Round Edges

[JWP]

Good Morning, I'm very new at this and even though I've only been at it for 6 months I'm hoplessly addicted. You guys and gals are doing some amazing things that really blow me away . My question this morning is when using a beveler on my knife cuts the edges of my cuts are pretty much 90 degrees. Some of the work I see from the folks that know what they are doing is different. The knife cut edge has a very attractive roumd shape to it or eased edge. It is like that nice round edge you get when a 3/4 inch board has had a "Sure Form" file taken to it. Is that a matter of technique or is it the type of beveler being used. Would appreciate your thoughts on the matter as well as any helpful guide lines to using this forum i.e. ediquette, length of post, content, etc. Thank you in advance for any help. BTW what are topic tags?

[electrathon]

Pictures would help a lot of what you are doing and how you want it to look. Aaron

[JWP]

Thank you Aaron, I have an errand to run and when I get back I'll put it together and post it.

[TwinOaks]

The rounded edge is a result of a process. When you first cut the leather, it should be at around 90 degrees. Then, an edger is used to 'shave' the corner off of the edge. Once that is done, the edge is further dressed by dampening and 'slicking'. A tool with a concave face is used to reshape the leather to the rounded edge. But wait, there's more! Once the initial slicking is done, the edge is then burnished (friction and pressure) to make the edge keep that rounded shape. After that it is dyed, and sealed. A very detailed description of this is available here: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=18101

[Cyberthrasher]

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The rounded edge is a result of a process.

Hey Mike, I think he was referring to the edges of our tooling. If you just cut a line and bevel it, you're often left with a 90 deg edge on your artwork.

There are a couple of ways to take care of that. One is to make a second pass and tilt the beveler back and hope it does what you need - I'm not a fan of that one. My preferred method is to use a modeling spoon. I go over my line once at a 45deg angle to knock off the corner, and then run it over the top real quick to knock back that ridge that was just made, and then sometimes I'll need to go one more along the side (near the cut) to get a nice rounded profile. Once you figure out how to hold the modeler it's just a couple quick swipes.

[TwinOaks]

After re-reading the OP I see that now! oops. Nice catch, and I agree with the above.

[Cyberthrasher]

After re-reading the OP I see that now! oops. Nice catch, and I agree with the above.

Hey, it's Saturday morning - I'll give you a pass

[JWP]

^{Well Aaron I found some examples and pasted them into this but got an error saying that jepg wasn't allowed. Do you now how I can get these pics to you? Could I put them in a word document and attach it?}

[JWP]

Thank you folks. I will still work on getting the examples to you Aaron. Twinoaks, go guitar been playing professionally for 35 years. Thanks gang.

[electrathon]

The above confusion was why I asked for pics. I am guessing that your pics were too big, sometimes they need to be resized down.

[Dwight]

I needed that rounding effect on my holsters and belts, . . . so necessity being the mother of invention, . . . I "fixed" my edger.

First, . . . it is a #4 edger, purchased at Tandy's.

Second, . . . I took a piece of (I think 3/16ths) round wooden dowel and impregnated it with valve grinding compound. Using very small nails only at each end, . . . I nailed it to a larger piece of 1 x 4.

Third, . . . I pulled that edger across that dowel a couple hundred times (seemed like it any way). It rounded the underside of my edger.

Fourth, . . . I made a board with a piece of leather and "edged" it with my newly reformed edger. The leather sticks up between two pieces of wood about 3/16ths of an inch, . . . and is heavily impregnated with jeweler's rouge.

Fifth, . . . I use that board & leather to resharpen my "rounded" edger.

Anyway, . . . that's how I did it.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited June 16, 2013 by Dwight

[Cyberthrasher]

My question this morning is when using a beveler on my knife cuts the edges of my cuts are pretty much 90 degrees. Some of the work I see from the folks that know what they are doing is different. The knife cut edge has a very attractive roumd shape to it or eased edge.

No need for pictures if you can't get it figured out. This pretty much says exactly what you're looking for. There's confusion because we also worry about rounding the edge of our leather too. Most of these replies are accidentally explaining that. I was trying to find a good write up I found on it once, but can't seem to find it yet. I think it may be in a paid book actually. That's something I'm not comfortable copying to post here. But, if I have to I can try to take pictures of the process for you. It's such an important technique and I really wish more people would do it - so I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen!!

[JWP]

^{I'm still trying on the pictures. When I paste them into this document I get an error saying that jpeg are not allowed. Can anyone tell me what to use like bmp or other???}

[JWP]

Thank you so much to all of you for helping me with my addiction to this art. REALLY enjoy watching, hearing from, and learning from the pro's. Appreciate you all taking the time to contribute to a beginner's education..

[Dwight]

JWP, . . . for your pictures, . . . resize them to something like 800 x 600, . . . save them as a jpg not a jpeg.

That should work.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Cyberthrasher]

Oh yeah, and don't drag and drop them - who knows if something there might be causing an issue. Just hit "attach file" and browse to it.