‘cos I’ve bought this thing:

It was sold as a swaging machine, made by the Standard Engineering Co of Leicester, but looking into them they seem to ahve made shoe repair machinery. So is this really a swaging machine?

This could probably go into the extravagant purchases thread anyhow – I don’t really need a swaging machine if this is one, I bought it because it’s pretty – but it was only £75 so not really that extravagant 🙂

Damn fine paperweight.

normally you’d have several dies to give different dimensions to the swages.

run a cut up coke can through and see what happens 🙂

Thanks – I was puzzled by the wedge-type thing on the back (or is that the front) – thought it might be some kind of leather working device.

That’d make a dandy steampunk ornament.

Isn’t it for joining the seam on two sheets of steel, ally, brass, copper etc.

Laugh? I nearly shat! I haven’t laughed so much since Grandma died, or Auntie Mabel caught her left … in the mangle………!!!

Turns out it’s a leather skiving machine. I’m sure you were all on tenterhooks waiting to find that out…

I bet there’s at least 75 quid’s worth of scrap there. 😉

How could you? It’s gorgeous 🙂

what is a skiving machine then?

I wondered when I saw it on flickr. First thought was that doesn’t look like a swaging machine!!

Starter motor for a rover v8.

Only teasing, I’ll admit it does have some old school manufacturing aesthetic charm about it.

I wondered when I saw it on flickr. First thought was that doesn’t look like a swaging machine!!

Yeah, I was unsure as well – it does vaguely look like a roller-type swaging machine, and the bloke I got it from got it from his dad, and he was convinced his dad never did any leatherworking.

But I, tried shoving some bits of steel through it and it put a nice curve on them, so it might come in handy anyway…