Finishing Edges

[mrtreat32]

I believe this is what you're looking for mrtreat,

***edit*** For what it's worth I would love to know how this is done. It looks as though there's 4-5 layers there but overall it doesn't seem to be too thick. That edge is also glass and colors sharp. I would think burnishing traditionally would muddle the edges of the various colors?

Yes, that is the picture I saw originally that sparked my interest.

Like you said I have burnished colored goat with different leathers and you can see the difference in colors but it is muddy looking and I wouldn't leave it unpainted in that state.

This looks like maybe each layer is burnished separately? Is my only guess

[DavidL]

it could be 2 ounce leathers all dyed through. Glue the pieces together and leave extra allowance for the pattern and trim to size by clicker or very carefully with a knife. The top piece looks like its was edged then another piece of leather is added on top or it could be one piece? It looks like the very top piece has the edges rolled in.

The edge could be done on a sander belt and then a clear coat or transparent edge paint is added and heat tool to set it.

Looks to be something that took a year and a lot of scraps to get the final process.

[hidepounder]

That's a beautifully burnished edge!!! If I had to speculate, I suspect that edge was burnished with a steel burnisher and the clear finish coat is what's holding everything together. There is really no way to tell if a slicking agent was used or not.

[slipangle]

Hello all,

I'm new here but I lurk a bit, and learn a lot from you folks. I have a theory on that fine looking multi-colored edge on that Niwa Leather piece.

Again, I am a mere dabbler in leatherwork and no expert by any means, but I do know a little bit about materials. I'm an amateur and could no more make my edges look like Billy's fine work than ….OK, disclaimer issued. :>

In short, I don't think that is leather. At least, not all of it. I looked through all the offerings on the Niwa site and could not find a full pic of the article featuring that multi-colored edge, but I suspect it is a portfolio or notebook. If you look at the fine purses and other things on the site you'll notice all the conventionally, and very nicely done, edges. None of them show this color stripe edge that I could see. Aside from the one photo.

I think the material is plastic. At least the black, red, green, red, black center portion. Probably very thin sheets of polypropylene or some other, sewable, colored sheets, sandwiched between either two or four, pieces of leather and acting as stiffeners as well as for the color. I don't see how it would be possible to make laminated layers of 1 to 2 ounce garment or upholstery leather turn out like that, with that super glossy finish and fine definition between the colors. Even if struck through with dye.

I could be wrong. Just a theory and my 2 cents.

Thanks. I learn a lot here.

Scott

[Macca]

Its all leather, its a wallet.

4 layers, tan outer is thicker, then pink, green, pink

Inner 3 layers skived on a bell skiver for card slots, as David mentioned its died through

layers are glued, its machine stitched then a Fileteuse or the Japanese equivalent was used to put that crease beside the stitching

Burnishing by machine & hand finished.

Its an extremely well taken photograph of an extremely well made item, he has being doing these for years, you are seeing the result of years of practice, great skill & fantastic quality leather.

[slipangle]

I stand corrected , Macca. Thanks.

I knew someone who come in and correct me if I posted this. :>

Amazing work

Edited October 4, 2014 by slipangle

[Macca]

it is indeed, he makes some amazing stuff

[Macca]

heres a few more pictures of that wallet

[slipangle]

Thanks Macca,

Great pics, And I guess I missed them on his site.

A rather goofy postulation and somewhat inauspicious first post on my part.

I suspected in my heart that I was dead wrong and that I was indeed looking at the work of a magician.

Really beautiful work.

Care to elaborate on how you think he accomplishes this sort of edge? It's hard to fathom.

Phenomenal. But then, work of masters often is.

I'd be remiss if I didn't add that this thread has been very interesting and a big help.

Another satisfied and grateful reader, Hidepounder. And others.

It's really helped my progress on my edges.

Thank you.

Slip

Edited October 4, 2014 by slipangle

[DavidL]

Im going to take another stab at it.

Judging by the dyed table and custom walls he probably is skilled with a bench sander and likely used one for the edges and also freehanded the curve that is on the edge with a sander. My guess would be he cut out a single piece from the template and then would take another piece that was larger and glued them together and trimmed the excess. He would give it a quick sand once the piece is trimmed to even out the edges. From there he would repeat the last two steps again until all the edges are smooth and then coat the edge with a glossy coat and run it through a motorized burnisher or use a heating tool on neutral edge paint. On his website he does use a heating tool as some of the leathers he does are chrome. Whether he does it with veg I don't know. Last step you can see him turning the edges on the pic from macca and that would be glued ontop.

I can imagine the edge being done with a high grit sander with a lot of trial and error, but the turned edges on the top piece is flawless, especially by hand. it looks machine folded.

[billybopp]

... I knew there would be a heated tool and a turned edge somewhere in that mass of guesswork.

Edited October 5, 2014 by billybopp

[irishsuperfly]

Just finished reading through Bob's instructions and all the other info in this thread. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge. Bob, thank you for such a great teaching tool. Your instructions were just what I needed for things to make sense. After reading through so much info in other threads and other websites I was really starting to get confused and overwhelmed about the whole edging process. Can't wait to give it a try!

Edited October 10, 2014 by irishsuperfly

[hidepounder]

You're very welcome! This method is just one of many that one can employ to burnish edges. It's what I have the most experience with and it works well, But it is by no means the only option out there. BTW, as an update, I have one of the new Cobra burnishers and am very pleased with it in case any of you were wondering about it.

Bobby

[ramrod]

rub it in, hidepounder. us mere mortals aspire to your edge finishing ability....lol......i only wish i could get a burnisher. i gotta get better at edge finishing. and OMG!! the niwa stuff is fabulous. flawless, a true master.

[Squeekermouse]

So typically when I sand my edges things just end up all fuzzy. Is speed an issue? I ask because I have been sanding by hand and instead of smoothing I end up roughing...

Thank you

[hidepounder]

I sand with a stationary belt sander or a dremmel. With the belt, the speed is about 3450 rpms and I have to be careful not to burn the edge. Same with the dremmel. If I amd dealing with a single layer of leather I probably won't sand at all (except on show pieces). If you are ending up with fuzzy edges, I think you need to use finer grits. Some people sand in stages ending up with 1500 to 2000 grit. When you go that far, you won't get any residual fuzz. On show pieces I often sand all the way down to 2000. I'm not sure it's really worth the effort, but on show pieces you go to extremes to try to get an advantage. When doing everyday work I sand on the belt with a worn out 100 grit belt. All I'm trying to do is get everything evened up and any residual glue removed. A somewhat fuzzy edge will still burnish nicely if you're saddle soap as a slicking agent. The heat that I get while sanding will color the edge somewhat and I kind of like that. I think I get a better burnish. The downside is if you overheat the leather edge it will become brittle and crack and then you have a mess on your hands.

Hope this helps.....

Bobby

[Squeekermouse]

Thank you for the reply and informative answer. I will give that a go

[slipangle]

Just read through this whole thread. Again, kudos to Bob for posting this and continuing to answer any and all questions.

I have to say, the canvas covered wood burnisher is brilliant!

I've got a bar of glycerin soap on order. Thanks again Bob.

[hidepounder]

You're very welcome, slipangle!

[rawr66]

I saw an earlier post that says to lay a finish before using saddle soap. I've been trying to burnish with saddle soap on glazed leather, so it's already finished, and it still ends up staining any time it gets past the edge. Anything I can do to combat this?

[hidepounder]

When you say glazed leather, I'm not sure exactly what you're referring to. I use NeatLac as a final finish and don't have problems with any bleed over. I still try to be careful, though. Could be the glaze finish you're dealing with just isn't that forgiving. An alternative way to burnish woould be to use Quik Slick, from Sheridan Leather. You apply it to the edge and then burnish with with either canvass or a cocobolo wheel. You won't be saturating the edge like you do with water/saddle soap, so there should be less bleed. It's a clear product as well and very easy to use. Let it dry a little before you burnish. Hope this helps.....

Bobby

[JSDing]

Another question!

I'm fairly new to leatherworking and still getting the hang of things. I was burnishing the edges of 6oz veg tanned leather - undyed because I really like the beige color of natural veg tan leather. I beveled the edges, sanded a bit and applied gum tragacanth before slicking.

However... I am getting dark water lines along the edges of the beveled parts, and the actual edge appears to be... white? Or much lighter than the rest of the leather for some reason. And it still doesn't feel completely smooth.

What am I doing wrong? Should I wet it more? Apply more gum tragacanth, slick it more? Is there anyway to fix what has been done?

[hidepounder]

I never use gum trag so I'm not sure if that is a cause of what's happening here or not. It sounds like the "dark water" lines may be a result of using too much water and I'm suspicious that maybe the water/GT combination is what is what is leaving the white finish. If you're using gum trag you may not need to wet the edge with water at all. I use a piece of canvas to burnish with and I use saddle soap as my slicking agent. I've also had good success using Quick Slick by Sheridan Leather Outfitters and I don't use water at all with the QS. The rough surface could be a result of not burnishing enough or over burnishing. If you could show us a couple of pictures I might be able to help you more.

Hope this helps.....

Bobby

[JSDing]

Hi Bobby,

Thanks for the quick reply! At this point, I'm just looking for ways to fix this and make it not look so messed up. Please see attached photo -

I have Fieblings Glycerin Saddle Soap. Is there some way to remove the gum tragacanth and re-burnish with the saddle soap instead?

[hidepounder]

I think the gum trag would block the soap. If you want to refinish the edge, sand it and then start over. In the photo, the edges just look like they weren't burnished enough, but it's hard for me to tell. What are you burnishing with?