Edge-Kote?

[JPH]

Hello again:

Ok I got a few made up and sewn and all..I haven't slicked the edge..just evened them up on the belt grinder and now they are a tad bit "furry" or "fuzzy" looking...

Now the question is on the slicking..I do this with the leather MOIST..NOT wet just MOIST correct?? And then I rub these to smooth it out and "Burnish" the leather?? If so..what prevents the leather from going back to being fuzzy when I re-dye it or do I have to re-dye?? I am a bit lost here...

I know PITA questions but I don't know...the books/guides I have read do have some conflucting information so I am thinking that there are a few ways to do this??

JPH

[Art]

I presume you have dyed the piece and it is dry and any excess dye is buffed off. The edges have been edged prior to dyeing. Now get some water on your finger and wet the edge you are going to burnish and go at it. Burnish until the edge gets hard and glossy, don't be afraid to lean on it. After you have it the way you want it, you can put some finish like gum tragacanth on it and rub until you get what you want. Do this on a practice piece first to see what to expect; if you've never done this, don't try it on a piece you have 10 or 20 hours in, try it on scrap. If you have a flimsy edge, put it between a couple of pieces of board or glass so the edge sticks out an eighth or quarter inch and work on that. It's like hardening steel, folks put a lot of mumbo jumbo into it and make the whole process harder than Chinese Trigonometry. Just take a scrap piece of veg tan , edge it, dye it, dry it, buff it, and slick the edge, then put on some finish and slick till it looks great. You probably won't have to add any more color, but if you do, try some edge paint (Fiebing's Edge Kote or similar) or an acrylic paint. Painted edges are not a durable as just a well slicked edge.

Art

Hello again:

Ok I got a few made up and sewn and all..I haven't slicked the edge..just evened them up on the belt grinder and now they are a tad bit "furry" or "fuzzy" looking...

Now the question is on the slicking..I do this with the leather MOIST..NOT wet just MOIST correct?? And then I rub these to smooth it out and "Burnish" the leather?? If so..what prevents the leather from going back to being fuzzy when I re-dye it or do I have to re-dye?? I am a bit lost here...

I know PITA questions but I don't know...the books/guides I have read do have some conflucting information so I am thinking that there are a few ways to do this??

JPH

[JPH]

Art:

THANK YOU....I will give that a go this afternoon...now that gum trag..what does that do actually???

JPH

[Art]

Hi Jim,

Gum Tragacanth is a natural gum product from some weed in the middle east. It is related to zanthum gum and the likes and is also a food product. Basically it is used as a natural finish coat and is commonly used for finishing and smoothing the flesh side of leather although it is a good top coat also. It is also used to finish edges in both the burnishing and coating of the edge. You could use it in place of water to burnish, but water works just as good. A natural and old time finish that gives a little gloss and lets the leather breathe. Not waterproof or very water resistant.

Art

Art:

THANK YOU....I will give that a go this afternoon...now that gum trag..what does that do actually???

JPH

[JPH]

Art:

Ok I gave it a go and well it took darn near forever to get the edges smoothed/burnished by hand.. I make sheaths by the dozen and this is really adding up to the time...sooooooo..

I was thinking that if I was to turn a wheel, say out of 1018/A-36 ...about 8" in diameter, put a nice U shaped groove in it..somewhat shallow but strill a U and attach that to say a 1650 or so RPM motor...that should work shouldn't it to burnish??

I need to cut down on the time spent on these...and this might be a way to do that. spending 10 minutes on a sheath to burnish doesn't sound like a long time but when you have 30 or 40 to do...it adds up...

JPH

[Billsotx]

Jim,

I'll jump in here with a little note. I believe a "round-bottom" edger is what you'll want for edging your sheaths. With your metal work skills you should be able to turn one out in short order. Here's a link that might give you an idea: undefined. There's also a Bob Douglas (also high end tools) on ebay you might look at the photo: Item 120182024166.

I started off with those TLF edgers, I didn't know there were different ones and I always wondered why those saddle guys had round edges on somethings so I started asking. Now all my old TLF are round bottom edgers - a round swiss file and a little sharpening with various grits of paper turned them into useful tools.

I'd think you could make one after looking at a few pix.

Bottom line on burnishing is there's no shortcut. Elbow grease, even a power wheel takes time.

You can make one from a piece of hardwood dowel about 5 or 6 inches long and 1.5, 2.0 or 2.5 inches in diameter. Center punch it and install a mandrel and then turn some grooves of various sizes up and down the shaft and run it in a drill press. Use a little moisture and paraffin or beeswax.

Glue, sew, dye, edge, sand lightly, moisten and burnish. Apply your finish coat and you're done. I wouldn't dunk it in finish whatever you use. I usually apply finish with a piece of shearling and then pitch it at the end of the day.

Like Art said there's a bunch of formulas, you have to find the one you like. You're trying to go fast and if you find fast and less elbow grease I'd like to know. Give us some feedback. I'm interested in what you're doing. I watch this thread.

Good luck,

Bill

[JPH]

Bill, Art:

Oik I gave the hardwood a try, had some ash I had laying about and cut some different radii U grooves in it...sanded it down smooth using emory paper on a round file and waxed the beegeezus out of it using beeswax...then I burnished the wood/wax with a piece of mild steel..heating it all up until it was smoking a bit and the wood got a bit singed...

And guess what???..it works...takes about a minute to burnish the edges and I am not using any water at all..just daub on some beeswax and run the edge around the grooved mandrel... leaves a very smooth egde...I am very pleased...

On the water..I am very paranoid about using any water of these as high carbon steel is instant rust..just add water... So the less moitsure the better if you ask me..

THANK YOU....this is one thing down and a whole lot more to go...THe next step I think will be finishes...

THANK YOU once again..

In case you are curious about my metalwork...here's a C/U of a three core

serpent pattern composite blade a'la 4th Cent AD...

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc78/Jh...s1/MVC-001F.jpg

Now I get to make a sheath for this one later this week...

JPH

[Art]

Hi Jim,

So you want to get industrial.... Try a wood wheel (like cocobolo, paduk, or some other hard wood) or a leather wheel about 2" or 3" running at 1750rpm. I don't like the steel wheels because they rust except stainless like 316 it would work also. There's a ton of ways to skin this cat, but rubbing the edge with something way harder than the leather is the trick; the more you rub with water or wax, the nicer the edge.

Art

Art:

Ok I gave it a go and well it took darn near forever to get the edges smoothed/burnished by hand.. I make sheaths by the dozen and this is really adding up to the time...sooooooo..

I was thinking that if I was to turn a wheel, say out of 1018/A-36 ...about 8" in diameter, put a nice U shaped groove in it..somewhat shallow but strill a U and attach that to say a 1650 or so RPM motor...that should work shouldn't it to burnish??

I need to cut down on the time spent on these...and this might be a way to do that. spending 10 minutes on a sheath to burnish doesn't sound like a long time but when you have 30 or 40 to do...it adds up...

JPH

[Billsotx]

Is that minimalist art or what? ... lol! Nice lookin' blade Jim! Looks like Art's got you up and running. Show us some pix when you have time. talk later .......