Weaver Heritage Leather Splitter Improvements

I picked this Splitter up from Tandy back in 2007
It was hard to get used to and adjust so over the years I have made changes to tune it in, now it is a better machine and easier to use. As with any machine it takes time and practice to get good results, but as with some machines it requires improvements too.

I put a more accurate pointer on the hand lever because cutting the same thickness on more than one piece requires resetting the blade for each piece.

The radius on the curved piece of steel did not match the radius of the handle so I had to correct that by grinding it down.

The blade must be shimmed to get it parallel to the roller.

I use several thin steel shims and move them around while slowly tightening teach of the two screws. You must watch the gap between the blade and the roller; you will be surprised at how easily it is warped out of parallel with the slightest change in torque.

Sharpening the blade is tricky but I have the answer; 8" x 12" x 2" granite surface plates are cheap and well worth the investment. it will be THE flattest thing in your shop and will become the last word for straight edge sharpening. With a piece of 800 - 1200 sandpaper clamped to it you will be amazed at how easy it is to tune up this very wide blade. YOU CAN SLICE THE END OF YOUR FINGER OFF WITH THIS BLADE SO BE CAREFUL!

Although no one want's to admit it you know that any unsupported part of the blade will cause a sharpening mess. I am able to get razor sharp results with this method.

I added a couple of compression springs; a vast improvement to the how the machine operates.

I also added a couple of oil holes for the roller pin.

Sherline Mill & Lathe DRO Display A - B Box

I have posted about using a single DRO display box for both of my hand turned lathe & mill.

I got the bug to create an A - B box to do the switching instead of plugging and unplugging the 4 wire telephone jacks.

This is an expensive little switching box however it is worth it to me.

I modified an off the shelf Radio Shack aluminum box so that the phone jacks could come in from the bottom and be protected from the machining mess. There are two types of phone jack so this is actually a little bit of a problem; the narrow ones (4 pin) for the handset are used by Shereline.

After the prove out I fabricated an aluminum cover for the underside.

The 4, 12 pin switches are the cost hit for this design.
Maybe there is someone with a better understanding of whats out there or better yet could create an electronic switching circuit and do what this does?