Edge Burnisher For Dremels

[Spinner]

What I was saying was... you had started out saying $10. each and

I was thinkin that you should charge a little more...

then you changed it to $15.

I was just a sayin.......... I was still interested.

Oh, hehe...I get it now. Yeah, the $10 was off the top of my head and then after talking to King's X a bit in PMs and factoring some stuff like the little boxes in that I hadn't thought about it bumped them up a tad.

Update: Got another custom job request tonight so hopefully I'll be able to start ordering the shanks in a day or two!

[Antrax]

Wow that is a nice burnisher! I tried to do one for myself and didn't come out as nice. I want one of each size. I live in Puerto Rico but I'm more than happy to pay extra for the shipping. So please add me to the list. Diego

[Jazznow]

Hi folks, 

First: Many thinks for that little How To. I made an edge burnisher myself yesterday, but am not really happy with the burnishing of the little wheel. 

The edge stays a little rough/raw. 

Maybe i used the wrong wood. I've got only beech at hand, so i used that. 

I then brushed some gum tragacant on the edge anad burnished it, first carefully and the experimented a little bit with pressure and speed of the dremel. The only result, that i would call burnished, was when i used much pressure and then it was something like burned. 

So maybe u have some hints, what i'm doing wrong.

Greetings,

Jazznow

[mike59]

If you are seriously considering marketing these, please put me down for one.

Thanks,

Mike Massey

I have a lathe, a grinder & a polishing set up but I didn't have a good way to adapt any of them to burnishing (the lathe is usually loaded with wood or shavings and the grinder has two wheels I need for well, grinding) so I decided to see what I could make for my Dremel since I couldn't find anything. What I found is that if you take the sanding drum bits apart they make an excellent shank for a wood burnisher. Unscrew the little screw at the top, remove the sandpaper and then pull the rubber compression bushing off and what you are left with is a shank 7/16" long x 1/8" dia. So I pulled out some Tulipwood (dense & naturally oily like Cocobolo with 1/2 the weight) cut it to 7/16" long and drilled a 1/8" hole down the center and then turned the profile for 2 different sized leather edges. Sand to 600, hit it with some friction polish as a base for Aussie Wax and then reassembled everything onto the shank. Works beautifully and since the Dremel is variable speed I can find the sweet spot speed to get the edge I want.

Just thought I would share the process and finished product in case other were wondering if it could be done.

Chris

[Spinner]

Hi folks,

First: Many thinks for that little How To. I made an edge burnisher myself yesterday, but am not really happy with the burnishing of the little wheel.

The edge stays a little rough/raw.

Maybe i used the wrong wood. I've got only beech at hand, so i used that.

I then brushed some gum tragacant on the edge anad burnished it, first carefully and the experimented a little bit with pressure and speed of the dremel. The only result, that i would call burnished, was when i used much pressure and then it was something like burned.

So maybe u have some hints, what i'm doing wrong.

Greetings,

Jazznow

Hey Jazznow,

First off the beech is too soft/porous to work well for burnishing. Best bet will be with a more exotic wood like cocobolo, tulipwood, blackwood or lignum vitae (ironwood). The reason these work better is they are more dense and have very tight grain patterns so they don't absorb so much of the heat and product.

I have used mine a few times in the last week and found a couple of things:

1. you need to prep it - meaning you have to burnish some scrap to get a good burnish on the wood first. This will close the pores even more and essentially seal it.

2. varying the speed - on thinner leather I found faster speed works better while slower speed works best with thicker leather.

3. I tried saddlesoap, gum tar and plain old spit, they all seemed to leave a slightly burnished edge, but not perfect. When I switched to using a light coat of Aussie wax, it worked much better. The key to this type of burnishing is the heat/friction more than the pressure.

4. a few times I found if I 'warmed' up the wood bit on a piece of scrap before hitting a finished project it worked better.

I find this type of burnisher is used mainly to take the grunt work out of burnishing and doesn't necessarily replace a good hand burnish. By using the wood 'bits' first, my hand burnishing is cut down by half and ends up being more of a buffing/clean up step.

Chris

If you are seriously considering marketing these, please put me down for one.

Thanks,

Mike Massey

Hey Mike,

I don't know about seriously marketing them, but I will be making them for LW folks that want them so I'll put your name down and let you know when I have them.

Chris

[Dink]

Sign me up I'll take one.

[Peter Ellis]

I had a friend make one for my drill press after seeing a couple of versions (plastic and wood) in a Weaver catalogue.

I like it and it works pretty well, but the idea of one on the nice handy little Dremel is a really good one

I suppose I should add my name to your list

Edited September 21, 2010 by Peter Ellis

[Spinner]

Hi Dink, I'll add you to the list.

Peter, I'll add you as well.

To all: I have a couple of custom leather jobs this week so I'll be getting paid and can buy the bits, wood, etc. for all these. I should be able to start sometime next week and it looks like it's going to take a week or so of turning in between leather jobs to get them all done. I truly didn't expect to be making more than six or seven of them. LOL! My lovely assistant (my wife) will be going back through the thread to make a list of the names and numbers in the order of the replies so we can sort it out and get to everyone in due time. Hopefully I should have them all ready to be delivered over the next 2-3 weeks.

If I have questions on what sizes you would like, I'll send a PM through the forum otherwise I'll drop you a note when your bits are ready.

Thanks,

Chris

[King's X]

You DA man!

[SouthernCross]

Please put my name on your list too. I already have the Dremel post - just need the wood piece.

[Jazznow]

Hi Chris, 

thanks for your advice. I will see, if i can get some of the mentioned woods from a knife maker or so. These guys usually have some exotic woods for the handle. 

Greetings

Jazznow

Hey Jazznow,

First off the beech is too soft/porous to work well for burnishing.  Best bet will be with a more exotic wood like cocobolo, tulipwood, blackwood or lignum vitae (ironwood).  The reason these work better is they are more dense and have very tight grain patterns so they don't absorb so much of the heat and product.  

I have used mine a few times in the last week and found a couple of things:  

1. you need to prep it - meaning you have to burnish some scrap to get a good burnish on the wood first.  This will close the pores even more and essentially seal it.

2. varying the speed - on thinner leather I found faster speed works better while slower speed works best with thicker leather.

3. I tried saddlesoap, gum tar and plain old spit, they all seemed to leave a slightly burnished edge, but not perfect.  When I switched to using a light coat of Aussie wax, it worked much better.  The key to this type of burnishing is the heat/friction more than the pressure.

4. a few times I found if I 'warmed' up the wood bit on a piece of scrap before hitting a finished project it worked better.

I find this type of burnisher is used mainly to take the grunt work out of burnishing and doesn't necessarily replace a good hand burnish.  By using the wood 'bits' first, my hand burnishing is cut down by half and ends up being more of a buffing/clean up step.

Chris

[joshk]

you can add me to that list too! I've got quite a few of the shanks already.... possible to get just the wood bits?

[Spinner]

SC and Josh, I can do that. I'll let you know when I'm set to ship.

Jazznow, no problem. Let me know if you have issues finding any locally. Stores like Rockler, Woodcraft,, etc will have them in short (6") lengths too if yuo have one nearby.

[King's X]

Isn't this exciting!!!! What a fire storm Spinner has created! Way to go......sharing is caring........hold on, I have to ask the wife to slap the (s) out of me and get that social worker talk out.Peace

[Spinner]

Isn't this exciting!!!! What a fire storm Spinner has created! Way to go......sharing is caring........hold on, I have to ask the wife to slap the (s) out of me and get that social worker talk out.Peace

LOL...you crack me up

[King's X]

At least someone was LOL.....PM's are flowing....mad like.

[Spinner]

Ugh...good luck with those.

[Spinner]

I was thinking about the wood last night and decided to do an actual test of the various woods I mentioned against each other.

Turns out Cocobolo does indeed work the best with Tulipwood and Lignum Vitae close behind. African Blackwood and Rock Hard Maple follow those.

As I had anticipated, due to the higher oil content and dense grain pattern of the cocobolo it tended to heat up more evenly and absorb less of the wax applied to the edge. Tulipwood also had consistent results but appears to burnish as fast as the leather does. This may be in part perception due to the much lighter grain colors. L.V. worked nicely, but it's nature is to be a very heavy wood (hence it's nickname Ironwood) and could wear on the handpiece bearing faster. Blackwood and RH Maple also worked nicely but don't tend to have as much natural oils as cocobolo so they burnished (blackened) much more dramatically than the others. I also found they had a tendency to build up a soot like coating that would occasionally transfer to the leather...not a good thing.

Long story short, as expected cocobolo is the best choice. I'll be making these from cocobolo unless someone specifically wants tulipwood for the similar performance with added pretty colors.

The dremel bits should be here today or tomorrow. More info to come.

If you responded to this thread already or via PM/email I now have an official list and will get in touch.

Chris

[Laura Hansen]

Great minds think alike, but not having a lathe I tool the low tech route. I made a similar tool. But I used hard wood dowel cut to a disk and used the screw end demel post used for the buffer material. Once the disk was on I used a round file of the appropriate width to make my groove. Sanded smooth/ I attach my dremel/flexible shaft handle to the bench edge using those U shaped spring clips for brooms. I can orient my dremel veritcally or horizontally.

/quote]

[richard55]

wel;l dont forget me loll i whant all the size you got , just let me no that alll

have a great day

[ghostrider812]

That would be cool X! I'll send ya a message with my info.

I'm going to sit down this weekend to figure out how much the mailer, shipping, the parts, etc. are and work up a fair price (I'm already set up for high production runs of small turning items from doing wine bottle stoppers for galleries and wineries).

I'm not worried about making bank on them, just trying to help folks fill a need that has been mentioned before. I'm also going to go through my wood supply and see about other woods to use (may test cocobolo to see if the weight bothers the dremel as cocobolo is great for burnishing too)

I had a thought this morning, the troughs on this one work for 3/4 oz and 7/8 oz. respectively. Think it would be worth it to do a second version with one larger trough for say double thickness 9oz for the holster folks?

I could sure use both versions. I have a dremel. Add me to your list. Let me know what you want for them. Thanks!

[Big O]

I've been making holsters, and what would be handiest for me is grooves for double thickness 4-5oz and double thickness 8-9oz.

The 4-5 for IWB holsters, holsters for smaller pistols, and magazine pouches, and the 8-9 for most OWB holsters.

[PANTHER]

Spinner,

Add me to your list also. I had one made for me for my Dremel when I ordered one for my drill press from a member. But you can never have too many tools. I'll upload a picture of mine when I get home so you can see what someone else has done.

Panther

[Bevan]

Mate!!!

look at the storm you have going here !!!!!

I dont even use the buggers but please put me down for two ,,, or one of each size please Spinner

You are a bloody ledge mate ,,,,,

That is a small utility shelf where i come from

Bevan

give us a price plus postage to OZ

www.bwrwhips.com

Edited September 24, 2010 by Bevan

[Bevan]

Yep i just went back and had a look Spinner ,,,

Four pagers in 6 days ,,,

That makes you a LEDGE with a capital L

Cheers again mate