Best Edge

[brettra]

How are you burnishing the chrome tan? Extra steps or differences in burnishing veggie?

My understanding is that it is extremely difficult.

Thanks,

Scott

One of my least favorite steps in a project is edge burnishing; it pretty much never comes out as nice as I would like -- especially on chrome-tanned leathers (or other non-vegetable tanned leathers). I've managed to run an edge bind similar to Kevin King's except without stitching twice (with one of the stitch lines hidden). I'm not sure it's nearly as classy as KK's, but it's the closest I've come up with so far, as I don't have a sewing machine either. . .

Here's a closeup of the edge of a book cover (unfortunately, the inside looks even less neat):

[Leather Bum]

My understanding is that it is extremely difficult.

Yes, that's what I've found to be true, too. The chrome-tanned leather doesn't usually burnish with water like veg-tanned leather, so extra (and different) steps are usually necessary for me, as I don't really have a power burnisher like the Fantastic Leather Burnisher (which apparently can slick the edges of leathers such as latigo). What I end up doing is sanding the edges with finer and finer grits (so time consuming!), but it still seems too rough. So I might try using gum tragacanth or Leather Sheen to stiffen the leather fibers; that way the sand paper can actually smooth the edge instead of just continually roughing up the fibers. This doesn't always seem to work, though, and I'll still end up with an unevenly smoothed edge or a highly visible seam because one layer of leather might compress more when sanding than another layer. . . And burnishing with wax does not always fix the look either.

If anyone else has a method to successfully slick chrome-tanned leather edges, I would definitely be interested to learn how to as well! Then again, many times I am not satisfied with the way some veg-tanned leathers slick either. . .

Micah

Edited August 16, 2011 by Leather Bum