Thanks for the edging advice

[Dwight]

A couple of months ago, . . . I did a "search" here on Leatherworker, asking about gum tragacanth and how and if it worked worth a hoot on belts, holsters, or whatever else a guy had to put a nice edge on.

Well, . . . y'all came through with flying colors, . . . I got me a dremel tool, . . . some of that gum tagacanth from Tandy's, . . . made an edging tool for the Dremel from a 1/8 inch drill bit and a short dowel piece of oak, . . . and today I made one of the best edges on a holster I have ever done.

I was especially concerned as it is a suede lined veggie tanned holster, . . . and getting both of them to smooth out together was critical.

The Dremel tool with the little sanding barrels also is absolutely wonderful for smoothing out 2, 3, 4 or more layers into one nice surface.

I don't know who it was, when asked how to apply it, . . . just said take your finger and rub it on , . . . but that works like a champ.

Again, . . . I don't know who all to credit, . . . several threads were in the search, . . . but Leatherworker.net did the trick, . . . so many thanks to everyone who may have been involved.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited January 16, 2009 by Dwight

[Peterk]

A couple of months ago, . . . I did a "search" here on Leatherworker, asking about gum tragacanth and how and if it worked worth a hoot on belts, holsters, or whatever else a guy had to put a nice edge on.

Well, . . . y'all came through with flying colors, . . . I got me a dremel tool, . . . some of that gum tagacanth from Tandy's, . . . made an edging tool for the Dremel from a 1/8 inch drill bit and a short dowel piece of oak, . . . and today I made one of the best edges on a holster I have ever done.

I was especially concerned as it is a suede lined veggie tanned holster, . . . and getting both of them to smooth out together was critical.

The Dremel tool with the little sanding barrels also is absolutely wonderful for smoothing out 2, 3, 4 or more layers into one nice surface.

I don't know who it was, when asked how to apply it, . . . just said take your finger and rub it on , . . . but that works like a champ.

Again, . . . I don't know who all to credit, . . . several threads were in the search, . . . but Leatherworker.net did the trick, . . . so many thanks to everyone who may have been involved.

May God bless,

Dwight

Hi Dwight

Glad everything worked out for you. I am currently still hand finishing my edges and that wasn't bad when I was making holster for myself as a hobby, but now that I have 5 - 7 orders pending from customer, that simply will not do... Needless to say I am searching for better alternatives.

Speaking of, I'm hoping you can help me out now... Would you mind posting a picture of the edge burnishing "head" you made for your dremel? I had wanted to get one of those Fantastic leather edge burnisher heads for my bench grinder, but the RPM is just too high so I am looking for solutions for the dremel.

Thanks for your help in advance!

Peter

[TwinOaks]

Peter,

Several folks have posted their mechanical burnishing wheels here, but the one that I remember best is designed to fit a drill press.

The maker used a dowel (hardwood- I don't remember which) with a bolt through it as a centerpost which attached at the drill press's chuck. The dowel had several different sized 'grooves' in it for various weights of leather.

[Dwight]

Peterk, . . . if I can get the picture to attach, . . . it's all yours. Least I can do for this community of good folks.

The two in the picture are made of oak wood, . . . dowel rod type stuff, . . . I just clamped it into a vise and using a 1/8" drill, . . . drilled as best I could into the base of the piece of dowel, . . . trying to drill as straight as I could.

I then cut the dowel off to the right length, . . . used a hammer to tap the same 1/8" bit into the cut off piece securely, . . . mounted it in the Dremel, . . . turned on the Dremel and using files and sandpaper, . . . cut out the grooves I wanted in the pieces.

The three groove is for a) single 5/6 oz leather, double 5/6 oz leather, and c) double 7/8 leather, viewing it from right to left. The one with just a shoulder, I use for real thick pieces, . . . and for polishing the outside edge.

Good luck, . . . may God bless,

Dwight

[ABC3]

Dwight;

I've been looking for something to make the job alittle easier and it looks like you've got it. Two questions: What do you put on the edges to burnish when you use your dowel attachment & did you use the dremel sanders to cut the groves or did you use someother sander.

Great information by the way - thanks

[Dwight]

Dwight;

I've been looking for something to make the job alittle easier and it looks like you've got it. Two questions: What do you put on the edges to burnish when you use your dowel attachment & did you use the dremel sanders to cut the groves or did you use someother sander.

Great information by the way - thanks

Tom, . . . If you drill the dowell pretty close to center with a 1/8" drill bit, . . . drill it down to where you have about 1 inch sticking out. This is the trickiest part of the whole job. Try as hard as you can to drill straight, true, and very near the center of the dowel.

Then cut off the dowell, allowing about 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch to make your tool from. Force the drill bit into the dowell with a dab of glue on it, . . . put it in your Dremel tool, turn it on, and form the dowell to whatever you want with files or small chisels. Sand smooth with sand paper as the dowel tool is turning in your Dremel.

For edges, I sometimes use Gum Tragacanth (Tandy's) but for the two holsters in the picture, . . . I use the same stain I am using on the body of the holster. I also sometimes just use water, . . . it all depends on what I am working on. I like using the gum product, . . . but like glues, . . . if it gets on the finished part of the project, it keeps the stain from taking like it should, . . . and I can be a fumble fingered slop hound without even trying.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Kowboyboots]

[Ivan]

I sell the fantastic burnisher and have sold it all over the world with grate success. I have tryed to attached my pamphlet for added info but could not. You can see my burnisher on eBay under "fantastic Leather Edge Burnisher". If you have any questions please contact me.

Thank You

Ivan

[Stan]

Re: Fantastic Burnisher. I bought one two weeks ago. I think it is easily worth the $100.00. Stan

[rhall]

I made two burnishers last week.I bought a piece of red oak at HD that was slightly larger than the two Hole saws that I used .2.5 &2". I clamped the 1"by 3" RO board on the Drill Press Table,centered The 5/8" forsner bit and drilled through the RO,Then I replaced the FB with a hole saw cutter{like you would use to go through a door to install a door lock} without moving the clamped RO board.Now I cut out that circle.Irepeated the Poeration 6 times giving me 3 2.5" and 3 2" perfectly centered discs.I had taken the cotten Buffig wheels off of my stand mounted buffer,that's where the 5/8" shaft measurement came from.I simply Put wood glue on the discs mounted them on the buffer shaft and tightened the nuts,wiped off the excess glue,turned on the buffer and used arat tailed file against the turning RO disc to cut a groove in the center of each of the three boards...three boards..three different width grooves.repeated on the other side of the buffer gave me 6 grooves.As the buffer is variable speed I can adjust the speed.This sounds like alot of work,but I probably spent an hour on the whole project,It works wonderfully and cost me 8.00$.If any of you would like a set of Discs I would consider making them for you..Let me know

[antipaladin]

Can you post some pics?

[rhall]

I will take some pics, but I will need someone to walk me through the posting!sorry about my disability with the computer1