Fantastic Burnisher

[David]

I'm sure many of you have heard of the Fantastic Leather Burnisher. They are on Ebay quite a bit.

I just wanted to let you all know that the name of this machine is VERY appropriate.

You won't believe how much time this thing will cut off of all your jobs.

Not cheap but worth every penny.

Just my humble opinion

David Theobald

[terrahyd]

HI David;;

it is good to have feed back on things that work ;;;;;thank you for sharing ......Doc...

[dustin29]

There is a great video on You Tube that shows just how good the "Fantastic Leather Burnisher" works.

[King's X]

Thanks.....I have been thinking about it for some time......but since I work in a cramp area already, I with he would make one for 3/8" drill press or even better......................hey spinner where are you! One for a Dremel! How cool would that be.....I see that they sell the wax along

[hidepounder]

Hi David,

I'm glad to hear the machine does a good job. I have watched the video with great interest but it just doesn't show any results. I would love to see some close ups.

Bobby

[gtwister09]

I would like to see some real close-ups as well.

Regards,

Ben

[Ferg]

Hi David,

I'm glad to hear the machine does a good job. I have watched the video with great interest but it just doesn't show any results. I would love to see some close ups.

Bobby

Bobby,

I wasn't impressed with the construction of the wheel. Seems it would be "short lived", maybe not.

BTW: I made a burnisher similar to your shop set up. Works great. If I need to renew the surface canvas it is very easy to do so.

ferg

[Spinner]

Thanks.....I have been thinking about it for some time......but since I work in a cramp area already, I with he would make one for 3/8" drill press or even better......................hey spinner where are you! One for a Dremel! How cool would that be.....I see that they sell the wax along

HAHA...I was actually thinking of this last night trying to figure out how to securely wrap the little suckers with duck cotton.

Haven't figured it out yet but it's on the drawing board.

[RustyMelton]

I have one of them too and it does work pretty well. I use it to make my first pass on the edge, then I re-dye the edge and give it a good ol' hand rubbing with some more wax to give it really nice edge. It's hard to find something that works as well as elbow grease, but it seems to speed the process up. I'm on my second wheel, the first one lasted a little over a year. I think I shortened the life of my first one by using it when the edge was still damp with dye. I'm making sure that the edge is completely dry on this one and it seems to be fairing pretty well. I'd love to know how to make one using canvas.

[hidepounder]

I'd love to know how to make one using canvas.

I just wrapped a wood burnishing wheel I got from Weaver with heavy canvas and taped it on....

Bobby,

I wasn't impressed with the construction of the wheel. Seems it would be "short lived", maybe not.

BTW: I made a burnisher similar to your shop set up. Works great. If I need to renew the surface canvas it is very easy to do so.

ferg

I think you'll be pleased. The more you use it the more it molds to the wood. It will last a long time.

[BearMan]

Hi Everybody,,,

I just had to jump in here,,, I've seen some of the results from the wool burnshers, & they produce a very smooth & shinny edge,,,, but I haven't seen anything that will produce a smooth , shinny,,, & DURABLE edge as the "Bob Park" method.

Here's a picture of my old drill press burnisher,,, with a padded duck cloth covered section. It works pretty well,,, for a quick edge. Ed the"BearMan"

[King's X]

Wow! First that secret gift box and now this! Are you sure you want to stay involved with leather?

[gtwister09]

Ed and I have had this discussion offline that we have tried many different types over the years. That's one of the reasons for wanting to see the pictures of the edges. Everyone is looking for better edges (Hoping for easier but that is generally elusive ). I know John B. used the felt pads for his edges. Many others use that as well including the Fantastic. I personally would like to see an edge to see how well his actual edge formula is working out. Just my selfish desire to be honest.

I know that over 30 years ago I burned up a rotary tool (Dremel) with a lignum vitae handle that I modified when I was burnishing edges for almost every item in a western wear store for extra money. I moved onto a drill press type almost immediately. In visiting and talking with many older saddlemakers a lot of them have rotary burnishers that are 60-70 or more years old. Most but not all of them have some form of canvas/duck material in there as well for their initial edges, Most will tell you that there's NO SUBSTITUTE for elbow grease though for a final edge.

Likewise there are a number of different types of rotary burnishers listed on here as well. Nothing new but we keep looking for a better mousetrap....hoping and praying for one actually when it comes to edges.

Regards,

Ben

Edited October 1, 2010 by gtwister09

[Ferg]

Ed and I have had this discussion offline that we have tried many different types over the years. That's one of the reasons for wanting to see the pictures of the edges. Everyone is looking for better edges (Hoping for easier but that is generally elusive ). I know John B. used the felt pads for his edges. Many others use that as well including the Fantastic. I personally would like to see an edge to see how well his actual edge formula is working out. Just my selfish desire to be honest.

I know that over 30 years ago I burned up a rotary tool (Dremel) with a lignum vitae handle that I modified when I was burnishing edges for almost every item in a western wear store for extra money. I moved onto a drill press type almost immediately. In visiting and talking with many older saddlemakers a lot of them have rotary burnishers that are 60-70 or more years old. Most but not all of them have some form of canvas/duck material in there as well for their initial edges, Most will tell you that there's NO SUBSTITUTE for elbow grease though for a final edge.

Likewise there are a number of different types of rotary burnishers listed on here as well. Nothing new but we keep looking for a better mousetrap....hoping and praying for one actually when it comes to edges.

Regards,

Ben

As I stated previously, I built a burnisher similar to the one Bob Park uses in his shop.

I have been making some Note Book covers while trying different methods. I know, that is a large piece of leather to be experimenting on. Except for one I threw away I have kept them for myself.

I lined one with Oiled leather about 3/4 oz. The "Innards" of this leather is very much like suede. I knew going in that the edge would be a problem.

I followed Bob Park's "Edge Tutorial" and really worked the saddle soap and glycerine soap into the edge, then applied paraffin wax. Except for a small section that seemed to separate on the inner part of the oiled leather

it doesn't look too bad. In fact, it looks good enough to use that leather again for the inside liner.

For any of you that have not used this leather before, it "marks" easily and may not look good to some folks. The vintage look it has suits me for some items, this piece included. Will be interesting how well the "soft" edge withstands use.

I don't have the stitching on this piece complete. I am going to burnish it again with Paraffin Wax after.

ferg

[JeffGC]

I have read this thread with considerable interest. Nothing indicates quality leather crafting more than a perfect edge. The Fantastic Leather Burnisher reminds me of the system used by John Bianchi, in his video series. From the Fantastic Leather Burnisher video on YouTube, he's waxing and then burning the edge, resulting in the dark edge. Bianchi uses multiple wool felt disks on an arbor, with side washers.

I don't know anyone that knows more about quality edging than Bob Park. Amazingly, he is willing to share his knowledge with anyone. Basically, I follow his methods, with a few slight changes to speed up the work process. My second step is burnishing with canvas saturated with yellow saddle soap. I use a 1.5" x 1.5" sanding drum system from Rockler. I mount the canvas to the sanding drum with Barge Cement and use it in a drill press at about 900 RPM. My last step is to apply a wax mixture (50% beeswax / 50% paraffin) to the edge and then burnish on a drill press with a leatherburnishers.com burnisher. My edges are close to perfect. The final burnish is also at 900 RPM.

Jeff C.

[Frank]

The first time I saw the "fantastic edge burnisher" was actually in the John Bianchi holster videos. I think it started with him and then was copied as John showed also how to make the felt wheels.

[Trox]

The first time I saw the "fantastic edge burnisher" was actually in the John Bianchi holster videos. I think it started with him and then was copied as John showed also how to make the felt wheels.

Hi Frank, you know this is a old tread from 2010? Like everybody else I been fooling around with all kinds of burnishing material too and been wondering about the (fantastic) wheel; Is it any good or not. Is any of those Bianchi videos on Youtube or somewhere else? I just want to see the wheel making part and I do not want to buy a DVD to do so.

In advance thanks

Tor

[Frank]

Yes, I do realize it was an old thread but someone posted just prior to me posting otherwise I wouldn't have said anything. As far as the John Bianchi video, they are not on YouTube that I know of. The wheel itself was a mandril attached to the motor and the 100% wool felt rounds were cut out via a punch, packed together, and bolted on the mandril.

[Trox]

Yes, I do realize it was an old thread but someone posted just prior to me posting otherwise I wouldn't have said anything. As far as the John Bianchi video, they are not on YouTube that I know of. The wheel itself was a mandril attached to the motor and the 100% wool felt rounds were cut out via a punch, packed together, and bolted on the mandril.

Hi Frank,

yes a old thread but never out of date. So he used pure wool felt, I will try that too. Thank you for the information. Then he used wax I guess.

I use two kinds of wood wheels on my burnishing motor. One is made out of cocobolo, I use this with water only. The other wheel creates more heat and I use this for wax. It is good to have different wheels because leather react different to burnishing. With a wool felt wheel in addition to the two I have, I will cover more types of leather. I think some of the for sale buffing wheels are made of pure wool felt, I will check it out.

About wax; what kind of wax are you using, do you use paraffin wax? I see many use paraffin wax together with bees wax. The paraffin wax is not available from my Norwegian suppliers, do you know where I can buy some to try it out.

In advance thanks.

Tor

[Frank]

Tor,

Bianchi used a 50/50 mixture of beeswax and paraffin. I use that as well, for my second burnishing. I get my paraffin at the local grocery store or super market as it is the same as the canning wax. I believe it is the "Ball" brand canning wax but I could be wrong on the name. If you have home canning supplies where you are located, then you should be able to get the wax.

[Trox]

Tor,

Bianchi used a 50/50 mixture of beeswax and paraffin. I use that as well, for my second burnishing. I get my paraffin at the local grocery store or super market as it is the same as the canning wax. I believe it is the "Ball" brand canning wax but I could be wrong on the name. If you have home canning supplies where you are located, then you should be able to get the wax.

Thank Frank, I found it in a store like that, they sell it in a 5 kg box. The wax is small white pastilles, pellets. It says 100% pure paraffin wax for canning. Then you heat it in a water boil and mix it with the bees wax I guess?. Then you use pure bees wax, not the one with dark color am I right?

[Frank]

Tor,

You are correct as far as the pure beeswax. I bought an aluminum "candle Making" pitcher. I slowly melted equal parts (by weight) of beeswax and paraffin on the stove top. I stirred it well and poured it into plastic candy form trays after it cools for 10-15 minutes. It will stay at liquid form for quite some time. No need to rush this process. After they cooled and solidified, I popped them out of the molds, wrapped them in wax paper and stored them in a cardboard box. I just pull one out when I need it but I think I have enough right now to last me a lifetime. Just be extra careful to heat the wax slowly on very low heat as it is flammable.

[Trox]

Tor,

You are correct as far as the pure beeswax. I bought an aluminum "candle Making" pitcher. I slowly melted equal parts (by weight) of beeswax and paraffin on the stove top. I stirred it well and poured it into plastic candy form trays after it cools for 10-15 minutes. It will stay at liquid form for quite some time. No need to rush this process. After they cooled and solidified, I popped them out of the molds, wrapped them in wax paper and stored them in a cardboard box. I just pull one out when I need it but I think I have enough right now to last me a lifetime. Just be extra careful to heat the wax slowly on very low heat as it is flammable.

Thank you Frank, I will give it a try. With the amount of wax I have to buy it seems I will have enough for a life time too. Or maybe the wax ca be used for other things too. When I was a kid we used to wax our skies with paraffin wax, it was for sale everywhere. Now these products are wrapped in nice boxes and called something else.

Thanks for the reciept and have a nice day

Tor

[simontuntelder]

Finally, maybe I'll be able to give some advice here. I've fiddled with the burnishing wax mixture quite some time now.Before I used to go half beeswax and half paraffin, however I've been doing it a bit differently lately. I've been getting quite good result with the following mixture

100 g paraffinwax

300 g beeswax

and dash of neatsfoot oil - not a lot - maybe a tablespoon

-and in my last batch of wax I also added some pine resin, which I ground very finely.

I like to keep things as natural as possible, so I've really prefer more beeswax to paraffin.

Then I suggest you buy a silicone cupcake mould or look for it in the kitchen. When the melted wax has solidfied, the "wax cakes" will come right out and whatever wax residues is left can easily be scraped off and the very last can be removed using some boiling water.

[Hillbilly tim]

I too was going to make my own miracle felt wheel burnisher but can not find the material to cut the rounds from to make an arbor set from. Richard black has a video on youtube showing how to make the set. Included is info about making a 2" punch to cut them with.

Tim