When it is considered that the construction of machinery for the leather trade had barely started thirty years ago, the wonderful variety and utility of modern machines are remarkable, and it is a moot point whether engineering science has not played as great a part as, or even greater than, applied chemistry. Excepting the bark mill, various kinds of tumblers, the fulling stocks, glazing and rolling machines, there were practically no efficient mechanical aids to lighten the exceedingly laborious operations incidental to leather manufacture two decades ago; but so many improvements have lately been made in the construction of machinery for practically every operation in the trade that most of the machines require very little skill to work them, and can be operated by intelligent youths after a few weeks' experience. The change has been of great benefit to the health of the workers, for the continual stooping over beams and sloping tables, combined with the arduous nature of the work, was very injurious. The reputation that tanning had as a healthy occupation was due more to the work of the labourers than that of the skin workers. (The old-fashioned lime-yards and tan-yards were generally in the open, whereas modern tanneries are roofed.) Leather trades machinery was not a success at first, probably because it was very difficult to get the necessary information from leather manufacturers. However, as the engineers gained more experience of the methods of leather-making, the defects were gradually remedied Most of the machines used in the leather trade are of the cylinder type, the raw skins or leather passing between two rollers, of which the upper one performs the operation while the lower one helps to draw the material through the machine. To prevent accidents and control the working of machines, a third roller is often used, which serves to "feed" the leather or skins to the working cylinders. Of this type of safety roller, the Seymour-Jones attachment to the shaving and buffing machine is of great importance. Fig. 5 SHAVING CYLINDER The operations of the tannery, which are performed by cylindrical machines, are dehairing, fleshing, scudding, samming, shaving, scouring, striking-out, setting, boarding, buffing, graining, printing, embossing, and blacking or colouring. The working cylinders usually vary according to the character of the operation, although one or two types may be used for at least three different operations. Where cutting or paring is done, the working cylinder is fitted with brass blades, or steel blades backed with iron. The blades are spiral in some machines, and are so arranged that half of them converge to the left, and The most important machines outside the working cylinder type are the splitter, and the glazer. There are several kinds of splitting machines, but the band-knife machine (Fig. 7) is the most largely used. This Nearly every leather trades' engineer constructs shaving machines, but the Howard-Smith is described here, not because it is the most popular (unfortunately there is a decided preference for low-priced machines), but because it is one of the best from an engineering point of view, and because several improvements are embodied in its construction. This machine consists of nearly one hundred parts Figure 10 represents a drawing of the shaving machine, A being the side view, and B the front. The work of the draughtsman generally appears to the uninitiated to border on the miraculous; he is often the designer and architect of the machine, and his work is certainly interesting and skilful. Many of the heavy parts, such as main castings, pedestals, etc., are made in the foundry, which may be part of the leather trades' engineer's works if he is in a large way of business. The finer parts, those which might be termed the fittings, are made in the turnery department; while the machine is assembled in the fitters' shop. Figure 10 A shows the side, and 10 B the front construction of the shaving machine. The figures indicate, by following the arrows, the principal parts of the machine, which are shown in detail in sectional tracings. For example, T. 65, of which no working parts are shown in the diagram of the complete machine, is reproduced in detail in a separate drawing shown in Figure 11. Each part of the machine is numbered and entered in a stock-book. In describing the principal parts indicated in Figure 10, it will give an idea of the assembling of the machine if a beginning be made with the main iron castings. The pullies (73) are connected with the knife cylinder which shaves the leather. The cylinder is obscured by the wheel-guard (65) and is, therefore, shown separately. This cylinder is comprised of a shaped piece of steel (turned out of solid metal bars of 4-3/4 in. diameter) into which spiral steel blades are caulked with copper or brass. When turned, the body of the cylinder is 4-5/8 in. in diameter, but the parts forming the bearings are reduced to 1-1/2 in. The number of blades is twelve, fourteen, or sixteen, according to the kind of leather shaved, and to the choice of the operator. It is interesting to note that these blades are now being made in Sheffield, although, before the war, they had to be imported. The knife guard (65), shown in detail in Figure 11, is an ingenious contrivance which prevents the operator's hands being drawn into the machine. It consists of an automatic shutter worked by a steel chain from the foot lever. Figure 11 a represents the shutter closed down on the knife with the rubber roll, on which the leather is carried to the knife, at a safe distance from the shutters. Fig. 11 b shows the position when the machine is shaving the leather, the guard being clear and the rubber roll engaged with the knife. An important detail of the machine under description is a trueing device. Knives are often roughened owing to the carborundum wheel wearing irregularly. The trueing device keeps the wheel perfectly true by means of a diamond held in the end of a screw (78). Another ingenious arrangement (patented) is a spring (79a) A unique advantage of the Howard-Smith machine is that it is ball-bearing throughout. The main driving shaft revolves on four massive ball-bearings in case (71). The pullies are firmly fixed to the driving shaft with keys or feathers. Afterwards the pullies are machined, so that the whole shaft with its pullies is perfectly balanced, and the machine runs smoothly without vibration. The bladed cylinder is likewise mounted on four ball-bearings. The intermediate driving shaft (70), which is mounted on two ball-bearings, is connected with a large drum shaft (70a) which, in its turn, sets the carborundum wheel in motion. Fig. 12 represents another make of shaving machine. |