Wood Burnishers

[Elton Joorisity]

Not tryin to steal business...but competition is good for business! Here is one of mine. They sell for $35 and are made of a variety of woods...cocobolo being the main one.

[Spinner]

I bought one of these from Chris as well. Do you use anything on the leather during the burnishing process? I've heard people say to use bees wax.

Steve

Hey Steve, Beeswax works just fine as a final burnish but I recommend saddle soap suds up a little for the primary burnishing. Reason being that the saddle soap doesn't seal the edge and allows to dye a contrasting edge if you like. Beeswax will seal the fibers and prohibit further dying.

Hey Chris: I'm seeing a similar burnishers on Ebay... is that you as well?

Hey Sylvia, thanks for the heads up. Those are poor imitations and definitely not my work.

I don't bother other folks selling burnishing items that are of their own design but this schmuck has blatantly stolen my very specific design (Holster Maker's Special) and will be reported to Ebay's VeRO Unit for it theft of intellectual property. Thanks.

Not tryin to steal business...but competition is good for business! Here is one of mine. They sell for $35 and are made of a variety of woods...cocobolo being the main one.

I enjoy a good & fair competition Elton, good luck with yours!

I've heard good things about your tooling/stamping tools also.

[Steven Kelley]

I use Chris' burnishers as well. Excellent product!! I dropped and broke one, while Chris was on hiatus from spinning, so I bought one from Weavers to try. It was horrible. The steel shaft in Chris' burnishers make all the difference. You can tighten them into a drill press and they spin perfectly true. The one from Weaver's does not have such a shaft. It's 100% wood. Those cannot be properly tightened into the chuck of a drill press. You just compress the wood. It's loose, wobbles, and is just not even in the same league.

Excellent product Chris!

[JoelR]

I also have one of Chris's burnishers. Very good design and work well but I honestly find myself using a wood slicker for the initial press-down and duck cloth for the final burnishing when push-comes-to-shove. Never really had enough time to learn to get the drill-mounted burnisher to work just the way I want it to. I will use it for the initial press-down for belts though since it is much faster and easier on the hands than the wood slicker. I use straight water with a pre-dyed edge.

[cleveland]

I also have one from Chris. Top notch work! I am considering buying an extra just in case he stops making them. :-)

[camano ridge]

Realizing this is an older thread brought back to life, thought I would add my two cents worth. I bought two of Chris's burnishers, I could not be happier they work great. I oredered mine in early December and recieved before Christmas and have used them on a half dozen projects so far.

Scott

[Spinner]

Thanks folks, glad you like them!

I also have one of Chris's burnishers. Very good design and work well but I honestly find myself using a wood slicker for the initial press-down and duck cloth for the final burnishing when push-comes-to-shove. Never really had enough time to learn to get the drill-mounted burnisher to work just the way I want it to. I will use it for the initial press-down for belts though since it is much faster and easier on the hands than the wood slicker. I use straight water with a pre-dyed edge.

Hey Joel, try adding a touch of saddle soap or glycerine soap to the water you use for burnishing. The fats/glycerine in the soap will penetrate the top fibers of the leather better and allow you to slick it much easier and faster whether by hand or mechanically. Not sure of your process to prep the edge, but Bob Park's method is the one I recommend. Short version is: edge the leather, lightly sand the edge to get a truly round profile, dab on a light coating of saddle soap/water combo with your finger/rag, burnish with your chosen tool, dye the edge if you haven't already, seal the edge (wax, neat-lac, etc) and do a final buffing with a soft cloth.

Hope that helps, hit me up with any questions.

[JoelR]

I've tried it with unsatisfactory results. It shines up nice but feels like a soft edge as opposed to the hard edges I get with just water.

[Spinner]

I've tried it with unsatisfactory results. It shines up nice but feels like a soft edge as opposed to the hard edges I get with just water.

Very interesting...wonder what the difference is (leather type, burnishing speed, etc.) as I have found the reverse. Well, either way the important thing is you have a method that works for you and results you are happy with!

[JoelR]

Could be I use too much soap in the mix. I had an issue for a while where my edges looked and felt great just after burnishing but softened and 'Furred' up after drying due to too wet of an edge.