Another Suggestion For Diy Burnishers

[Andrew Chee]

Hello all, I came across these that I'm now using for burnishing and I thought I'd share them with everyone. These are felt bobs that are commonly used for polishing stuff. They are made from wool and come in various sizes and hardnesses. The one that I am showing in the pictures are 2" in diameter (50mm actually) by 2" long with a 1/4" shaft that will fit right into a drill press or whatever you use to turn the thing. You can take a screwdriver or some other hard rod and file a groove into the felt to suit whatever size edge you are burnishing.

These bobs generally come in three standardized hardnesses. Soft is .5g/cubic cm, Medium is .6, and Hard is .7. Hard is actually too hard so either get medium or soft. Soft, despite the name, is actually quite firm so it's not really that soft.

I've used them a bit now and I like them a lot. I used to use the cocobolo burnishers and they were nice but I had two problems. I was limited to the radius that the maker put in the grooves. Also, in order to get more friction against the edges, I was covering the burnisher in canvas. I think the felt burnisher will solve both of these problems since they have more friction on their surface and they can be grooved to whatever size you want.

Anyways, I bought these at http://www.feltbobs.com/catalog/index.php/. They have all sorts of sizes and shapes. The 2x2" ones are just under $10 each so the prices aren't too bad to try. Hope people find this useful.

Andrew

[Sylvia]

Hi Andrew:

Nice find. Could you please post a picture one of the bobs you modified and perhaps one of how the burnishing turns out?

Hello all, I came across these that I'm now using for burnishing and I thought I'd share them with everyone. These are felt bobs that are commonly used for polishing stuff. They are made from wool and come in various sizes and hardnesses. The one that I am showing in the pictures are 2" in diameter (50mm actually) by 2" long with a 1/4" shaft that will fit right into a drill press or whatever you use to turn the thing. You can take a screwdriver or some other hard rod and file a groove into the felt to suit whatever size edge you are burnishing.

These bobs generally come in three standardized hardnesses. Soft is .5g/cubic cm, Medium is .6, and Hard is .7. Hard is actually too hard so either get medium or soft. Soft, despite the name, is actually quite firm so it's not really that soft.

I've used them a bit now and I like them a lot. I used to use the cocobolo burnishers and they were nice but I had two problems. I was limited to the radius that the maker put in the grooves. Also, in order to get more friction against the edges, I was covering the burnisher in canvas. I think the felt burnisher will solve both of these problems since they have more friction on their surface and they can be grooved to whatever size you want.

Anyways, I bought these at http://www.feltbobs....log/index.php/. They have all sorts of sizes and shapes. The 2x2" ones are just under $10 each so the prices aren't too bad to try. Hope people find this useful.

Andrew