WOLLO UNIVERSITY

KOMBOLCHA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF TEXTILE LEATHER AND
FASHION TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF FOOTWEAR TECHNOLOGY

Footwear Machineries Group Project

Prepared by

Name ID
1.Samuel Leyikun 4762/11
2.Ashenafi Teklay 0857/10
3. Kasahun Tegaw 4664/11
4.Temesgen Tadese 4799/11
5. Tedros Brhane 2098/10

Submitted to:-Mr. Desse

Submission date 25/12 /2023
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................3
1.1 Definition and function of leather skiving machine.........................................3
1.1.2 Single-step Skiving Machine.....................................................................6
1.2 The main parts of single step skiving machine and their functions.................7
1.3 Figure of Assembled single step skiving Machine with Each Part.............12
1.4 Tools used to operate on the single step skiving machine.............................15
1.5 Good working habits......................................................................................15
1.6 Ways of setting and operating single step skiving machine...........................15
1.7 Safety measures both for operator and machine of single step skiving
machine................................................................................................................16
1.7.1 Health and Safety.....................................................................................17
1.8 Manufacturers and Retailers of Single Step Leather Skiving Machine.........18
1.9 SUMMARY...................................................................................................19
1.9.1 Reference..................................................................................................20
Table of figures
Figure 1 Manual Skiving by RAMPI RAMPI and Work Stone..6
Figure 2 Work Stone Sharpening Stone Oil cane...................6
Figure 3 A Process of Machine Skiving....................................................................8
Figure 4 Single Step Skiving Machine......................................................................9
Figure 5 Pressure Foot Front View of Bell Knife Sharpening Stone. .11
Figure 6 Guide.........................................................................................................12
Figure 7Top pressure adjuster.................................................................................12
Figure 8 Front adjusting knobs................................................................................13
Figure 9 Side adjusting knob...................................................................................13
Figure 10 Assembled single step skiving Machine1...............................................14
Figure 11 Assembled single step skiving Machine2...............................................15
Figure 12 Assembled single step skiving Machine3...............................................16
1. INTRODUCTION
Skiving is the process of reduction of thickness of the material either from grain or flesh side of
material in order to aid and eases the various closing operations at different levels. A layer of
substance is removed under this process without hampering the existing strength of the material.
When we join or attach two components together without any skiving, it doubles the substance
and creates problems for next operations to perform during shoe making and cause discomfort to
wearer. Hence the importance of skiving can be noticed and specified results could be achieved.
The skiving operation is required to perform to achieve various treatments in upper closing like
folding, back seam, attaching component together, cording, binding, bag top line, French
binding, etc. Different types of skiving are required to do different kinds of operations. In case of
leather, skiving operation is much easier to perform than on synthetic material. The skiving is not
being done on textile due to its nature and feel. (Modi)

1.1 Definition and function of leather skiving machine

A leather skiving machine is a tool used for thinning or tapering the edges of leather. It is
commonly used in leather working and shoemaking industries. The machine functions by
removing a small amount of leather from the edge of the material, creating a smooth, tapered
edge. This is useful for creating a neat finish on leather products such as belts, bags, and shoes.
The machine typically has a blade that can be adjusted to control the thickness of the skive, and
can be operated manually or electrically.

Purpose of skiving
 Improve the appearance of the finished upper/footwear by removing any sort of bulkiness
 To make subsequent stitching operation more easier by reducing bulkiness.
 To reduce substance at the edge to make turning over easier and On bindings- to avoid
the bound edge being bulky. {When we join or attach two components together without
any skiving, it doubles the substance and creates problems and cause discomfort to
wearer.
 To aid construction during lasting
 To help in better adhesion (allow an adhesive to penetrate where two parts are to be stuck
together.)
  To make footwear more comfortable during wear.

Skiving can be performed in following ways:

• Manual hand skiving

• Machine skiving

Hand Skiving /Manual Skiving Method/

This skiving is normally done in small units to make uppers and samples, as they cannot spend
for skiving machine. Local shoe manufacturers are producing small quantity of uppers and facing
financial backlogs. Various tools and accessories are used during this skiving are, Rampi, work
stone and sharpening stone. This type of skiving is mostly done on piece rate bases by the
operatives and hence the quality and material strength is needed to be check during skiving.
A skilled operator can skive approximately 80-90 pairs (depending on number of components) in
8hrs shift with quality. It needs less investment and hence used by small scale manufacturers.

Figure 1 Manual Skiving by RAMPI RAMPI and Work Stone

Other Tools for Manual Skiving

Work Stone: This is used as a base during hand skiving. This is found in rectangle or square
shape with smooth and plane surface.
Figure 2 Work Stone Sharpening Stone Oil cane

Sharpening Stone
This is found in rectangle shape and has smooth and coarse surfaces on its both sides. The
smooth surface is used for sharpening the tool and coarse is used for leveling the scratchy edge
before sharpening the tool.

Oil Cane
The oil cane is used to contain oil during sharpening the edge and provides fine sharpening
after spreading it over the sharpening surface of the stone. The water gives more or less same
result as oil for lubricating the surface.

Machine Skiving
Hand skiving has limited scope and cannot be used for mass production in current scenario in
footwear industry. This makes the skiving work unsystematic and requires more time and skill
to perform it. This also decreases the productivity and increases the operation cost. That is
why the mechanization came into existence and skiving becomes very convenient with the
skiving machine. The most common method of skiving, each edge that needs to be skived is
fed individually over a rotating knife.

Rotating disc knife

Traditional and outdated. The knife was a horizontal rotating disc where the work was fed
away from the operator, from the front of the machine to the back. The Movement of knife is
from left to right. Such kind of very old machines can still be seen in footwear factory.
Modern machinery uses a bell/drum knife, where the work is fed from left to right.
Some of these more modern machines are also computer- controlled. In both cases, the nature
of the resulting skive is determined by the height and angle of the work gauge. The height of
the gauge determines the resultant thickness and the angle of the gauge determine the width of
the skive. Most modern machines can now be pre-set with more than one type of skive
enabling the operator to produce several different skives on the same component by using the
foot pedal.
Matrix skiving
It allows all the edge around a component to be skived at the same time. The work is placed
gain side/flesh side in a template which has been- molded with ridges corresponding to the
position and shape of the skive. These ridge raise the areas to be skived above the top of the
template. The whole assembly is then passed through a high – precision band knife splitting
machine which has the effect of splitting off all of the raised edges lying over the ridges of the
mold. Matrix skiving machine avoid the need for skilled labor but the cost of the machine is
high. It is only economical for long runs of work, or where are a number of different skives
are required on a single component in production process.

Figure 3 A Process of Machine Skiving

Two types of skiving machines are available in footwear industry are
• Single-step Skiving Machine
• Three-step Skiving Machine
1.1.2 Single-step Skiving Machine
Single step skiving machine is called so because; mechanism allows only one type of skiving
at a time in one setting. The machine is having a cylinder arm with attached platform allows
space for the skived material after skiving. The machine is installed on table and motor is
fixed beneath, which is connected to the pulley with the help of V-belt. The power is
transmitted through V-belt to the machine mechanism and starts functioning. Foot paddle is
fixed under the table and pressed for the necessary operation

Figure 4 Single Step Skiving Machine

The skiving machine makes the work easy and increases the productivity; hence it is suitable
for mass production in footwear industry.
1.2 The main parts of single step skiving machine and their functions
Motor: This provides the power to drive the blade and move the leather through the machine.

Blade: This is the cutting tool that removes a thin layer of leather from the edge of the
material

Feed roller: This is a set of rollers that move the leather through the machine and keep it in
place while it is being skived.

Pressure foot: This is a metal plate that presses down on the leather to keep it flat and prevent
it from shifting during the skiving process.

Skive adjustment knob: This allows the user to adjust the thickness of the skive by moving
the blade closer or further away from the leather.

Depth adjustment knob: This controls the depth of the cut made by the blade, allowing the
user to make precise adjustments for different types of leather.

Dust collection port: This is a small opening that allows dust and debris to be collected by a
vacuum or dust collector, keeping the work area clean and free from debris

The different machine parts involved to make the required skiving are

• Pressure Foot

• Bell Knife

• Bottom Feed Roller

• Sharpening stone

• Skiving guide

• Top pressure adjusting assembly

• Front adjusting Knobs

• Side adjusting Knobs

• Top lever
Pressure Foot There are various kinds of pressure foot exists in closing room to obtain
different kinds of skiving. The main function of the pressure foot is to press the material and
determine the width and angle of skiving been done. The material touching part of pressure
foot should be smooth and fine as it always touches the grain surface of material and can
damage the top surface in case of roughness or scratches on it. Such scratch may damage the
grain layer of material and cause rejection and wastage. The design and shape of the pressure
foot vary according to the type of skiving required.

The Following are the types of pressure foot required to perform different skiving

 For a splitting cut, use a wide pressure foot-maximum gives 50 mm skive width. In this
case the pressure foot must be parallel to the bottom feed roller. The splitting cut is
performed without using any guide.
 To obtain the fold skive use same pressure foot as above but a guide to be fixed is
needed to meet specified width of skive.
 To obtain the raw edge skive, different pressure foot is required, which has fore part
rising and back part down on its surface to get the specified width and angle of skive.
The width guide is set accordingly near the pressure foot.
 To obtain the underlay skive, same pressure foot is required used as above, which has
fore part rising and back part down on its surface to get the specified width and angle of
skive. The width guide is set accordingly near the pressure foot.
 Pressure roller is also used for skiving thicker and coated materials like Thermoplastic
and heavy leathers.
 Parallel shape of pressure foot is requiring for folding skiving (parallel as per knife and
roller).
 Flat fore part of pressure foot is require for raw edge and underlay skiving (width and
angle of skiving).
 Grooved in between the pressure foot is require to make grooved skiving for pin tucking
and cording purposes.
 Teflon material pressure foot or Teflon tape wrapped foot is used for skiving on synthetic
material and patent leather.
Figure 5 Pressure Foot Front View of Bell Knife Sharpening Stone
Bell Knife is called so because it is having a shape of bell.

Sharpening stone is in round shape and used to sharpen the bell knife. The surface of the
stone is very fine and also required dressing during sharpening the knife.

Bottom feed roller helps in feeding the material by gripping the flesh side of the material
without damaging it.

Skiving guide is fixed near the pressure foot and used to determine the skiving width during
skiving. It should be properly locked or unlocked during setting.

Guide

Figure 6 Guide
Top pressure adjusting assembly helps in setting the required pressure on material to be
skived. The top pressure is determined according to the skiving required and thickness of the
material.
 Top Pressure
Adjuster

Figure 7 Top pressure adjuster

Front adjusting knobs are situated in front part of the skiving machine and are two in
numbers. The first knob is connected with the sharpening stone and used to bring it near the
bell knife for sharpening. The second knob is connected with the bell knife and allows the
knife to move left or right side of pressure foot accordingly.

Sharpening
Stone Bell Knife
Adjuster Adjuster

Figure 8 Front adjusting knobs

Side adjusting knob is connected with the bottom feed roller assembly, which allows to set
distance between knife and feed roller according to the thickness of the SCARF to be passes.
Normally the minimum distance between the roller and the bell knife should not be set less
than 0.5 mm. This distance may vary accordingly.
 Side
Adjusting
Knobs

Figure 9 Side adjusting knob

Top lever is connected with the top vertical pressure adjusting assembly and used to lift the
pressure foot during skiving according to the situation arises.

1.3 Figure of Assembled single step skiving Machine with Each Part

Figur
e 10 Assembled single step skiving Machine1
Figure 11 Assembled single step skiving Machine2
Figure 12 Assembled single step skiving Machine3
1.4 Tools used to operate on the single step skiving machine
Leather: This is the material that will be skived using the machine.

Blade sharpener: This is used to sharpen the blade when it becomes dull.

Leather splitter: This is a tool used to thin leather before it is skived, making it easier to work
with.

Leather conditioner: This is used to soften and condition the leather, making it easier to
skive.

Safety goggles: These are worn to protect the eyes from any debris that may be generated
during the skiving process.

Dust collector or vacuum: This is used to collect dust and debris generated during the skiving
process, keeping the work area clean and free from debris.

Cleaning tools: These include brushes and cloths used to clean the machine and remove any
debris that may accumulate during use.

1.5 Good working habits

 Always wear appropriate safety gear, including safety goggles and gloves.

 Keep the work area clean and free from debris.

 Follow the manufacturer's instructions for operating the machine.

 Regularly clean and maintain the machine to ensure it is working properly.

 Avoid overloading the machine with too much leather at once.

 Take breaks when necessary to prevent fatigue and maintain focus.

 Always be aware of your surroundings and any potential hazards.

1.6 Ways of setting and operating single step skiving machine

a. Choose a suitable location for the machine, ensuring there is enough space and access to
power.

b. Make sure the machine is properly grounded and connected to a power source.

c. Adjust the blade depth and angle according to the thickness and type of leather being
skived.

d. Place the leather on the feeding table and adjust the feeding rollers to ensure proper
alignment.

e. Turn on the machine and begin feeding the leather through the rollers, keeping your
hands clear of the blade.

f. Adjust the speed of the machine as needed to maintain control and accuracy.

g. Regularly check the blade sharpness and adjust or replace it as needed.

h. Always turn off the machine and unplug it when not in use or during maintenance.

1.7 Safety measures both for operator and machine of single step skiving
machine
1. Always wear appropriate personal protective equipment such as gloves, safety glasses, and ear
protection.
2. Keep loose clothing, jewelry, and long hair away from the machine.
3. Never touch the blade while it is in motion or attempt to adjust it without turning off the
machine first.
4. Always use the machine on a stable surface and ensure that it is properly secured to prevent it
from moving during use.
5. Regularly inspect the machine for any signs of damage or wear and address any issues
immediately.
6. Never operate the machine if you are tired, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or
otherwise impaired.
7. Follow all manufacturer instructions and guidelines for safe operation and maintenance of the
machine.
8. Always unplug the machine and lockout/tag out the power source before performing any
maintenance or repairs.
9. Train operators on the safe operation and maintenance of the machine before allowing them to
use it.
10. Ensure that the machine is properly grounded and that all electrical components are in good
working condition.
11. Keep the machine clean and free of debris to prevent accidents and maintain optimal
performance.
12. Use only the recommended blades and other accessories for the machine.
13. Never force material through the machine or use excessive pressure, as this can cause the
blade to break or other damage to occur.
14. Always keep your hands and fingers away from the blade and other moving parts of the
machine.
15. Never leave the machine unattended while it is in operation.
16. Have a first aid kit and fire extinguisher nearby in case of emergency.
17. Always follow proper disposal procedures for any waste materials generated by the machine.

1.7.1 Health and Safety

 Set and check the rotary parts of the machine before switch on the machine.
 Scrap should be collected in metal bins.
 Belt guard should be in place.
 While sharpening the knife care should be taken so that scraps do not catch fire due to
sparkles.
 Work area must be kept tidy.
 Never use hand to remove jammed material, use a brush or stick.
 Wear specified mask during skiving.
 Wear specified glass during dressing and sharpening.
 Use finger guard during skiving.
 Use appropriate footwear and apron.
 Know your fire drill.
  Inform your superior in case of any events.
 Keep your tools and accessories in reachable place.

1.8 Manufacturers and Retailers of Single Step Leather Skiving Machine

Some manufacturers and retailers of electric leather skiving machines include:

Cowboy Leather Machines: They offer a range of electric leather skiving machines suitable for
various leather thicknesses and applications.
Techsew: They specialize in industrial sewing machines and also offer electric leather skiving
machines for professional leatherworkers.
Tippmann Industrial: They manufacture electric leather skiving machines that are designed for
heavy-duty use and can handle thick leather materials.
Leather Machine Co.: They offer a variety of electric leather skiving machines suitable for
small to large-scale leather production.
Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines: They provide electric leather skiving machines for both
small-scale workshops and large-scale industrial operations.
Global International BV: They are a supplier of leather machinery and offer electric leather
skiving machines for different leather types and thicknesses.
Leather Unlimited: They are a retailer of leather craft supplies and tools, including electric
leather skiving machines from various brands.
It is recommended to research and compare the features, prices, and customer reviews of
different manufacturers and retailers before making a purchase decision.
1.9 SUMMARY
Skiving is the process of reduction of thickness from grain or flesh side of material in order to
aid and ease the various closing operations at different levels. A layer of substance is removed
under this process without hampering the existing strength of the material. When we join or
attach two components together without any skiving, it doubles the substance and becomes
inconvenient for next operations to perform during shoe making. Hence, the importance of
skiving can be noticed and specified results could be achieved. Different types of skiving are
performed over the components as per the given specifications and it could be done manually
or by machine. Different tools are used and safety measures are followed during skiving. The
skiving operation is required to perform to achieve various treatments in upper closing like
folding, back seam, attaching component together, cording, binding, bag top line, French
binding, etc. Raw edge, underlay and folding skiving are three types used in upper making.
Manual skiving is normally done for the sampling and machine skiving is preferred during
production. Different types of pressure foots are used during machine skiving are available in
different sizes and shapes. These foots are generally made of metal or Teflon material as per
the requirement.
1.9.1 Reference