Leatherburnishers.com Signing Off...

[Spinner]

Just wanted to let folks know that I have decided that it is time to commence the retirement of LeatherBurnishers.com and the turning of said burnishers.

I actually decided to do this back in August 2011 but there was still so much demand that I delayed the retirement and kept things going as long as I could. Well, after my local vendor of cocobolo ran out of stock for the foreseeable future, my bandsaw started coughing up internal parts and screaming at me, not to mention the fact that my lathe has been a push start for 3 months (motor run-start capacitor blew in late November) and only getting 19 hours sleep in the last 7 days it seemed the universe is trying to tell me to slow down and give something up before my wife kills me or exhaustion overtakes me and I pass out while holding sharp instruments.

Unlike last time, there won't be an encore presentation. I'm turning the last two orders this week which will clear out my remaining inventory. The website and all references to it on my blog, facebook, forum signatures, etc. have been deleted...making a clean sweep.

I want to thank everyone that has purchased, used and commented on my burnishers for the success of them as it wouldn't have gone anywhere really without the spread like wild fire word of mouth from all of you. I have dropped Ed the Bearman a PM regarding his previous interest in turning my designs and carrying the torch onwards.

Cheers,

Chris

[KAYAK45]

As the song goes. THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES. You have been a very good craftsman and have helped many in their works.

Good luck in all future endeavers, and if The Bear and Beary will do it, I'm sure the bears' will carry on nicely. Good choice on a successor.

Good luck,

Kevin

[husker]

I was just going to order one. Dang it.

[King's X]

Wow....another icon gone......lol

[robertmeco]

Chris

Sorry to see you go thanks for the great burnishers good luck in what ever you do

Robert

[Sylvia]

As the song goes. THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES. You have been a very good craftsman and have helped many in their works.

Good luck in all future endeavers, and if The Bear and Beary will do it, I'm sure the bears' will carry on nicely. Good choice on a successor.

Good luck,

Kevin

I gave up coka cola and was saving the $ to buy one too. Oh well, perhaps some will come up on the secondary market.

[Cyberthrasher]

Like I told you in my email Chris, you gotta do what's best for you (I think I put that in there). Either way, I'm glad to hear that there might be someone to pick up the market share and keep people rolling.

[azrider]

Thank you for making great burnishers, and taking the time to explain how to use them through email. I finally got the moisture/ soap/ wax mix right, and its makes a huge difference in my finished work. Hope you are able to keep doing some of the fun stuff.

[JET4]

Nooooooo. That's a dang shame. I was about to order a backup in case my dremel takes a nose dive off the workbench again and breaks my burnisher. Spinner, your burnisher has taken quite the spot in the workshop and has saved me tons of labor in the last several months.

Gotta respect someone who has his priorities straight though. Good luck to you

Don't want to hijack your thread, but do I gather there is someone whom you've passed the torch to?

[Mijo]

Thank you for the drill and dremel burnishers, they are an essential tool and i use them regularly. Just like JET4, I was also thinking about ordering a back up set b/c the tip of my holster burnisher broke when I accidently dropped it on the floor a couple of weeks ago. I hope ED bumps this thread, if and when he starts to make burnishers...

[Dink]

How do you make up this mixture, I would like to give it a try.

Dink

Thank you for making great burnishers, and taking the time to explain how to use them through email. I finally got the moisture/ soap/ wax mix right, and its makes a huge difference in my finished work. Hope you are able to keep doing some of the fun stuff.

[Catchndreams]

We know you won't go far, those bikes need that touch you give them. Keep us posted.

Thanks

Dennis from Durango

[ouchmyfinger]

I was just going to order one. Dang it.

i recently just send a message to a guy selling them on ebay and he called me back and i had one made to my specs and he turned it in a couple days and had 2-3 day shipping for close to 40 bucks i think, it was made from cocobolo and is made extremely well,

i was searching the forum for someone who makes them and was directed to ebay so maybe its another member here, i assume it would be, he has many other items available for us too

[Spinner]

Thanks folks, Just making sure I'm taking care of my family's needs of my time as well. The burnisher thing literally started out as me just turning one for myself and King's X, then silly us posted them on the forums and all hell broke loose.

I am looking for a good shop to take over turning my various designs, with a possible change/addition I had been thinking about and inheriting the LB.com website (which I will be replacing on the web tonight to include the change message to clear up any confusion).

Hopefully Ed & Beary will say yes to picking up where I left off.

As for me, I won't be going anywhere, part of the reason to stop turning is to do even more leatherwork so I can trim my wait list down from 14 weeks hopefully and still spend quality time with my wife and daughter.

i recently just send a message to a guy selling them on ebay and he called me back and i had one made to my specs and he turned it in a couple days and had 2-3 day shipping for close to 40 bucks i think, it was made from cocobolo and is made extremely well,

i was searching the forum for someone who makes them and was directed to ebay so maybe its another member here, i assume it would be, he has many other items available for us too

Glad you got set up with a burnisher, too bad the guy on ebay is a douchebag. I hope he's not a LW.net member...we don't need his kind here.

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=37023

[Cyberthrasher]

Glad you got set up with a burnisher, too bad the guy on ebay is a douchebag. I hope he's not a LW.net member...we don't need his kind here.

http://leatherworker...showtopic=37023

I was trying not to go there, but I'm glad you did

[ouchmyfinger]

that is pretty shady, I'm sorry to hear about that. i was unaware of the situation. if you need some detailed pics of the one i got to show your argument i would be happy to send them over to you. i would of course love to support the forum members instead of anything on ebay, i am not a big fan of ebay since i had a problem with them years ago and they were impossible to get a hold of anyone for any customer service. since then i have stayed away whenever possible.

i try and always look in the services section of the forum if i need anything, such as some clicking that i may need done but i didn't see anything for burnishers

but yes that is the guy that made my burnisher

i noticed that a few of the members have talked about putting their burnisher in their dremel, the shaft of mine is obviously designed for a drill press application or something of that nature. the steel shaft is 3/8"s of an inch. i was actually going to ask what people are using other than a drill press to spin these things. my drill press is a tim "the tool man" taylor binford made press i think, it stands about 6' tall and i think it probably cost more in electricity to run a month than a new one would cost lol. but its hard to find quality like that anymore without breaking the bank. any ideas would be appreciated

i tried to order the "fantastic leather burnisher" but the lady told me that they could no longer get the motors and they were looking for a new supplier but that was a long time ago.

i was not happy with the small burnishing wheel that is provided with the machine since it does not have all of the groove options for different thicknesses. plus the fact that they want 60 bucks for something you can build with 25 cents of home depot tools and scrap wool from the saddle pads or whatever you guys use that stuff for, there was a tutorial by bianchi that showed you how to make the whole rig but i couldn't find the motor.

i actually went to a supply store near by that sold small motors and managed to find some nylon rod and tried to mount the motor and grind some grooves in the nylon rod using my bench grinder, the nylon rod came out good and made a heck of a mess (looked like it snowed in the corner of my shed) but the motor was 24v instead of 12v so i returned it and got a 12v one so i can wire it up and plug it in without running new wire through the attic for the 24v. i didn't know the 24v thing until my father explained it to me btw. weird how we go through life and never learn these things till your have to return something and look like an idiot, anyways. the smaller motor just didn't have the power to keep spinning under the friction created by the leathers edge so the whole idea was a bust.

since i usually work in the garage and my drill press is in the shed i would appreciate any ideas that you guys have, i really don't want to have to buy another drill press just for the burnisher, it seems that there should be something out there for us, like a simple motor that you can mount without having to build some type of da vinci machine.

Edited March 8, 2012 by ouchmyfinger

[Spinner]

Just got word, It's a go! Ed "Bearman" and Beary have accepted my offer to take over where I left off.

It will take a few weeks to transition everything and get them up to speed but for those that are looking for the same top quality burnishers I made, LeatherBurnishers.com will continue to be the place to go.

[Cyberthrasher]

Just got word, It's a go! Ed "Bearman" and Beary have accepted my offer to take over where I left off.

It will take a few weeks to transition everything and get them up to speed but for those that are looking for the same top quality burnishers I made, LeatherBurnishers.com will continue to be the place to go.

Right on!! That is great news. Now you get time to focus on your priorities and everybody here still gets quality tools to do the job. I see a win win for everyone here

[hidepounder]

Chris,

I want to thank you for the burnishers you made for me a couple of years ago. I still use the regularly. I'm sorry to hear you are shutting down, but can attest that your choice to pass this on to Ed is a good one! Thanks again...

Bobby

[Rhide]

Enjoy your family time. That's much more important than anything else. Glad to see you got the most excellent "Bear Clan" to carry on your fine work. Top choice.

[luke213]

Hey Chris sorry to see you go I had planned on picking up yet another for a backup;) Glad to hear you're going to spend more time with family, time fly's and we all know too well it goes far too fast.

Take care and good luck with everything!

Luke

[Eaglestroker]

I never did order my second one to attach canvas too. Hopefully my original doesn't go out on my anytime soon!

[Kustom]

Congrats to both of you.

[Spinner]

Thanks everyone, the transition to the Bearmen is going well and they hope to be up and running shortly.

They have about an hour of video of me turning 'my way' & narrating to get through so we'll see how that goes, hopefully I don't bore them into comas!

[Mudruck]

Thanks everyone, the transition to the Bearmen is going well and they hope to be up and running shortly.

They have about an hour of video of me turning 'my way' & narrating to get through so we'll see how that goes, hopefully I don't bore them into comas!

Awesome! Just ordered a maul from them so I hope it doesn't put them into a coma! Looks like I will have to order one of these killer burnishers from them as well now.

Thanks everyone, the transition to the Bearmen is going well and they hope to be up and running shortly.

They have about an hour of video of me turning 'my way' & narrating to get through so we'll see how that goes, hopefully I don't bore them into comas!

Awesome! Just ordered a maul from them so I hope it doesn't put them into a coma! Looks like I will have to order one of these killer burnishers from them as well now.