ABC3 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 On Belts, holsters and the likes what type of sanders do you all use to clean up the edges and get everything ready to burnish. I have a 4" belt, dremil & alot of sanding blocks. And I still am having problems getting my edges looking good. When it's a double layer I can still see the edge down the middle. They do not come together as one unit. I'm sure this is a clean up / sanding problem. Any tips, equipment or suggestions? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
claybuster101 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 I have been using a bench mounted motor with a buffing wheel on one end and a 2" hard foam sleeve on the other end. A full sheet of sandpaper 8 1/2 " x 11" will wrap around the sleeve nicely, tape the ends and one wrap of tape in the middle and away I go. However, the large radius poised problems and the Dremel can be a P I T A at times. I (just today, it is still in the box) purchased an oscillating drum sander at Harbor Freight on sale for $99. I think this will provide a more even edge and allow the burnishing to look more professional. I also have noticed that when I glue up say both sides of a pancake style holster, I will apply a proper amount to the outer most edges of the leather, allowing the radius that will be formed to have a touch of glue on it as well. I know that this will get a final sanding and disappear during completion. I also use a small roller (wallpaper type) and roll over the glued edges to work out any air. Sounds like a trivial thing, but the devil is in the details. Next purchase is going to be a nice rosewood burnisher to fit an electric motor. Doing it by hand is fun (NOT!) but for this newbie one step at a time.... Dennis Michigan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hidepounder Report post Posted May 1, 2009 I have been using a bench mounted motor with a buffing wheel on one end and a 2" hard foam sleeve on the other end. A full sheet of sandpaper 8 1/2 " x 11" will wrap around the sleeve nicely, tape the ends and one wrap of tape in the middle and away I go. However, the large radius poised problems and the Dremel can be a P I T A at times. I (just today, it is still in the box) purchased an oscillating drum sander at Harbor Freight on sale for $99. I think this will provide a more even edge and allow the burnishing to look more professional. I also have noticed that when I glue up say both sides of a pancake style holster, I will apply a proper amount to the outer most edges of the leather, allowing the radius that will be formed to have a touch of glue on it as well. I know that this will get a final sanding and disappear during completion. I also use a small roller (wallpaper type) and roll over the glued edges to work out any air. Sounds like a trivial thing, but the devil is in the details. Next purchase is going to be a nice rosewood burnisher to fit an electric motor. Doing it by hand is fun (NOT!) but for this newbie one step at a time....Dennis Michigan Dennis, Are you using a contact cement like Barge or Masters? If you are, you can use a wide faced hammer, which actually helps the two pieces set...there shouldn't be an "air" issue. Bob I use a staionary belt sander and I have a several sizes of the small round sanding drums made for drills that I mount on my burnishing motor arbor based on my need for small intricate sanding. Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DCKNIVES Report post Posted May 1, 2009 Since I make knives as well as sheaths and holsters, I have five sanders( still not enough,lol). I have two that get alot of leather, one is my big Burr-King which sees the most use because it's Variable speed and slows down fine for leather.The other is a small wheel sander I built, that uses 1/2" and 1" contact wheels for small radius's.Now , the Burr-King is very pricey for a small leather shop, but sure helps speed things up. The small wheel sander I built for about $250.00.Dave My Burr-King My small wheel Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rayban Report post Posted May 1, 2009 I have a 1" x 30" belt sander from Harbor Freight ($40) that works great for that......and a 2" x 40" Craftsman that also works great.....I use which ever has the belt on I need for the job, since they both do the job just as well IMO...... For the money, the HF at $40 is tough to beat for touching up leather edge work......I use both machines for knife handle work as well..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kevinhopkins Report post Posted May 1, 2009 Hi... Depending on the level of production that you're wanting to achieve, all the small sanders of various types work pretty well. If you're wanting to put out a significant amount of work, I'd recommend trying to find an old shoe finishing machine that has a Naumkeg on it. Depending on how old it is, and what condition it is, you can pick one up from 3-400 bucks, up to maybe 1000 to 1500 for a relatively newer model. the newer ones are nice, because they only take up about 4 ft of space, and give you just about everything you need to put a super edge on almost anything. The one we use has 2 round sanding drums on it. (one coarse, and the other not so coarse) and a horse hair wheel for buffing on one end, and 2 leather wheels on the other end (about 1 1/2" wide) for applying wax, and burnishing belt edges. There is a Naumkeg on the top. A naumkeg is a vertical motor mounted with the shaft pointing downward. There's a small rounded, but pretty flat sanding attachment on it that will allow you to sand in very tight curves. We turn the sandpaper on that inside out when we want to buff rather than sand, and you can even apply wax quite handily with it. I know it sounds like it might be overkill to some folks, and maybe it would be, but if you're trying to cut your time down in edging, a finishing machine is almost man's best friend. Kevin Hopkins Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
claybuster101 Report post Posted May 1, 2009 Dennis,Are you using a contact cement like Barge or Masters? If you are, you can use a wide faced hammer, which actually helps the two pieces set...there shouldn't be an "air" issue. Bob I use a staionary belt sander and I have a several sizes of the small round sanding drums made for drills that I mount on my burnishing motor arbor based on my need for small intricate sanding. Bob I am currently using S-18 from R-H Products Co in Acton, Mass. I use a ton of their HH-66 adhesive on vinyl projects. I do thump the pieces with a plastic dead blow hammer and then roll the surface with the wooden wallpaper roller. Probably because I have used one repairing inflatable boats for so many years (old habits are hard to break). I have a belt/8" disc combo sander gathering dust. I was never 100% happy with the disk portion of the sander. The distance between the table and the disk to me, does not seem to be close enough for getting a fine edge sand on leather. The fact that the smaller belt only moves in one direction (down) caused the leather to curl in that direction. Maybe I just don't have the touch with that particular machine when it comes to sanding the leather. I did get to fire up the oscillating sander for a couple of minutes till my wife told me to get it off the antique chest...I will be bringing a nice new roller cabinet home this weekend to set it on.....then the sparks will really fly! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hidepounder Report post Posted May 1, 2009 I am currently using S-18 from R-H Products Co in Acton, Mass. I use a ton of their HH-66 adhesive on vinyl projects. I do thump the pieces with a plastic dead blow hammer and then roll the surface with the wooden wallpaper roller. Probably because I have used one repairing inflatable boats for so many years (old habits are hard to break). I have a belt/8" disc combo sander gathering dust. I was never 100% happy with the disk portion of the sander. The distance between the table and the disk to me, does not seem to be close enough for getting a fine edge sand on leather. The fact that the smaller belt only moves in one direction (down) caused the leather to curl in that direction. Maybe I just don't have the touch with that particular machine when it comes to sanding the leather. I did get to fire up the oscillating sander for a couple of minutes till my wife told me to get it off the antique chest...I will be bringing a nice new roller cabinet home this weekend to set it on.....then the sparks will really fly! Please let us know how you like the oscillating sander....I've considered one myself. I'm not familiar with the S-18....sounds like something I need to find out about. So you're not really working the air out when you glue....you're just being thorough....nothing wrong with that! The sander I'm using is an attachment made to go on a grinder motor. It's mounted horizontally with about a three inch wheel on the end so I can run the belt vertically up and down the wheel to get the edge smooth. It sounds like you could do that with yours, unless it has a table in your way, which it probably does. Sounds like the spindle sander will be the trick!...after you finish dusting! Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
$$hobby Report post Posted May 1, 2009 (edited) i got one of these. its not bad for the size. the only thing is the belt is not as long as i would like, but it works for most of my leather projects. the one thing nice is that i can swap from oscillating drum to belt in a couple minutes. http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/Oscillating-Ed...er/EN/index.htm Edited May 1, 2009 by $$hobby Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hidepounder Report post Posted May 1, 2009 i got one of these. its not bad for the size. the only thing is the belt is not as long as i would like, but it works for most of my leather projects. the one thing nice is that i can swap from oscillating drum to belt in a couple minutes.http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/Oscillating-Ed...er/EN/index.htm I'm really glad to hear you like it.....that's the one I've been considering! Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
claybuster101 Report post Posted May 1, 2009 I'm really glad to hear you like it.....that's the one I've been considering!Bob http://flint.craigslist.org/tls/1106724249.html Bumped across this ad in CL. I think it is the same unit. Location: Flint, MI it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bree Report post Posted May 1, 2009 I'm really glad to hear you like it.....that's the one I've been considering!Bob Bob... I have one and it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. I have a thread somewhere on the system about the one I got. It works great on leather and it works great on wood. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CampbellRandall Report post Posted May 1, 2009 We just developed a bench top, variable speed burnishing machine last year. The sanding machines are the same basic principle, but you can only use it for sanding and the speed is fixed. The burnishing machines use interchangeable wheels, so not only can you grind/sand, but you can also switch to a leather/felt wheel for the final burnish. Its like a mini line finisher. Model VSB Burnishing Machine Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hidepounder Report post Posted May 1, 2009 (edited) http://flint.craigslist.org/tls/1106724249.htmlBumped across this ad in CL. I think it is the same unit. Location: Flint, MI it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests Bob...I have one and it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. I have a thread somewhere on the system about the one I got. It works great on leather and it works great on wood. When the belt sanding module is in place, does it still oscilate? The reason I ask is because is occurred to me that this would be a great tool to run a burnishing wheel on if you could disable the oscilation function. Anyway, I think I'm going to try one....Thanks everybody! Bob Edited May 1, 2009 by hidepounder Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jbird Report post Posted May 1, 2009 I have three of those I use for my leather and my full time job pretty nice unit all around The only down side is that it's orange LOL Josh Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bree Report post Posted May 2, 2009 When the belt sanding module is in place, does it still oscilate? The reason I ask is because is occurred to me that this would be a great tool to run a burnishing wheel on if you could disable the oscilation function. Anyway, I think I'm going to try one....Thanks everybody!Bob LOL! I thought of that but it oscillates in both belt sanding and spindle sanding mode and the oscillation can't be switched off. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hidepounder Report post Posted May 2, 2009 LOL! I thought of that but it oscillates in both belt sanding and spindle sanding mode and the oscillation can't be switched off. I was afraid you were going to tell me that.....I figured if the oscilation could be disabled, someone a lot smarter than me would have made a burisher out of it already! I still think I'm going to get one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
