Burnishing sans specific tools

[Seamus]

It's true. I've read elsewhere on these forums that burnishing can be done with some spit and a dowel rod. So I tried it on a couple items. Looked really nice... until about 24 hours later when it looked like I had done nothing at all.

Am I doing something wrong? Have I missed a step? Is there some sort of prep work involved besides rubbing copius amounts of saliva on the edge and rubbing it to that "burned" stage with the dowel? I'm at wits end with this one!

[Luke Hatley]

and after you do the burnishing with saliva, you need to put a finish on it....Super Sheen.

works for me.

[wildrose]

I've not used a dowel, but I've used spit and a canvas burnishing cloth - that worked fine for me.

[Seamus]

and after you do the burnishing with saliva, you need to put a finish on it....Super Sheen.

works for me.

Does this seal it up so it doesn't "unburnish" itself, which is essentially what's happening?

[oldtimer]

A big chunk of chewing tobacco along with the saliva will help a lot to make a nice burnished color !

[Dwight]

It's true. I've read elsewhere on these forums that burnishing can be done with some spit and a dowel rod. So I tried it on a couple items. Looked really nice... until about 24 hours later when it looked like I had done nothing at all.

Am I doing something wrong? Have I missed a step? Is there some sort of prep work involved besides rubbing copius amounts of saliva on the edge and rubbing it to that "burned" stage with the dowel? I'm at wits end with this one!

In one of his holster making videos, John Bianchi put on a pair of wide cuffed, heavy canvas gloves and demonstrated that those were his "burnishing" tools early in his career. He used a bit of moisture to get started, and ran a piece of raw beeswax on the edge. The friction of rubbing the edge briskly with the palm of the glove would soften the wax and imbed it into the fibers. It gives a fair edge, . . . but a dremel tool and either the dye you are using, . . . or Gum Tragacanth, . . . gives a really good edge.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Kowboyboots]

I know I have posted this before, cause I am a true believer, but even with out the tool it is interesting to watch.

[Windy]

A big chunk of chewing tobacco along with the saliva will help a lot to make a nice burnished color !

I bout tossed my cookies reading that.

WINDY

Edited February 6, 2009 by Windy

[Dwight]

I know I have posted this before, cause I am a true believer, but even with out the tool it is interesting to watch.

In John Bianchi's video on making a Western Gunfighter Rig, . . . he goes through the steps to make this burnisher. It's basically wool felt cut into 1 1/2 inch discs, . . . placed on an arbor, . . . placed on a small 1725 RPM motor, . . . he advocated first using Tandy's Edge Coat (I think the videos were a Tandy informercial to a certain degree) and then rubbing with virgin beeswax and doing it again.

I made one like that, . . . it works great, . . . but it is out in my shop where it is -8 F and I would rather use my Dremel in the house where it is between 68 and 72

But for $99.00 on ebay, . . . one can get the product and not have to do anything.

May God bless,

Dwight

[StolpSaddles]

I have made my own burnishing tool simular to the one above but I use a piece of hard fir on a shaft mounted between 2 bearing blocks from princess auto. with a pully at the end to the motor I can choose the speed with the pully size . I started out wit a square 3x3 and used my setup as a lathe with a wood plane to turn it round, then filed in with a couple of round files 3/8 deep grooves to facilitate the various thicknesses of leather so as to finish the round edge as well.

I just recently added a strip of leather to one section as a power strop

Cost:

Motor free

wood free

rod and bearings about $20.00

Edited February 9, 2009 by StolpSaddles

[DaveT]

I learned a great burnishing technique from a saddlemaker I worked for. Cut a square of canvas (or "Duck Cloth" as the fabric stores call it) about 14" to 24" square. Smaller would work too. Use yellow paste saddle soap (the white paste will discolor the leather, don't ask me how I know!) and rub it in until the canvas is saturated. Let it dry. To slick the edge, wet the leather if you want, but I usually just spray a bit of water directly onto the folded canvas rag. I fold it up to make it more managable. Then rub the damp (Not wet, just enough to reactivate the soap) on the edge of the leather. I usually wait until all finish work is done, but since it's saddle soap it won't resist the finish. When the edge dries it should be nice and slick. Normally drying only takes a couple minutes. After the finishing and edge coloring (I use a sharpie marker) is done I rub with wax, paraffin or bees wax, and shine that with a dry canvas cloth. This melts the wax a bit and really makes a fancy edge finish that will hold up. You could also coat with edge kote, a clear finish i.e. sheen, or whatever rather than use the wax.

BTW, waxing the edges is the only way I know of to get a slick edge on chrome tan or latigo. It works really well on Harness leather too.

Dave T.

[Seamus]

I have made my own burnishing tool simular to the one above but I use a piece of hard fir on a shaft mounted between 2 bearing blocks from princess auto. with a pully at the end to the motor I can choose the speed with the pully size . I started out wit a square 3x3 and used my setup as a lathe with a wood plane to turn it round, then filed in with a couple of round files 3/8 deep grooves to facilitate the various thicknesses of leather so as to finish the round edge as well.

I just recently added a strip of leather to one section as a power strop

Cost:

Motor free

wood free

rod and bearings about $20.00

It looks like your motor is a starter off of a car. Is it? I mean... I could hit up a junk yard for one of those. I could use an old car battery as the power supply, with a heavy duty switch to turn it on and off. My battery charger would work fine to keep the battery topped off when it gets low on juice. Seems like an easy build to me.

[StolpSaddles]

Jim

The motor is just a small freebee 110 volt ac motor

[Seamus]

Jim

The motor is just a small freebee 110 volt ac motor

Thanks. I'll have to have the wife watch freecycle for an old vacuum that has a good motor.

Thanks to everyone for the input!

[Randy Cornelius]

I know I have posted this before, cause I am a true believer, but even with out the tool it is interesting to watch.

I bought one of these thinking it would speed things up and make some of the production items go a little faster but it does not do as nice of an edge as I can do with some water and a piece of canvas. Thinking about selling it.

Randy

[Bree]

I know I have posted this before, cause I am a true believer, but even with out the tool it is interesting to watch.

I have one and it works great. Highly recommended especially for production type work where speed is important. Or even just lazy folks who don't want to spend a lot of time or elbow grease burnishing.

[upupjj]

Yes, spit works better because of the properties in your saliva. Then burnish with a good a piece of canvass.

It's true. I've read elsewhere on these forums that burnishing can be done with some spit and a dowel rod. So I tried it on a couple items. Looked really nice... until about 24 hours later when it looked like I had done nothing at all.

Am I doing something wrong? Have I missed a step? Is there some sort of prep work involved besides rubbing copius amounts of saliva on the edge and rubbing it to that "burned" stage with the dowel? I'm at wits end with this one!