SOSHorses Report post Posted January 29, 2011 I am wondering about black edge dressing. The man who got me started in leather work didn't use it. He said black dye was just as good. However I am discovering there are lots of things that he didn't know or didn't do that make the end product look so much nicer. My question is related to a problem that I am having finising edges. I have a problem with the black dye creeping into the product making it look fuzzy. For example I wanted to make a Horse Headstall to match my saddle and the edges of my saddle are finished with black. So when I finished the tooling and got the color to match my saddle I finished my edges and the black dye creeped into the other areas and fuzzed them with black. Basically ruining my headstall. Does the black edge dressing leave a clean black edge or is it something else that is used to finish the edges black? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ellen Report post Posted January 30, 2011 I know only Fiebing's Edge Applicator, it has what looks like fabric covered sponge in the bottle neck. When you tun bottle upside down, sponge becomes wet and then you apply it by moving it along your edge. If the edge is smooth and burnished, and you have a steady hand and a good eye-hand coordination, it can be fairly smooth. But I'm not happy with it. I would prefer that this edge stain or enamel would be more dense, with better covering capacity. I bought mine long time ago, maybe they changed formulation since then. There is also the Fiebing's Dura Edge, but I didn't try it yet. I prefer to dye edges. If you use not dauber but something more cut to size and dense, like piece of felt, and it is not dripping wet with dye, multiple accurate applications work for me. Not on saddle, smaller items. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RobDude30 Report post Posted January 30, 2011 Take a look at hidepounder's tutorial on edge finishing. In short, if you will burnish your edges before dying with a contrasting color, you can get a much neater edge. Using a hard felt like Ellen mentioned will give you more control over the application of the dye. I use a the edge of a felt wheel that came with my Dremel tool (by hand, not in the tool) and Fiebing's USMC black with good results. Practice and a steady hand also help. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
katsass Report post Posted January 30, 2011 I am wondering about black edge dressing. The man who got me started in leather work didn't use it. He said black dye was just as good. However I am discovering there are lots of things that he didn't know or didn't do that make the end product look so much nicer. My question is related to a problem that I am having finising edges. I have a problem with the black dye creeping into the product making it look fuzzy. For example I wanted to make a Horse Headstall to match my saddle and the edges of my saddle are finished with black. So when I finished the tooling and got the color to match my saddle I finished my edges and the black dye creeped into the other areas and fuzzed them with black. Basically ruining my headstall. Does the black edge dressing leave a clean black edge or is it something else that is used to finish the edges black? FWIW from a grumpy old man. I do not care for any of the edge dressings. I burnish my edges then use a piece of 1/4" firm felt, (those 1" felt buffing wheels for Dremel tools works great) soak it down well with Fiebings oil dye and run it along he edge of the piece. For belts and such you can lay the piece down on the edge of your bench with a slight overhang and run the felt along evenly and easily. You might want to wear a pair of nitrile gloves to keep your fingers from the dye. I then spray on a finish coat with my airbrush. As you can see from the pics of this holster, I get a fairly crisp edge this way. No bleed from the dye. Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
