Making An Edge Finisher/burnisher (Following The Path To Shiny Edge Goodness)

[MojoGeorge]

Wasn't for sure where to post this, so moderators, place it where you will!

I have been looking for a solution to edge finishing and everything I have been able to locate has been out of my budget...

Sooooo, being an enterprising geek I sat down and thought about what I needed.

1 friction

2 heat (caused by number one)

3 application on finishes and waxes

4 much shininess

hmmmm

spinny things oughta do the job

Shopping list:

Bench Grinder, Lowes $47

2 dual sheaves (pulleys) 1/2 inch bore Grizzly Tools $10.50 each

Speed control, Harbor Freight $19.00

Rusty from Springfield Leather.... Priceless!

Take your handy dandy screwdriver and remove the guards, then take a pair of pliers and remove the nut from the wheel so you can remove the grinding stone

remove the metal washer from behind the grinding stone

now remove the three screws holding the inner guard shield

remove the inner guard shield.... we don't need no stinking safety shields!

now, grab your dual sheave... see, two slots

remember the 1/2 inch bore?

Place the sheave on the grinder shaft and tighten the allen screw... don't forget to tighten this thing or it will come off of the grinder at mach 4.187 and careen around the house ending up cracking the door on one of your wifes cabinets.... well, like I said, tighten the allen screw

grab your speed controller and plug it into the wall, then plug your new edge finisher into the speed control

thats it for this installment, Rusty from Springfield Leather told me to bring in the sheaves and we would build the edge finishing grooves into the sheaves. I will post the rest of this epic quest at that time

cheers

MojoGeo

[hornm]

Power tools... :notworthy:

Horn

[Red Cent]

Duh. That is neat. And to think I have two grinders in the garage. And one of 'em is a dual grinder.

I took a 2' dowel rod about 6 " long and using a milling vise, got awfully close to the center and drilled a hole. 1/4" bolt, nuts on both sides. Put in the drill press and using a heavy tooth file and the milling vise, trued the dowel and finished with 220 sandpaper. Then with an assortment of rat-tail files created a number of grooves. Made three of 'em. Who needs cocobolo?

Edited November 16, 2013 by Red Cent

[NeonKat]

My quest for beautiful edges was solved with the purchase of a wooden spoon, WalMart, $2.97, made from Birchwood or Beechwood, cannot remember which. Sawed off the spoon part, used my rattail rasp and rasped an approximate 1/4" - 3/8" groove into the remaining handle. Sanded out the rasped groove with 600 grit wet/dry. My procedure has always been to reduce as much edge fuzz as possible and I do this with 400 grit wet/dry, moisten the edge and burnish to a glassy edge. Results are as good/better than/as Bob Parks - Weavers ultra-pricey gizmo, drill mounted Rube Goldberg contraptions, imported exotic wood "handmade" must-haves. No bench grinder conversion, servo controlled motor, foot pedal operated whizbang Harbor Freight conglomeration will produce as fine an edge finish as the above described lowly spoon handle. That's a fact.

[Red Cent]

Question. Are you using the cast iron pulley as a burnisher? It occurred to me that I have a keyless chuck in the garage that will fit my 3/8-24. One more and I could chuck all day long. Burnisher on one end and sanding drum on the other.

Anyway, pulley?

[MojoGeorge]

Using two dual groove pulleys gives me four options, Rusty and I will cover two with leather and canvas and one will have a v-belt cemented in (grooved w/ a rat tail) haven't considered using the bare metal...

[MojoGeorge]

NeonKat, sounds great! But I am having a lot of fun with my whizbang contraption Also, I am an OTR driver and get 18 to 35 hours total every other week or so. This includes sleep, laundry, family time and my leather time. So any time advantage I can gain is truly appreciated...

Edited November 20, 2013 by MojoGeorge

[Matt S]

My quest for beautiful edges was solved with the purchase of a wooden spoon, WalMart, $2.97, made from Birchwood or Beechwood, cannot remember which. Sawed off the spoon part, used my rattail rasp and rasped an approximate 1/4" - 3/8" groove into the remaining handle. Sanded out the rasped groove with 600 grit wet/dry. My procedure has always been to reduce as much edge fuzz as possible and I do this with 400 grit wet/dry, moisten the edge and burnish to a glassy edge. Results are as good/better than/as Bob Parks - Weavers ultra-pricey gizmo, drill mounted Rube Goldberg contraptions, imported exotic wood "handmade" must-haves. No bench grinder conversion, servo controlled motor, foot pedal operated whizbang Harbor Freight conglomeration will produce as fine an edge finish as the above described lowly spoon handle. That's a fact.

No, that's an opinion based on your circumstances. Other leatherworkers using different leather and under different time constraints, with different standards may prefer other methods. Let them.

[Red Cent]

NeonKat, we need pictures, lots and lots of pictures.

[needles]

redhed, you use it as part of a calorie controlled diet of course.. ...sorry they made me say it...

[MojoGeorge]

Bad emotives, bad

[WScott]

Cool project

Love converting equipment to my specific needs

Great stuff

[MojoGeorge]

Ed, pm sent

[Hillbilly tim]

Beary made this one for me. its a direct shaft mount design. saves all that cobbling together stuff I was gonna have to do. It was roughly the same price as their drill mount version. If you have a motor already, it makes a nice compact tool to mount on a portable base or bench. It ***really*** saves my hands. as many times as i've had them operated on, I gotta do all I can to make things easier.

Bro Tim

[WScott]

That cocobolo is gorgeous.

I found it smelled like chocolate when I worked with it.

[Treed]

who make the shaft mounted burnisher, that one looks great

[King's X]

I made one out of stacked veg tan and mounted on a motor that was given to me. Works great! Take a look at my leather blog for more details.

[Hillbilly tim]

Beary bearman made it for me. I thought it was a beautiful piece of leather tools to me.

Bro tim

[MojoGeorge]

Beauty!! Still on the road, I hope to be playing with the new toy by Christmas