My Edge Burnisher And Method Of Burnishing.

[billymac814]

I figured if share my method of burnishing edges. I used to spend a ridiculous amount of time doing it with a bunch of different steps using saddle soap, water, dye, wax etc. now I do them much quicker and the results are pretty good.

First I sand the edges smooth using about an 80 grit that's worn down a bit so its probably finer. I then bevel the edges. At this point I sometimes will hit the edge lightly with a sponge sanding pad, rarely though for most things.

If its a black item Ill apply the die right now using Pro oil dye using a thick piece of felt(scraps from my ankle holsters). If its lighter colors ill usually apply a bit of water and hit it with the burnishing wheel for a little bit, this helps get a nice clean line.

Next I use my wood burnisher that's mounted to a motor on the side of my bench, I have this controlled with a foot pedal. Ill usually use two different grooves, the first pass is a narrow one that does the edges, the next a wider one that hits the center, sometimes I get lucky and one groove fits perfect enough to do both.

After that my edge is pretty good. Ill rub a little beeswax/paraffin wax mixture on it very lightly and now hit it on the felt pad wheel that's mounted below my cuck in the motor. This is simply about 3/4" of felt sandwiched in between two washers. This does a foot job at heating up the wax allowing it to penetrate a bit.

If its a belt ill usually take a tee shirt and wipe down the edge to remove any residual wax which also polished it to a nice shine. I don't always bother to do this on certain things, it really depends on how much wax is on there, ideally if I put the right amount on I won't have to do this.

That's it, later during the process I'll finish it off with some resolene.

The pictures show a test piece. This was done in far less than a minute, I wasn't too worried about a crisp line here as you can tell since it was scrap.

The other foot pedal you see in the picture controls my flex shaft grinder.

As you can also see I watch directv while doing this. I was able to make a deal with a local company that sells directv to have a sign up in my shop and in return they out in Directv in my shop.

[jbabler]

Did you make your burnisher?

[billymac814]

If you mean the wood part on the end, no, Spinner made it a few years ago. He no longer makes them but Ed the bear man does.

Did you make your burnisher?

[jbabler]

Nice, thanks!

[Feraud]

Thanks for posting your method. I appreciate seeing the different members' techniques.