Why are bell skivers so large?

[Rahere]

You get just two out of three things in this world: speed, beauty, and low-cost. The obvious example is a high-maintenance partner. A highly-functional (beauty) cheap machine won't be fast. Which of the two are you prepared to yield for speed?

Another more recent cause of cast-iron was the USSR's economic system, where quotas were defined by weight. The result was kit far heavier than necessary, to clear the quota so the factory could switch to making something profitable.

A third is that leather-workers develop stronger muscles than tailors. So something that's frit (a wonderful Welsh word developing the idea of frightened into not man for the job) won't survive, we'll bend steel with our bare hands. As in making dies.

 

Edited July 7, 2021 by Rahere

[FDC]

The machine has to be rigid, it has three drives and lots of adjustability! When you don't have the space none of this matters though does it?