New to me dual feed fortuna skiver

[vblouindemers]

Hi folks. I bought a old fortuna to reupholster a set of Breuer’s wassily chairs for a friend. I am usually in car upholstery stuff and cechaflo’s videos had me wondering when I would biy a skiver. That project sort of was the tipping point. Bought the machine for 100$ site unseen and well it’s a little rough but should clean up nicely. 
 

. I still need a dresser for the grinding wheel (and a proper belt for the said grinding wheel) but the blade was very rough with huge dents and now it’s looking good. 
 

I adjusted everything the best I could and got it to skive ok. Well flat skives are good but for the wassily chairs I need a tapered skive and I am having a hard time getting what I want. 
 

on every skive the initial cut comes further in the material (even though the thickness of the resulting skived edge is consistent). Tried playing with feed roll tension - angle- height and relative bell knive position with little to no difference. 
I want a beveled edge to joinn 2 pieces (both skived) of buffalo 3.2mm thick leather  

I do know my knive is not 100% sharp. Am I doing something wrong? Anybody wants to chime in?  Thanks!

[RockyAussie]

7 hours ago, vblouindemers said:

on every skive the initial cut comes further in the material (even though the thickness of the resulting skived edge is consistent)

Try taking a little off of the starting corner (about 1/2 way in) and then start. This takes away the sudden jump down on the feed wheel. Also if you back down the pressure on the feed bottom wheel you should get a better result. That is the adjustment knob at the very rear on the left which would turn anticlockwise to lessen pressure. You will get some better results after you get the dressing stick and clean up the inside of the bell edge. With a top roller it pays to have a fairly wide sharpen in the bell and if your sharpening stone is not at 90% or more of its original diameter you may not be getting enough width of sharpening. It gets to a point where the blade gets too blunt an angle and the back part of the bevel on the blade presses too hard on the leather and will not feed through any good.  Interesting thing I saw recently on one of the clone machines is that it is possible to adjust the grinding stone forward or back and that means you can adjust the stone back for a broader width sharpen. That is not possible on my old Fortuna. Another thing ....that bottom feed wheel would be great on heavy leathers but I would be surprised if it were much good on upholstery type soft leathers. A medium feed stone would be better I believe.

[vblouindemers]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge Mister Harry.  My machine is of the older type and the tension on the feeder roll is dialed in by the means of a pull handle to pull on the spring and preset holes.  I will try with lesser tension (I was first suggested to crank the tension up...).  When you say "taking a little off of the starting corner (about 1/2 way in) and then start" do you mean hand skiving partially the initial corner, or you mean pulling back on the leather so it does not rest against the "width" guide and then quickly feeding it at an angle towards the width stop?

 

By medium roll, do you mean something in this range ?

http://www.campbell-randall.com/public/index.php/product/fav-801-2-50mm-emery-feeding-roller-2-medium-grit-italy

 

or more like this:

http://www.campbell-randall.com/public/index.php/product/fav-856-2-50mm-steel-feed-roller-medium-z120

 

I would rather have you say the grit style (price wise) but I will get whatever I need.

 

so,

 

grinding wheel + belt + dresser, feed roll, deburring stick.  Anything I am missing before I hit the buy now button?

 

Again, thanks.

 

[RockyAussie]

9 hours ago, vblouindemers said:

Thanks for sharing your knowledge Mister Harry.  My machine is of the older type and the tension on the feeder roll is dialed in by the means of a pull handle to pull on the spring and preset holes.  I will try with lesser tension (I was first suggested to crank the tension up...).  When you say "taking a little off of the starting corner (about 1/2 way in) and then start" do you mean hand skiving partially the initial corner, or you mean pulling back on the leather so it does not rest against the "width" guide and then quickly feeding it at an angle towards the width stop?

NO NEED TO HAND SKIVE , JUST HOLD BACK AWAY FROM THE GUIDE BY ABOUT HALF. SOMETIMES YOU CAN GET BETTER RESULTS BY HOLDING BACK AND DOING A FULL 1/2 SKIVE BEFORE THE FULL DEPTH SKIVE AS WELL ON VERY THICK OR HARD LEATHERS.

 

By medium roll, do you mean something in this range ?

http://www.campbell-randall.com/public/index.php/product/fav-801-2-50mm-emery-feeding-roller-2-medium-grit-italy

YES THIS ONE ABOVE. THE STONE ONES CAN ALSO BE USED TO DRESS THE BELL EDGE A BIT IF THEY ARE REALLY BAD BUT NOT SO WITH THE STEEL ONES. THEY CAN REALLY MAKE A MESS OF THE BELL IF ADJUSTED WRONG ON THE RUN.

or more like this:

http://www.campbell-randall.com/public/index.php/product/fav-856-2-50mm-steel-feed-roller-medium-z120

 

I would rather have you say the grit style (price wise) but I will get whatever I need.

 

so,

 

grinding wheel + belt + dresser, feed roll, deburring stick.  Anything I am missing before I hit the buy now button?

WHEN YOU COME TO DOING THE BELT, MAKE SURE YOU KEEP YOUR FINGER OVER THE SCREW WHEN YOU TAKE OUT THE BACK PIECE. IT CAN SPRING OUT AND PARTS MAY GET LOST. FEEL THE ROLLERS AND IF THEY DON'T SPIN FREELY CLEAN THEM UP AND OIL THEM. THE BELT WILL WEAR OUT REALLY QUICK IF ALL PARTS ARE NOT SPINNING FREELY INCLUDING THE SHAFT FOR THE SHARPENING STONE.

Again, thanks.

YOUR WELCOME