Edging embossed epi leather

[Ben00]

Hello all, 

I am currently working on making a nice clean edge with two strips of leather about 5-6 ounces at the max, one is epi, and the other is Latigo for a nice leather bracelet to wear on my wrist. The issue is I would like to make the bracelet durable, so I’m straddling both pieces of leather glued back to back, when I butt the ends together, the outside has a French seam and the inside piece has either a French seam as well or a 1/2” skived end piece on each end that over lap for me to hole punch and sew tightly together. But this means I need to straddle these strips together and stitch them right before I edge the bracelet. After the bracelet is made I have been applying all processes for a clean edge thoroughly from this site. However I am having a large issue with my leather not being even. Largely due to my leather which comes pre coated with some sort of waxed film is also very thin. This makes it basically impossible to edge nicely. I’ve tried sanding the edge with a belt sander, it didn’t seem to help much. it’s like the rough part of the leather falls after I glue both pieces together. So I have been looking at edge wax online. But people also use paraffin wax on edges as well as saddle soap. I have heard of using weld wood cement, and rolling the leather pieces together. I really wish someone could just lay out what is the best possible option to give a vey clean glass like edge that I can also paint with acrylics. But most Importantly that will not crack in the bent circular shape. 
 
thank you for all the help it is very much appreciated. i will attach the leather below.

 

 

 

regards BN

 

 

Edited July 2, 2022 by Ben00
Photos of my attempt on edging the leather

[tsunkasapa]

Embossed/textured leather will never edge nicely because the surface is not uniform.

[Ben00]

6 hours ago, tsunkasapa said:

Embossed/textured leather will never edge nicely because the surface is not uniform.

So any suggestions on making a clean edge? 

[tsunkasapa]

I have never found a way. I quit trying to bevel leather like that and just go with a square edge.

[RockyAussie]

7 hours ago, Ben00 said:

Hello all, 

I am currently working on making a nice clean edge with two strips of leather about 5-6 ounces at the max, one is epi, and the other is Latigo for a nice leather bracelet to wear on my wrist. The issue is I would like to make the bracelet durable, so I’m straddling both pieces of leather glued back to back, when I butt the ends together, the outside has a French seam and the inside piece has either a French seam as well or a 1/2” skived end piece on each end that over lap for me to hole punch and sew tightly together. But this means I need to straddle these strips together and stitch them right before I edge the bracelet. After the bracelet is made I have been applying all processes for a clean edge thoroughly from this site. However I am having a large issue with my leather not being even. Largely due to my leather which comes pre coated with some sort of waxed film is also very thin. This makes it basically impossible to edge nicely. I’ve tried sanding the edge with a belt sander, it didn’t seem to help much. it’s like the rough part of the leather falls after I glue both pieces together. So I have been looking at edge wax online. But people also use paraffin wax on edges as well as saddle soap. I have heard of using weld wood cement, and rolling the leather pieces together. I really wish someone could just lay out what is the best possible option to give a vey clean glass like edge that I can also paint with acrylics. But most Importantly that will not crack in the bent circular shape. 
 
thank you for all the help it is very much appreciated. i will attach the leather below.

 

 

 

regards BN

 

 

Partly you may be getting close. The rounding off of the edges looks about right. When I do this sort of job I put on 2 or 3 coats first then iron it in with a temperature controlled soldering iron which flattens out all the bumps and smooth the edges down nice. I then give it a couple of more coats being careful not to get over the edges. You can do it with just sanding steps between a few coats but I prefer the heated iron method myself. These 3 things I use mostly - A sanding block, Grey scotchbright, and the soldering iron which is controlled by a light dimmer switch.

This link I did awhile back should help -

 

[Ben00]

16 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

Partly you may be getting close. The rounding off of the edges looks about right. When I do this sort of job I put on 2 or 3 coats first then iron it in with a temperature controlled soldering iron which flattens out all the bumps and smooth the edges down nice. I then give it a couple of more coats being careful not to get over the edges. You can do it with just sanding steps between a few coats but I prefer the heated iron method myself. These 3 things I use mostly - A sanding block, Grey scotchbright, and the soldering iron which is controlled by a light dimmer switch.

This link I did awhile back should help -

 

RockyAussie you have far exceeded any expectations I had for any reply’s I was expecting to get. So bare with me I have a few questions. 
1. Maybe I missed the detail about the type of brown leather you used for the backing of the watch strap. I was wondering if you could point me to where to buy that.
2.Also the reinforcing fabric you used, it appeared to be some sort of nylon mesh. Is it special order or does it matter what I use?

3. I also don’t have access to a leather thinning machine if i skive the whole strip of leather will it look uneven when glued down to the brown leather backing?

4. i have been using Latigo leather in the past, for its claim to fame on durability, I assume you don’t do a project like this with Latigo, and thin the leather out as much as you need right? 

5. I don’t seem to have HooCo wax on hand, is HooCo a specialized kind that works best on smaller edges? Or will any old wax do for the edges? Like paraffin? Or beeswax perhaps? 
 

6. Last question I promise, which is the horse hair buffering wheel, I don’t seem to have access to a wheel of that sort, is there a substitute I can use? Like a cordless drill? i know some people burnish with wooden wheels and such, but I don’t imagine you can find a polishing wheel, with horse hair, on it for polishing the face of the leather. 
 

thank so much, this was really helpful. 
if you have a YouTube channel or anything like that I’d love to follow you, 

 

cheers BN

 

[RockyAussie]

This link should take you to my youtube channel I think - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI6HpFVNnJrEDxdAT8gma7Q

15 minutes ago, Ben00 said:

1. Maybe I missed the detail about the type of brown leather you used for the backing of the watch strap. I was wondering if you could point me to where to buy that.

This one I used there is a nubuck camel hide but a nubuck goat or roo would be fine as well. (Nubuck is just a finer sanded swede)

17 minutes ago, Ben00 said:

2.Also the reinforcing fabric you used, it appeared to be some sort of nylon mesh. Is it special order or does it matter what I use?

This is just a fabric called Jacquard we import from Tabru in Italy but any thin tight weave fabric will do. (umbrella?)

20 minutes ago, Ben00 said:

3. I also don’t have access to a leather thinning machine if i skive the whole strip of leather will it look uneven when glued down to the brown leather backing?

That of course would depend on how will you can hand skive otherwise but you can profile a thin top leather by putting in a middle filler 3to 4mm from the edges and get a good looking result. (Foam or felt is common)

25 minutes ago, Ben00 said:

4. i have been using Latigo leather in the past, for its claim to fame on durability, I assume you don’t do a project like this with Latigo, and thin the leather out as much as you need right?

I am not familiar with Latigo but any leather except beady ray I can skive or split with the machines I have. I have split ostrich and croc leather down to .3mm for watch faces in the past.

32 minutes ago, Ben00 said:

5. I don’t seem to have HooCo wax on hand, is HooCo a specialized kind that works best on smaller edges? Or will any old wax do for the edges? Like paraffin? Or beeswax perhaps? 

It is pretty much a mixture of paraffin and bees wax but if you dont have a finishing machine to polish it in with you may be able to use a shoe brush with a clear renovating polish. Apply the polish and let it dry in for awhile then polish off with the brush and then a soft cloth.

36 minutes ago, Ben00 said:

6. Last question I promise, which is the horse hair buffering wheel, I don’t seem to have access to a wheel of that sort, is there a substitute I can use? Like a cordless drill? i know some people burnish with wooden wheels and such, but I don’t imagine you can find a polishing wheel, with horse hair, on it for polishing the face of the leather. 

Partly answered above but DO NOT BURNISH at all at any stage when applying edge paints. If you make too smooth beforehand it may peel up and if you do it in between then it will stick to the burnishing tool and make a mess.

Lastly...have a look in my profile section in the about me column and you will find a lot of projects I have done and how. Follow me here if you want to keep updated.

 

[Ben00]

Hello Rockyaussie, 

 

I’ve been using the technique you showed me and just wanted to clarify that you don’t use any wax other than the HooCo stuff and even that is applied after you have painted with edge paint I presume, then sanded and ironed the edges. As you said above do not burnish at all during any stage. i assume you mean I should replace the burnishing with soldering the edge then. 
 

BN

Edited July 10, 2022 by Ben00

[RockyAussie]

2 hours ago, Ben00 said:

i assume you mean I should replace the burnishing with soldering the edge then. 

The soldering iron is my preference as it allows me to iron the paint around into the hollows and I believe it makes for a tougher finish at the end. It is possible to just sand and scothbrite between layers but I find that more time consuming as it can mean more layers need to be added to fill any hollows. The wax is only used at the end to make the finish less likely to stick to itself and give further protection and shine to the job. An example if it helps is like when you paint a door and the trim and then let it close together too soon. It gets stuck and wants to pull the paint apart when you open the door. Some wax finish helps to stop it.

Edited July 10, 2022 by RockyAussie

[Ben00]

1 hour ago, RockyAussie said:

The soldering iron is my preference as it allows me to iron the paint around into the hollows and I believe it makes for a tougher finish at the end. It is possible to just sand and scothbrite between layers but I find that more time consuming as it can mean more layers need to be added to fill any hollows. The wax is only used at the end to make the finish less likely to stick to itself and give further protection and shine to the job. An example if it helps is like when you paint a door and the trim and then let it close together too soon. It gets stuck and wants to pull the paint apart when you open the door. Some wax finish helps to stop it.

Thank you for the feedback, I bought a weller wood burning kit which is 30w and it comes with a few straight tips nothing curved like you have, but I’m wondering if I can get some scrapes I’ve had off of my epi embossed leather, otherwise can I cover over the marks with edge paint? What do you normally do in this situation? Thanks. BN

[Ben00]

You also said you hand skive the outside edges of the norbuck and croc skin specifically to avoid valleys between the leather. As i would like to keep my leather an even thickness on both sides, what would be the minimum amount of thickness you would ever go to, to insure there is no dip between the strips. 
apologies for all the questions, you just appear to be one of the few guys doing similar work that I want to learn. Thanks again really appreciate it. 
 

best BN

[TomE]

Not to muddy the waters, but have you trimmed the edge square before starting the edge finishing process?  With veg tan I use a round knife or piece of broken glass ("glassing the edge") to level the edge before any sanding or finishes.  I normally do this before sewing, but when using a machine on a raised leather strap I sew it then trim the edge close to the stitch line. 

[RockyAussie]

@Ben00 you said above to quote  "You also said you hand skive the outside edges of the norbuck and croc skin specifically to avoid valleys between the leather".

This had me lost and searching for where you may have gotten this idea. I believe it may be a misunderstanding from what I wrote in the watch band tutorial as below.

"This one below shows the skiving done on the straps with the Fortuna and a little hand skiving to achieve no thickness on the ends. This is done to minimise getting any holes in the valleys."

What I was meaning to convey there was that the skiving machine can not skive the crocodile down to zero at the edge without getting some chopping out where the valleys are between the scales. The only part done by hand with the skiving was the ends with a boot makers knife.

On 7/10/2022 at 3:23 PM, Ben00 said:

As i would like to keep my leather an even thickness on both sides, what would be the minimum amount of thickness you would ever go to, to insure there is no dip between the strips. 

Generally I don't go any thinner than around 1.2mm combined as mentioned in the watchband tutorial example. The thinner your edges are the quicker and easier the edging is to do. The dress belts I do will often be around 2mm at the edge and the hornback croc ones are around 4mm at the edge. The dress belt ones you can see some of the making of in this following video and note that the high profile on them is achieved by putting a filler strip between the layers -

 

On 7/10/2022 at 3:11 PM, Ben00 said:

Thank you for the feedback, I bought a weller wood burning kit which is 30w and it comes with a few straight tips nothing curved like you have, but I’m wondering if I can get some scrapes I’ve had off of my epi embossed leather, otherwise can I cover over the marks with edge paint? What do you normally do in this situation

It appears that you are getting some burn marks on the painted areas and that is not a normal thing. Is the paint you are using behaving like the paint being ironed in this video? The paint should flow around like putty when it goes correctly and allow the reshaping and filling of holes fairly easily. In this video the heat is too high in my opinion. Sometimes if you go higher up above the tip can help as well if the tip is over hot. The soldering irons I use are 60 watt and I get ones with the bigger tips to enable me to shape them as I do.

I mentioned that I use a light dimmer switch to control the temperature, I do this by putting the dimmer switch and a power plug with light into a box as shown below. The hotter the iron, the brighter the light shows which helps a little. I mark an ideal position onto control part when I have found a good average position.

The burn marks you have should be able to be sanded off and scothbrited. It will take some time to get competent with it.