Hi people!
I've recently acquired and refurbished an old FAV skiving machine. It has built-in suction so the motor drives the exhauster and the knife at the same time. Therefore the bell knife is always spinning whilst the conveyor wheel is driven on demand by a built-in clutch mechanism at the back of the machine.
I have countless times reviewed the "Techniques of the Bell Skiver" course which helped a lot to properly set the machine for operation but there are still some issues I couldn't figure out on my own, as I usually like to do.
So here's my trouble: I'm working on a project implying turned edges in 1.6mm thickness chrome tanned calf leather. The technique I'm trying to emulate is that from "The turned edge Passport Wallet" course seen bellow
Basically, what I'm trying to do is getting those straight, sharp & crisp edges for a high quality turned edge. Instead, what I'm getting is this
This is what I do:
In the first instance I set the width of 10mm up to the guide on the foot arch itself
Then I trace some guide lines on the leather for proofing
For unknown reasons the leather is bunched up towards the guide
Because of the bunching the skiving width is not maintained consistent anymore
Also, another frustrating issue is that the skive's step is not crisply squared, rather it's at a 45 degree bevel. Dressing it up with a french edger is virtually impossible due to the very soft nature of the leather. The quality of the actual leather work piece is much better than in the image which is a scrap used just for demonstration purposes. Regardless of that the leather can't stand the touch the the french edger due to its softness.
To sum up, what is that I'm doing wrong and what should I do instead to get proper skived edges for turning as seen in the Passport Wallet course?
Thank you!
Regards,
Cristian
@Leathercraft Masterclass on the tighter grain parts of the hide (which is a high quality one btw) I'm getting the same results.
@Fadi everything is perfectly aligned.
Anyway, after centuries of struggles that lasted several days I finally managed to come up to some conclusions:
1. A nice and sharpen blade is a must but this alone doesn't work up entirely on the solution of the problem.
2. I need to change the guide stop to a more flatter one. The standard one is very pointy and is rather appropriate for shoe uppers with tight curves than long and straight leather pieces. This creates the field for a lot of headaches and frustrations.
3. I need to slightly modify the presserfoot to a clear defined toe to benefit from a sharper skive step. And even changing the emery conveyor with a rubber one with a much sharper defined edge.
4. A lower conveyor and knife speed helps a lot in maintaining a straight skive and happily I can do that with my frequency converter.
5. But no other solution works better than just stiffening the leather on the chorium side with a masking tape, dedicated leather stiffener or ripstop nylon.
Cristian
Hello,
I might be able to help you with the leather being pulled towards the foot and being compressed.
I used to have the same issue, I solved my problem in 2 steps:
- Perfect alignement of the knife, the presser foot and the wheel. My presser foot was slighty off (by a part of a mm), but it was causing my leather to be pushed sideways, and with my hand trying to realign it, it pushed the leather into the foot like in your pic. To make sure everything is aligned, get a strap of leather, around 30mm width, remove the guide and feed it in the skiver and let it go through it without your hand touching it. if it goes straight, your alignement is good.
- Second issue was simpler: practice. It is way easier to skive a firm leather such as briddle compared to a soft chrome tan like goat. It just needs practice.
@Cristian That leather looks like a very loose grained piece of split chrome tan. Have you tried anything else?
You can stiffen the surface by adding one or two strips of masking tape temporarily, just allow for the added thickness (it removes more leather).
I have had the same problem on very soft leather and the only advice that I got was that the blade was not sharp enough. It does work better when the blade is freshly sharpened but it is still inconsistent. Hopefully someone can offer some more ideas.
Doug