture below shows the foot pedal which is quite heavy and can be pushed forward to engage the clutch partly or fully if you want. The FAV machine I have has a screw at the back to set the clutch to where ever you want the speed to run at and again no problems.

 

Great! I am not familiar with clutch motors that is why I ask. I would just like to keep in engaged all the time, so when I turn the machine on the blade and vacuum start up immediately. Thanks, -Adam

[arz]

Yesterday I was able to get the knife sharp and it is skiving great! I was able to skive down to about 0.4mm :). Now just to get a teflon or roller presser foot and some other small parts. The vacuum works pretty good but I need a new filter. I do want to get a new cover for the knife. It makes me nervous having that blade spinning all the time and only half covered!

The machine cleaned up nice and I was able to get the covers working pretty good.

Is it worth it to get a scrap ejector, or is it a waste of money?  Like this one:

https://www.campbell-randall.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=15314

Thanks, -Adam

[RockyAussie]

I've only ever used them with the ejector in place so how they go without one I could not say. If you have waste coming up to the top often then I would have to say it would help.

Regards Brian

[arz]

6 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

I've only ever used them with the ejector in place so how they go without one I could not say. If you have waste coming up to the top often then I would have to say it would help.

Regards Brian

Thanks! This machine does not have one. I had a few scraps wanting to come up, however most of it was taken away with the vacuum. It is a cheap part, I'll order one. -Adam

[Cloudlessdave]

Many thanks for all the input into this thread. I was looking at modifying my bellskiver and found exactly what I needed here. Just incase it helps anybody out in the future here's a photo of mine. 

 

[arz]

3 minutes ago, Cloudlessdave said:

Many thanks for all the input into this thread. I was looking at modifying my bellskiver and found exactly what I needed here. Just incase it helps anybody out in the future here's a photo of mine. 

 

 

Glad it was of help. Great photo of your setup! -Adam

[keithski122]

Nice work.Does it help with the skiving process? Was it worth modifying as I have one similar?