LeatherworkingNovice Report post Posted January 8, 2019 (edited) I just got a great deal on various benchtop gear including a Landis D Leather Splitter. It needs work but for the price I couldn't pass it up. Here are the things I can tell it needs offhand: 1) Serious rust removal from about the center down if not the whole thing. I'll probably do this with Evaporust or electrolysis (yay for battery chargers). 2) One of the blade adjusting screws is slightly bent but seems OK..I can hope! 3) Rust removal from blade. Not sure if it needs to be ground but obviously it needs to be sharpened. The edge doesn't appear to have any damage. Unfortunately the head of the top/slot retaining screw has already taken some damage so I'm going to have to be careful not to mess it up more. 4) Probably the most expensive part...the top roller is totally rusted and pitted. 5) The retainer bolt & wingnut for the adjusting lever are missing. Looks like that can be taken care of with a carriage bolt, washer, & wingnut. 6) The rivet for the right side of the thickness gauge is gone and, probably directly related, part of the outer metal arc that backs the brass thickness gauge. I didn't pay attention to how much but possibly most of it, all the way over to the left side rivet. Check the image from a different one below. Questions: Sourcing options for the parts & guesses on prices? If the blade needs to be ground/sharpened, recommendations for someone to do that? I'd have a go at the sharpening myself but NOT grinding it. Recommendations on how to deal with the broken support metal from the thickness gauge? Thanks in advance for advice & info! Edited January 8, 2019 by LeatherworkingNovice Mistaken link. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YinTx Report post Posted January 9, 2019 Pilgrim Shoe has some parts if he is still in business. However, beware that most of his parts are for later Landis splitters, and don't fit this one well. I think @bruce johnson does splitter blade sharpening, and he's mentioned that Art Van Hecke also does blades. Your splitter looks pretty decent in the photo you posted, what does the whole thing look like? I believe I have the same model. Some photos of the parts you are looking for may help identify them. YinTx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LeatherworkingNovice Report post Posted January 9, 2019 1 hour ago, YinTx said: Pilgrim Shoe has some parts if he is still in business. However, beware that most of his parts are for later Landis splitters, and don't fit this one well. I think @bruce johnson does splitter blade sharpening, and he's mentioned that Art Van Hecke also does blades. Your splitter looks pretty decent in the photo you posted, what does the whole thing look like? I believe I have the same model. Some photos of the parts you are looking for may help identify them. YinTx The one in the pic isn't mine, it's taken from one sold on e-Bay that was rather nicely refurbished. I posted it to show the part of mine that's damaged: the steel of the outer "rainbow" of the thickness gauge/adjuster. The brass plate is intact but only attached on the left rivet. I won't be able to take a pics if it for a couple of days but will post them when I can. I've tried checking Pilgrim and others but their websites are amazingly useless sources of info on machines, parts, & prices. That or their websites are really badly coded. I'm guessing the sites are intentionally vague to prevent easy price shopping. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YinTx Report post Posted January 9, 2019 I think for some of these businesses that have been around for 50 years like Pilgrim, and have over 1 million parts in inventory, we are lucky they have a web site. I couldn't imagine putting all 1 million parts online with a price so someone could go kicking the tires. I need it, they have it, I'll give em a call. He'll look it up and let me know how much it is, if I want to call someone else, I can do that too. What other websites are you looking at for parts sources? I'd like to add any new ones you might know to my list of resources! YinTx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SilverForgeStudio Report post Posted January 9, 2019 20 hours ago, LeatherworkingNovice said: Questions: Sourcing options for the parts & guesses on prices? If the blade needs to be ground/sharpened, recommendations for someone to do that? I'd have a go at the sharpening myself but NOT grinding it. If you have a higher end woodworking store like Woodcraft near you I would suggest asking them for sharpening service suggestions- Splitter blades are very similar in construction to wood planer blades. Once they are sharp- keep a leather board strop/hone charged with your compound of choice and after every few uses just strop the edge a bit. Also if you have a Makerspace, Metalshop school (High school) or machine shop near you find out if someone there would be willing to take the job on as a trade for leather goods. With my local Machine shop(s) they will not want to make ONE of any item (not worth it- very $$$$) but they allow their guys to do small jobs in off hours. I have horse-traded for welding jobs, a few odd thread screws and in one case milling a casting to make it fit an antique fire extinguisher... Your mileage may vary but this may give you some ideas- Best of luck and cool deal on the tools! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LeatherworkingNovice Report post Posted January 24, 2019 Finally got a (very) few minutes to tinker with it last night. I had been soaking the panhead screw in the center of the blade with break fluid every few days to work on the rust & hopefully remove it instead of snapping it or trashing the slot in the head. I still couldn't get it to come out with a screwdriver but fortunately there was just enough of a shoulder on the screwhead for me to grip & remove it with a pair of pliers. I was able to run a drill & wire wheel over it this morning (the entire top surface had a decent layer of rust) and there doesn't appear to be any pitting. I checked the leading edge of the blade with a flat surface & a flashlight and while It isn't perfectly even it's surprisingly good considering the rust and lack of use/maintenance. Best news there is there are NO NICKS or rolls to fret about. The bottom of the blade still shows milling marks and they've also been embossed into the paint on the surface the blade mounts to. I notice there are notches on the left and right side of the leading edge of the blade (about 1/8th inward, maybe a millimeter deep. I didn't look closely before removing the blade but I'm guessing these are to aid with centering & squaring the blade with the frame? When I put it back together, the slotted panhead screw will be replaced with a recessed Allen key panhead. I'm going to need to remove the top/pressing roller to clean it or possibly even replace it. Also want to clean the feed roller. I was short on time but was able to get the large crank gear off & I see the smaller inner gear on that same shaft should slide off over the same key that holds the large gear in place. After I remove the small inner gear, will the shaft that holds the top roller just slide out or is there other work needed to remove it? I'm sure there is another key that holds the roller stationary on the shaft. As I dive deeper to do more cleaning & servicing, do I need to worry about any of the springs popping loose & attacking me or flying off to attempt escape? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Northmount Report post Posted January 26, 2019 @LeatherworkingNovice Merged both threads and removed redundant posts. Tom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
