Need Help With The Dremel Leather Burnisher

[renegadelizard]

Hey all, maybe someone can help here...i ordered 4 of the dremel burnishers from Beary a few weeks ago and Im not having any luck with them...it seems lie I am only getting contact with the beveled side of the leather...where i ran my edger..but the actual side isnt getting any contact at all...so i end up with what looks like a hairy streak down the middle...this is even happening on single layers of 8 ounce, double layers of 6-7, and my 1/4 inch belts...i ordered number 1,2,3, and the cone burnisher...i have tried using water, water with glycerine soap, and beeswax and parafin mix, all to no avail...i was using a Craftool Keen Old #126 Edge Beveler , size #3 and thought that was the issue, so I bought a cs osbourne #127 Edge Beveler , size 4 and that didnt change anything either...number #2 craftool, still no luck...I tried resanding them after i beveled them, thinking that maybe when i cut them i pushed them out of round...that didnt have any effect...then i though maybe i wasnt pushing on it hard enough, i pushed harder and just burned the edges then....i really want to figure these little jems out, i dont relish the though of standing out in my garage this winter burnishing edges with my drill press and dowel rod setup ..please help out...im at wits end..

don

[Dwight]

Renegade, . . . I don't have the same tools you have, . . . but I do have these (see pics) and they do a wonderful job for me.

Obviously, . . . they are home made.

I generally will sand all edges "flat smooth" with a belt sander I have, . . . or sometimes (not very often) I'll do the sanding with the little drum sander you get for a Dremel. It can get aggressive at times, . . . or if you sneeze, . . . it won't be pretty.

After sanding, . . . I bevel using Tandy # 2 or # 4 bevelers (depending on effect desired, . . . thickness, . . . etc).

I then dampen, . . . and the key word there is dampen, . . . not wet, . . . just damp. The best way to see what "just damp" is like, . . . make up a 4 inch piece of 8 or 9 oz leather, . . . two nice straight edges, . . . bevel them, . . . then lick them. Yeah, . . . human saliva !

Turn on your Dremel, . . . about 1500 to 1700 rpm's works best for me. There very often is a grain direction in your leather, . . . it will come out pretty if you go left to right, . . . not so pretty if you go right to left. Look for that.

Press lightly, . . . like you are running your finger around the rim of a coffee cup looking for a crack. Your leather will turn darker brown as you get the fibers laid down, . . . and if you do it right, . . . when the piece dries, . . . the color will be very near the original hue, . . . not the darker burnished brown.

I go on then to dying, . . . inspect my edges, . . . sometimes touch up the burnishing here, . . . then I put the final finish on it. Depending on what the item is, . . . I sometimes come back and do a "final" burnish / polish, . . . and at this place, . . . I'll lightly rub on some natural beeswax before burnishing.

I have almost always gotten compliments on the edges using this process.

May God bless,

Dwight

[renegadelizard]

Thans Dwight...i get pretty decent edges using my dowel rod..and my process is pretty close to yours..the only thing im doing different is using the dremel bits...so i was wondering if their was a specific trick with these tools to get it done right...i bought them because everyone here who has them has good results with them except for me i guess...just wondering what im doing wrong...here is my process...

belts...glue the two stips together after the top has dried from dying...hammer the strips and let dry...measure, mark and cut the belt to length..trim belt edges and sand...bevel the edges...moisten the edges with soap and water, attempt to burnish with the dremel tools....get angry....go outside and dye the edges...use the dremel tools again and give up on them...go back outside and use my dowel rod/drill press....shiver, shiver, go back inside and down stairs and finish with wax and canvas....

holster process is the same...like i said, ive tried using other lubricants, and the end result is the same...

btw:..when im making a holster for personal use, i do use my saliva...best thing for burnishing IMO..customers might not agree though..and rightly so...lol...

[Chief31794]

Renegadelizard,

I have the drill press version and I found that I had to move up the size of groove to get them to burnish completely, I would try using the next larger groove in your burnishers. I liked the press option one because I have an industrial drill press, and two all the grooves are there so I can move up or down as necessary. That may help, they do a good job and do it quickly but you do have to work with it a bit.

Chief

[Spinner]

Chief's got it dead on. What's happening is the channel is too narrow for the piece you are working with so the edges are burnishing in the transition from vertical to horizontal in the burnisher channel. By stepping a size or two on the burnisher channel you're using it will allow the leather to edge to get to the bottom of the channel and burnish the edge effectively.

The most common misconception is that the channel that is the same width as the leather is used when folks should be using a channel that is 1.5-2 times wider than your leather. The next question that used to come up was, if I used a wider channel, the corners don't always get burnished completely...Well, the best method is to simply "walk" the burnisher when making one of the passes. A good burnish usually takes a slow hand or 2-3 passes with a dremel burnisher. While making your pass, if the high side of your beveled edge isn't being burnished, simply make another quick pass using the transition curve to burnish those corners. Or even easier, simply step down the channel size a notch so the transition is contacting instead of the trough.

Hope that helps.

Chris

[Jbarv Bulls]

What Chris said ... Id like to offer that I have the best results using gum trag with my dremmel burnishers. I hit it with gum trag, then sometimes beeswax, then the burnisher. I generally use the largest one I have and walk it back and forth from edge to edge.

[Trox]

I have a cocobolo burnisher on a slow speed motor shaft, I prefer to use only water with it. That way I do not have to sand and clean it every time i want to use it. With use of wax or gum tragant it adds very quickly up a layer of fat that mess up the burnishing. All leather burnish differently too, some burnish best with canvas, some needs dye etc. On a motor burnisher it is important to have the right size grove to get a proper burnish.

Trox

[hidepounder]

I sure agree with Chief and Chris and jbarv Bulls!!! I generally use a larger burnisher than what would seem to fit. It's too easy to actually damage the edge of the leather by trying to use a burnisher which just fits the leather.

Trox, I suspect the speed you are using is too slow. I use a much higher speed with my dremel. I like to apply parafin as my final step and I crank the speed up so that there is enough heat build up to actually melt the parafin which then is absorbed into the leather. When I'm finished the burnisher is essentialy clean.

[Trox]

I sure agree with Chief and Chris and jbarv Bulls!!! I generally use a larger burnisher than what would seem to fit. It's too easy to actually damage the edge of the leather by trying to use a burnisher which just fits the leather.

Trox, I suspect the speed you are using is too slow. I use a much higher speed with my dremel. I like to apply parafin as my final step and I crank the speed up so that there is enough heat build up to actually melt the parafin which then is absorbed into the leather. When I'm finished the burnisher is essentialy clean.

Hello Hipounder,

No my motor has the perfect speed for burnishing, any faster and it will create too much heat and burn the leather. When you use wax you need more heat. I have a different wheel for wax, made of a wood with less natural oil in, it runs much warmer. If I use this burnishing wheel without wax it burns my leather black (on the same motor). As I said before, there are as many differnt ways to burnish as there are leather workers, we all have our prefered way to do it. The same goes for the edge bevlers, what works for you might not work for me.

Thank you.

Trox

[renegadelizard]

Thanks all...Ive tried going up a size, to the largest channel i have, but i suspect its still too small for my belts and such..i should have got the flat drum and the 1/2 inch channel....ahhh...another lesson learned..

[Spinner]

Thanks all...Ive tried going up a size, to the largest channel i have, but i suspect its still too small for my belts and such..i should have got the flat drum and the 1/2 inch channel....ahhh...another lesson learned..

If you're using the standard set, I believe the largest channel is 3/8" and should burnish a double thickness of 9oz without issue if it's prepped correctly. If your leather thickness is more than a total of 18oz (9/32") then yes, the 1/2" channel would be the way to go.

[Mike516]

I just got a couple of the dremmel burnishers and was wondering what speed you all use to get the best edges.

I have never used a power burnisher before, and was surprised at how bad they vibrate after speed setting #6.

Thanks.

[BearMan]

Hi Mike,

About half way on the speed control,,, somewhere around 12000-15000rpm should be good. Is the wobble in just one dremel bit or all of them? Also are you using a flex shaft extension with the rotary tool? The reason I ask is that I just had to replace my flex shaft, & all the sudden, everything started to wobble. If it's isolated to certain bits, then the bits could be the problem. Dremel style burnishing tools don't really need much pressure to work,,, just a light or slightly more touch. But that being said, if by chance you have a bent one, it needs to be replaced. If I can help,,, just let me know. Thanks,,, Ed

[Mike516]

I'm not using an extension. Both bits vibrate any higher than speed 6 so bad that they make a buzzing noise. It's not the dremmel because all of my other tools are smooth at any speed. I just figured because they're hand made they aren't made perfectly true straight.

[Gump]

After reading several posts on dremmel burnishers I decided to make my own. I simply took a piece of 3/4" hardwood dowel and drilled a 1/4" hole in the center of it and put it on the 1/4" sanding drum arbor and took a chainsaw file and cut my groove with it. And yes wider by 2 works better than exact size. As they are easy and super cheap to make, I have as many sizes as I need and can change them in seconds.If they vibrate I simply take a flat file and true them up by running lightly over the file. If i get wax build up I just take 120 garnet paper and sand lightly, removing just the wax while trying not to remove any wood, works decent. With this method you can custom make widths up to 3/4" in a matter of ten mins. I just use maple doweling as it is not an oily wood like rosewood or cocobolo and heats the beeswax really quickly for good melt in without burning. Gump.

[Beachside Art]

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the helpful information. Have read through but still need some advice. I make dog collars and currently for burnishing edges I use one of the nylon circles from tandy but my hands are starting to hurt! I don't know anything about power tools so would love some advice on which one to get for the best price.

I think I'll purchase one of the Cocobolo tools (http://leatherburnishers.com/Burnishers_for_Drills.html) but I have two major questions.

1.) How do I know which one/ones to get? (The leather I use is 8oz so doubled over at the buckle point would be 16oz)

2.) What tool do I get to attach it to? I don't have a bench I can drill in to, so a drill press is out for now (later that will change). So either a lathe, or a handheld drill? Will a handheld drill be too difficult to work with for smoothing edges? I'm not the strongest person so am weary that my hands and wrists will get sore still!

Any help would be fantastic on this.

Thanks in advance all!

[medsar]

First off, I own the regular cocobolo burnisher from Beary and one of their Bearmauls. I have been very impressed with their products and I will buy another Bearmaul and the hoslter burnisher in the future.

1.) How do I know which one/ones to get? (The leather I use is 8oz so doubled over at the buckle point would be 16oz)

**** I use the regular burnisher for gun belts and other heavy duty belts (16-18oz all said and done) and the regular one works well. I think of the holster special for...just that. Knife and some types of gun holsters. BUT, I do recommend emailing Beary and asking 'em which one to buy. I did that with my Bearmaul and my burnisher and I was pleased with their recommendation.

2.) What tool do I get to attach it to? I don't have a bench I can drill in to, so a drill press is out for now (later that will change). So either a lathe, or a handheld drill? Will a handheld drill be too difficult to work with for smoothing edges? I'm not the strongest person so am weary that my hands and wrists will get sore still!

*** Holding the drill and burnishing would be hard. So, I bought a Harbor Freight drill (I don't like HF products, but their drill has lasted and it has a variable speed built into the switch). I cut the handle off and mounted the plastic drill case inside of an aluminum project box using rivets and epoxy. I have it mounted sideways so the burnisher is orthogonal to the benchtop but parallel to the ground/ceiling. I also bought a foot switch for the plug so I can just step on the button and the thing goes. I spent $20 on the drill, 10$ on the box, and around $8-10 for the switch ($40 total). That may be a little fancy. But I have seen pictures of people taking a drill and a some metal plumbers tape to mount the drill sideways on the table. Or you can take the drill apart like I did and screw the plastic case to your benchtop and then re-assemble the drill. Another reason to buy the HF drill -- it has a built in 'stay-on' feature so you can depress the trigger once and then it stays on until you push another a button. That way, you get two hands to work the leather. Does any of this make any sense at all?

If you're worried about building a setup like I described, you can always buy the dremel setup....

Hope this helps