Help a guy out with his new skiving machine!

[YinTx]

16 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

To strop you find a decent behaving leather preferably about 2mm thick

I did run some leather through before I did the good leather, but I guess I should have asked for clarity.  What characteristics would define a decent behaving leather? 

I should be able to get your dimensions later this evening.

YinTx

[YinTx]

@RockyAussie, I think this is the dimension you are looking for.

YinTx

 

[RockyAussie]

Thanks YinTx. That sort of looks like 1 1/4" plus whatever the width is of that ruler. I think you need to hold the square the other way around. I would expect to see something about 2 1/2" . Does your skiver hinge back ? Would it be hard to put the back of the square against the frame as I have done above with the measurements shown next to the edge?

[RockyAussie]

18 hours ago, alexitbe said:

With regard to stropping the blade: do you add any polishing compound to the leather or is the leather enough...?  If I were stropping a skiving knife I would use sole veg ant leather to strop on... Would you use 2mm veg tan here or a chrome leather?

 

Thanks

Alex

 

6 hours ago, YinTx said:

I did run some leather through before I did the good leather, but I guess I should have asked for clarity.  What characteristics would define a decent behaving leather? 

I should be able to get your dimensions later this evening.

YinTx

Most leathers are fine but some are really bad. I tend to use a 2mm chrome tan that I use for my dress belt backs but that's because I have plenty of scrap of it. I have never used any polishing compound with it so I can't say how that would go or how to use it. If a leather feels scratchy when you feed it in while doing normal skiving then that would not be a decent behaving leather. They tend to chip out your blade early.

[YinTx]

22 minutes ago, RockyAussie said:

Thanks YinTx. That sort of looks like 1 1/4" plus whatever the width is of that ruler. I think you need to hold the square the other way around. I would expect to see something about 2 1/2" . Does your skiver hinge back ? Would it be hard to put the back of the square against the frame as I have done above with the measurements shown next to the edge?

It is a framing square, the one side is 1," so if you read the inside dimension, you will have to add the 1," so yes, 2 1/4" total.  The skiver does hinge back, I did that for the previous measurements.  Not necessary for this one, I try to avoid it since I have to remove screws from the base to remove the drive belt to allow it to hinge (as far as I know), and one of them has already stripped out the wood.  

YinTx

[YinTx]

Bah.  Tried sharpening again, stropping, it's worse.  Worked better yesterday.  I wouldn't think there would be skill in applying a stone on these things, but apparently there is.  Will order a smoother stone Monday.  

YinTx

[RockyAussie]

3 hours ago, YinTx said:

Bah.  Tried sharpening again, stropping, it's worse.  Worked better yesterday.  I wouldn't think there would be skill in applying a stone on these things, but apparently there is.  Will order a smoother stone Monday.  

YinTx

Warning...the smooth stones do not grip as much and on the stiffer leathers it will not feed through well. On garment type leathers they can be good if you are going to be doing that a lot. DO NOT use the stone on the stick inside the bell too much as if you overdo it on an angle it will be worse than ever. The leather will dive in and down and holes aplenty. Are you trying out some different leathers to see how they perform? Not having seen a video yet on how the machine is performing it is still a wild guessing game as to what could be the problem.Your top foot may be not tapered/angled well or smooth as needed or many other things that can come into play. What is the brand name on the back of the bell? Does the skiving go smooth and ripple free at all on any edges for a while?

[alexitbe]

Here are measurements for a Fortuna DRP... Its very old so may not be relevent... But I think many of the skivers are based on this old model so maybe it helps

 

Edited August 10, 2019 by alexitbe

[RockyAussie]

Thanks @alexitbe That is a good picture. Looks like that one has been out of action for a while. I have been trying to get some measurements of a Cowboy from the dealer over here but no luck as yet. I was hoping to be able to get enough measurements of different machines to make up a universal type suction funnel affair but so far the interest looks pretty poor and not worth the effort. I suppose if you haven't used one with a vacuum it is hard know the difference it makes. On yours for what it is worth I think the guard over the bell has been rubbing on the bell and there is an cam adjustment knob on that cover to stop that. The bell is a bit far back I suspect which is why the blade angle looks overly acute. The sharpening stone has junk in it to be dressed out before and sharpening is done. I hope that is of help and again thank you for the picture measurements.

Brian

[alexitbe]

It was no problem to do, I am happy to help if I can...  Its a shame that interest is so low...

Thanks for the advice on the skiver. Your are right, it has not been used in a very long and I have never used one personally... It is something I will work on after I fixed my Pfaff 193-5 shoemaking machine... The skiver is for shoemaking too, but everything is taking so long to find and then repair...Oneday, I will have a workshop that works..

Enjoy what remains of the weekend.

ALex