Edge paint

[JIMTC]

I'm a new guy and this is my first posting. We are a small shop that manufactures tack and some of our products have painted edges. I'm not satisfied with Weavers edge paint. Any suggestions on something that will not chip when the leather is bent or flexed.

[pete]

brown/black sharpie

pete

[CampbellRandall]

Weaver's paint is made by a company in Texas. There are a few other domestic makers, but I havent used them exept for Fiebings. Some of our customers in luxury belt & bag industry came to us for other options, so we've been importing and Italian edge paint that has done well. It's latex based, so easy cleanup, but its durable. You can peel off the dried drippings from the bottle and stretch them like rubber bands - no cracking when bent. Comes in matt finish and also glossy & glossy plus which will dry to a shine with out the need for a clear coat.

[Grunt]

Could you tell us where to get said edge paint? I looked on the Campbell Bosworth web site and could not find it.

Nick

[CampbellRandall]

Could you tell us where to get said edge paint? I looked on the Campbell Bosworth web site and could not find it.

Nick

Nick:

We haven't updated the Campbell Bosworth site on over a year. Too many projects and not enough time. I'm away from the office for a wedding, but I can post some links to the color charts and brochure when I get back Monday.

[skip]

Looking forward to your post on Monday, wish I knew about it sooner. thanks for the information ahead of time.

[kevinhopkins]

Hi,

Midwest CHemical in St. Louis also manufactures an edge dye that we've had quite good success with.

Kevin Hopkins

[esantoro]

Ahh, the "Edge Paint" plot thickens. Will Carlos of LCI fade into oblivion among the jobbers? Will Campbell Randall introduce us to a new and even better product (And where have they been on this topic for the past year?)? Will Midwest Chemical of St. Louis come shining through?

Stay tuned till Monday.

ed

[Grunt]

It's Thursday. Did I miss something?

[Rawhide]

I prefer Fiebing's Oil Dye... it penetrates deeply and I coat with a mixutre of Resolene and Leather balm with Atom wax... I've had pretty good luck with this combination, plus I can choose the edge color, it doesn't have to be black or brown.

[esantoro]

It's Thursday. Did I miss something?

[CampbellRandall]

Sorry guys - I had the nerve to take a half day last Thursday and a day off Friday to attend a wedding... Its now Thursday and I'm still not caught up.

Here are the brochures....

• Edge-Painters.pdf
  • Here is a description of the paint at the end of the edge painter brochure.

  [*]Color Chart - Edge-Paint.pdf

  • We try and keep the 300 series in stock, but now that we are advertising my inventory levels have been fluctuating.

The gloss plus has been the best received. It works well on not only veg tan, but can be applied to soft chrome tan, exotics, etc. We've been stocking the paint for about a year and a half, and we've only had one complaint - which had more to do with the product than the paint. Everyone else has loved it.

We don't have any minimums and you don't need a business license to order. We can order in special colors upon request, but keep in mind we ship this by ocean from Italy, so special orders can take 6 to 8 weeks. Feel free to ask questions.

[esantoro]

Sorry guys - I had the nerve to take a half day last Thursday and a day off Friday to attend a wedding... Its now Thursday and I'm still not caught up.

Here are the brochures....

• Edge-Painters.pdf
  • Here is a description of the paint at the end of the edge painter brochure.

  [*]Color Chart - Edge-Paint.pdf

  • We try and keep the 300 series in stock, but now that we are advertising my inventory levels have been fluctuating.

The gloss plus has been the best received. It works well on not only veg tan, but can be applied to soft chrome tan, exotics, etc. We've been stocking the paint for about a year and a half, and we've only had one complaint - which had more to do with the product than the paint. Everyone else has loved it.

We don't have any minimums and you don't need a business license to order. We can order in special colors upon request, but keep in mind we ship this by ocean from Italy, so special orders can take 6 to 8 weeks. Feel free to ask questions.

Thanks for this follow-up.

I need to order some thread from you guys soon and would also like to order a quart or two of this edge paint. I prefer a matte finish, but are you saying that the matte finish may not adhere as well to a variety of leathers as the gloss-plus adheres?

Ed

[CampbellRandall]

Thanks for this follow-up.

I need to order some thread from you guys soon and would also like to order a quart or two of this edge paint. I prefer a matte finish, but are you saying that the matte finish may not adhere as well to a variety of leathers as the gloss-plus adheres?

Ed

No - the plus is a thicker paint than normal. Requires fewer applications or applies better to soft leathers. The standard gloss and matte will work fine with the same durability.

[esantoro]

No - the plus is a thicker paint than normal. Requires fewer applications or applies better to soft leathers. The standard gloss and matte will work fine with the same durability.

Do you stock a matte plus finish? If so, I'll add dark brown and black to my thread order.

Ed

[CampbellRandall]

Do you stock a matte plus finish? If so, I'll add dark brown and black to my thread order.

Ed

We havent has a call for it yet since glossy has been the craze with most customers. I'll be putting in a new order this month so I'll bring in a case to put on the shelf if you think you could use it.

Edited May 8, 2009 by CampbellRandall

[esantoro]

We havent has a call for it yet since glossy has been the craze with most customers. I'll be putting in a new order this month so I'll bring in a case to put on the shelf if you think you could use it.

Before you order a case I may try the regular matte if you have that in stock. Or if it's not too trouble, would you be able to do up a short sample of the glossy and the matte and post a picture?

ed

[hidepounder]

I'm a new guy and this is my first posting. We are a small shop that manufactures tack and some of our products have painted edges. I'm not satisfied with Weavers edge paint. Any suggestions on something that will not chip when the leather is bent or flexed.

I'm probably not really qualified to give you this answer, but I'm going to give you my opinion anyway. It's been my experience that edge paints have been developed for shops who produce quantities and need the ablility to shorten the edge finishing process. The edge paints that I have tried did not produce the same high gloss finish that I require...they all peeled, scaped or chipped off, so I was not satisfied. My goal has been to achieve a smoother, more permanent, high gloss, custom finish than what I was able to achieve with the edge paints.

I'm not knocking edge paints at all, please don't misunderstand, there is certainly a place for them in the market. However, I don't think they are a replacement for the tedious process required to get a high quality finish required on a custom project...it takes a lot of work to get really nice edges! Again, I am no expert here and there are a lot of products I haven't gotten around to trying...the CampbellRandall product being one of them. I'm just saying that one shouldn't expect an edge paint to produce the same results as burnishing and coloring with oil or alcohol based dyes. IMHO!

Just a free opinion that's only worth what is costs...

Bob

[CampbellRandall]

I'm not knocking edge paints at all, please don't misunderstand, there is certainly a place for them in the market. However, I don't think they are a replacement for the tedious process required to get a high quality finish required on a custom project...it takes a lot of work to get really nice edges! Again, I am no expert here and there are a lot of products I haven't gotten around to trying...the CampbellRandall product being one of them. I'm just saying that one shouldn't expect an edge paint to produce the same results as burnishing and coloring with oil or alcohol based dyes. IMHO!

Just a free opinion that's only worth what is costs...

Bob

I agree with Bob that there is no magic product that will be an end all to edges, but there are better products that will help limit the elbow grease. You still need to burnish to remove the rough edge, but with the paint you don't have to work so hard to get a shine.

Products like Fiebings are thinner and soak into the leather. It will provide a color base, but its up to you burnish and seal that edge. Without the hand work you just have a colored rough edge - without the seal coat you probably wont have a high gloss. Keep in mind this works well for veg tan leathers that have some body. Its near impossible to get a good edge on a softer leather like a chrome tan.

The edge paints provides a color coat, and depending on the product, can do a better job of covering up imperfections. The only complaint I had was from a shoe maker. He had hard soles polished out to a shinny finish that he tried a plus paint on. The paint had nothing to stick to since the surface had virtually no pores. A thinner paint would be better in this case.

The edge paints work well to blend seams on products like belts and bags. Apply one coat (like a primer), let dry, burnish smooth, then apply second coat, reapply as needed. The first coat will firm up the edge and give you something to burnish. The coverage quality of this paint allows you to use it on products you could normally get no results with oil dyes (see split chrome tan below). In my opinion, the Italian paint is tougher than smiliar products I've seen. You also have more colors available.

split chrome tan

Edited May 8, 2009 by CampbellRandall

[Monticore]

how do i go about placing an order for these if they are not on the website.

cory

[CampbellRandall]

how do i go about placing an order for these if they are not on the website.

cory

You can call us for the order... 1-800-327-9420. We'll get them up on the website soon.

[esantoro]

Thanks for the picture. That is glossier than I want, so I will go for the matte. I'll try the regular matte first and go from there.

Ed

I agree with Bob that there is no magic product that will be an end all to edges, but there are better products that will help limit the elbow grease. You still need to burnish to remove the rough edge, but with the paint you don't have to work so hard to get a shine.

Products like Fiebings are thinner and soak into the leather. It will provide a color base, but its up to you burnish and seal that edge. Without the hand work you just have a colored rough edge - without the seal coat you probably wont have a high gloss. Keep in mind this works well for veg tan leathers that have some body. Its near impossible to get a good edge on a softer leather like a chrome tan.

The edge paints provides a color coat, and depending on the product, can do a better job of covering up imperfections. The only complaint I had was from a shoe maker. He had hard soles polished out to a shinny finish that he tried a plus paint on. The paint had nothing to stick to since the surface had virtually no pores. A thinner paint would be better in this case.

The edge paints work well to blend seams on products like belts and bags. Apply one coat (like a primer), let dry, burnish smooth, then apply second coat, reapply as needed. The first coat will firm up the edge and give you something to burnish. The coverage quality of this paint allows you to use it on products you could normally get no results with oil dyes (see split chrome tan below). In my opinion, the Italian paint is tougher than smiliar products I've seen. You also have more colors available.

split chrome tan

[Monticore]

1 last question do you ship to canada , if not do you have a canadian distributor for this product?

cory

[esantoro]

Couldn't the matte plus or the glossy plus be thinned with water, if desired, to get the results of the regular finish?

Ed

[CampbellRandall]

Ed - the paint is water based, so you can thin it some.

Cory - We ship worldwide. I think USPS is the best rate to Canada.