A burnishing question for all you belt gurus.

[ABC3]

As I've said before "burnishing" is probably the weakest part of my belt operation. I dye the edges (let dry) & then apply "trag" (let dry) & then put in on the Weaver burnishing system. I then add more "trag" let dry or apply "bees wax" & place it in a long wooden tray, I made & put the elbow grease to it using a piece of canvas.

Still not coming out great. Should I be rubbing in only one direction or back and forth. I have been going back & forth & now wonder if I'm undoing the process as I come the other way.

Or could the problem be in my sanding. I sand with 3 different grits (it's then flat on the edges) & then put it thru the Weaver Easy Edger using a #2 blade. Comes out nice & round.

This burnishing process takes up more time in the shop than any other phase of the operation. Can anyone add any light to my dilemma.

[Hilly]

As I've said before "burnishing" is probably the weakest part of my belt operation. I dye the edges (let dry) & then apply "trag" (let dry) & then put in on the Weaver burnishing system. I then add more "trag" let dry or apply "bees wax" & place it in a long wooden tray, I made & put the elbow grease to it using a piece of canvas.

Still not coming out great. Should I be rubbing in only one direction or back and forth. I have been going back & forth & now wonder if I'm undoing the process as I come the other way.

Or could the problem be in my sanding. I sand with 3 different grits (it's then flat on the edges) & then put it thru the Weaver Easy Edger using a #2 blade. Comes out nice & round.

This burnishing process takes up more time in the shop than any other phase of the operation. Can anyone add any light to my dilemma.

Here is a topic that might interest you. Scroll down to the 4th post, and check out the word document.

FYI: Saddle soap contains glycerin.

Edited July 5, 2009 by Hilly

[Rawhide]

As I've said before "burnishing" is probably the weakest part of my belt operation. I dye the edges (let dry) & then apply "trag" (let dry) & then put in on the Weaver burnishing system. I then add more "trag" let dry or apply "bees wax" & place it in a long wooden tray, I made & put the elbow grease to it using a piece of canvas.

Still not coming out great. Should I be rubbing in only one direction or back and forth. I have been going back & forth & now wonder if I'm undoing the process as I come the other way.

Or could the problem be in my sanding. I sand with 3 different grits (it's then flat on the edges) & then put it thru the Weaver Easy Edger using a #2 blade. Comes out nice & round.

This burnishing process takes up more time in the shop than any other phase of the operation. Can anyone add any light to my dilemma.

Here's what I do.

I sand the edges flat if necessary,

Egde with appropriate edger.

Sand again to smooth out irregularity and to round over a bit more

dampen the edge and rub with glycerin soap

burnish with cordura impregnated with saddle soap

dye the edge and let dry

remove excess dye with a t-shirt

burnish again with hardwood

then again with cordura impregnated with parrafin wax.

then polish with t-shirt

then seal with a mix of 2 parts leather balm with atom wax, 1 part resolene.

hardwood burnish to shine the wax.

[TwinOaks]

Tom, I think it's going to depend on the tools you use, and most importantly MOISTURE CONTENT. Too wet and it'll fuzz up or deform. Too dry and it won't lay down right. Rubbing back and forth with anything that 'grabs' is likely to raise the leather fibers, right after you lay them down. I think that's one reason to sand the edge. It knocks off all the fuzzies. Another is that you get a more uniform edge. The way I do it is to run an edge slicker first to lay everything down, and somewhat compress the fibers. Then I start Bob's method. A rotary tool- Weaver's, drill press, hand drill, dremel.....- is nice because it only goes one direction. That said, rotary tools haven't been around as long as leather has, and some of the old hands got really good edges.

[RWB]

Tom,

Easy way to do edges. Put your finish on your belt, let it dry, and then edge it. For belts I use a #3 edger on the top and a #2 on the bottom. Take a coarse piece of canvas and rub glycerin soap into it. Fiebings makes it in a bar. Moisten your edges well and rub it till its slicked. The roughness of the canvas will jerk some of your fuzziness off and the soap will slick the rest down. Dye your edges. Let the dye dry and slick it again. Slicking it again will remove any excess dye and give a nicer edge. Bees wax is a good option for the second slicking or you can just use glycerin again. Then I Tan-kote my edges. Hope that work as well for you as it does for me.

Ross