Mike1261

Hi folks I produce leather bracelets and the most time consuming part is the edge Burnishing. I go for a super smooth finish that takes me a long time with multiple sanding/tokenole passes until it's totally smooth with no leather picky parts, then finish the edge with resolene. Because of the length of time I spend on it, my production volume is quite low and quite exhausting. I'm wondering if there are leather working shops out there that I can send a batch of unfinished bracelets to and they ship it back burnished? If so, any idea on cost? Thanks! :-)

Figured it out! Went to buy Saddle Tan at Tandy and looked at their leather swatches with the colors. Fiebings Pro Dye Mahogany is extremely close, and to do the edges to create a nice uniform burnish, I dilute 1ml of clear dilutant to 2 drops of mahogany. Looks as close a match as I could ever imagine!

Thanks you too! Seems to be reduced to a Cat 2 now and mostly off the coast, but man the Bahamas got decimated! :-( I was eyeing the Saddle Tan, I'll pick one up at Tandy when they're open again!

I'm in SW Orlando. Pics are attached. Very hard to get good accurate photos of the color. It's a rich brown with a red tone to it. I can get "close" but either it's too brown and not enough red, or the red tone has more of a pink or burgundy hue to it that stands out from the more orangey hue that the leather has. If I go with Angelus "Tan" with no dilution, it looks close, until you realize the edge has more of a pink-red than an orange-red tone. If I go with "English Tan" it's too brown. If I mix English Tan with Tan then it's too dark and still trending the wrong tone of red. If I dilute them heavily, it doesn't create enough opacity in the leather and makes the pink-red even more prevalent. I just ordered almost every brown that Angelus makes and I'm hoping I can get some combination to come close. There's also furniture leather places that will color-match dye for sofas, and I can then dilute the color so it doesn't over-darken with burnishing. But I'm not sure if it's the right kind of dye, I see mention of Urethane a lot and I don't know if that would preclude me from being able to burnish after dying. I went with a drum-dyed leather hoping to avoid having to dye, but the penetration of the drum dye falls short. The quality of the leather is exactly what I'm looking for, the texture and the color are perfect. I just can't seem to make the edges as seamless as I wanted.

I've been burnishing without dying because it's a drum dyed leather, and it's hit or miss. Sometimes the entire edge is beautiful and blends nicely from the top surface into the edges and is very seamless. Other times, lighter fibers from the leather show up at the surface and it has a very ratty look. It certainly does darken with burnishing, but so do the darker fibers around it. I'm trying to smooth out that appearance. Especially when taking photos, it's almost like a stripe down the edge of the bracelet of light colored fibers. It's less than ideal. I can't use edge paint as I'm looking for a very specific appearance. Basically if the edge could vanish and become one with the top surface would be ideal. A seamless transition around the entire bracelet.

Hi folks I use Chahin's Chestnut color leather strap for my leatherwork and I'm trying to make my edges look better. I've concluded that dying the edges to match the top surface is what I'm missing in my process. Does anyone know the best way to match this color? Or how I'd figure it out? So far, Angelus "Tan" dye is quite close. At a glance you'd say it's dead on, but with some quick scrutiny you can see there's too much red or pink tone to it. I've tried mixing with Neutral (dilute), English Tan, and Bismark Brown, and all the colors end up too red or burgundy. My goal is to have the top surface almost seemlessly blend into the sides with a bevel on the edges. I've got some pieces that look great this way with no dye at all, but then other pieces have a lot of lighter fibers visible that makes the edges look unrefined. The dye corrects this, but it needs to be a better match. Ideas? Suggestions?

Thanks for the tip! I do tend to re-sand and try again when I see fibers not behaving how I like, so this totally makes sense to me. I'm struggling to get a glossy finish to my wax at this point. I have a really gorgeously smooth edge and I have SOME shine to it, and probably it's "sufficient." But if I could get it to look even better I would be ecstatic. I'm going to try using a cotton buffing cloth when I get a hold of one. Right now I have denim, canvas, microfiber, but no soft cotton. Maybe that'll do it... My wife thinks I'm being too picky at this point LOL. But I feel like I can do better.

I'm playing with the Columbus wax, but I can't get it to gloss up. How much wax do you apply? What do you use to shine it up? How much pressure to you apply?

I just tried the Tokenole. Wow what a difference! The Eco Flo Gum Trag from Tandy is a way different consistency. It's almost like the Tokenole is a wood glue lol. My edges on drum dyed chestnut leather look gorgeous with the Tokenole! The Gum Trag was leaving the edges looking a little like particleboard in appearance. Lighter than the chestnut color, with a mishmash of chestnut and lighter fibers. It was "OK" but I wasn't happy. Kinda left me feeling as though I needed to dye my edges, which defeats the entire purpose for selecting a drum dyed leather. The Tokenole leaves a darker more uniform leather finish, the same color as the chestnut dye on the finished surface. It burnishes quickly and smoothly and the canvas shines it right up. I love it! The columbus wax should be here next Tuesday. Will see if I can protect the edge nicely using that stuff :-D I'm very excited if you can't tell LOL.

I'm about to order the Columbus. How do you use it? Do you soften it up before applying or just use friction? How much do you use, can you overdo the wax?

Thank you Paloma for the clarification. You mention that Gum Tragacanthe is the same as Tokonole - is it exactly the same out of the bottle? Or is it the same as Tokonole after you prepare it in gel and liquid? I have Gum Tragacanthe as well. Is it still worth trying Tokonole or is it exactly the same?

What do you mean you finish with carnuba wax? You use Tokonole and then go over it with the wax? How do you apply and finish with the carnuba? I'm about to order Tokonole. I use black leather and chestnut leather. Would the black and brown Tokonole be good options? Or is clear better? I need it to be color fast. Not leave color on people's wrists or clothing. That's my only concern. That and the brown should ideally look natural on the chestnut. I use Chahin strap leather. Seems to burnish nicely. Similar to my Hermann Oak. My problem with the HO is that the texture they emboss into their leather is very prominent. The Chahin is a better look for what I'm needing at a good price.

Hi folks I've been reading all about burnishing for quite a while and have been trying to find my technique for a leather bracelet. I bevel, sand, then use liquid saddle soap and a hand burnisher. The result comes out looking slick and smooth and shiny. But after a day if wear some of the fibers start sticking out a bit and looks sloppy. I read a post on here where someone followed up the saddle soap burnish with a 50/50 mix of Paraffin Wax and Bees Wax and burnished it again with the wax. So I melted it up and mixed it 50/50 and tried that method. The result is a decent edge that almost certainly will hold up, but there is no gloss to the edge at all. I take the excess off with canvas and it looks nice but dull. If I try using some elbow grease with a microfiber cloth the edge kinda dries out and looks awful. What does one do to buff out a paraffin/beeswax burnish and make it look as nice as a saddle soap burnish does? I want the durability of the wax but the slick shine of the saddle soap. Thanks!