Burnishing Using A Dremmel

[Toolerlass]

I'm starting to dread burnishing now and was wondering if any of the standard bits for a rotary tool can be used or covered with something or adapted?

I'd love to order the wooden drill bit burnishers but can't get them in the UK, and i've just been badly stung with high import tax after ordering a couple of tools from the US so don't want to go down that route again :-(

Edited February 6, 2014 by Toolerlass

[Dwight]

If you have anyone at all who is even half baked handy with tools they are very easy to make.

You will need a 1/8th inch (3mm) drill bit (get a package of 5 or so) and a 1/2 inch or 13mm hardwood dowel.

Put the drill bit in the Dremel, . . . put the dowel in a vice, . . . drill into the center of the dowel for about an inch.

Fill the hole with epoxy or just good glue, . . . push the drill bit into it and let it dry.

Cut the dowel off so you have a piece of wood about 2 inches (50 mm) long, . . . put it into the Dremel, . . . and with files and sandpaper, . . . shape the tool as you want it to be.

The picture included here shows mine when they were first made a number of years ago.

Sand em as smooth as you can, . . . then beeswax em real good, . . . and turn the dremel up to about 4000 rpm, . . . and burn the wax just a smidgen, . . . that will give you a good base to work with.

May God bless,

Dwight

PS: PM me if you have any issues, . . . I'll try to walk you through it.

[TomG]

And if you don't want to make then, look up Bear Man. He and his son make some nice ones from Cocobolo. I have a set and use them in a Foredom Flexshaft tool. Like a jumbo Dremel.

Also, find a flex shaft for your Dremel and it will give you more control.

My Foredom has foot pedal for speed control. The 4000 RPM Dwight mentioned is a good place to start. You may have to experiment a little. Depending on what you use to dampen the edge, you may need to speed it up or slow it down a tad. Be careful of too much speed. It will not always be better. You can burn the fibers before that mat down. Creates a dark edge with "hair".

[hornm]

Dwight's idea is great especially for avoiding the import taxes. Another option would be to find a local person who does wood working/turning and see about working out a trade for a set of burnishers. Could be good for both parties Just a thought

Horn

[shtoink]

The only thing I can add to the above is to be careful with the Dremel. The speeds at which it can spin cause you to ride really hard against the line that exists between successfully burnishing your edges and rediscovering fire.

It's not that it's really hard to do, but definitely practice on some scrap pieces first.

Unless you are some kind of Dremel-Ninja, the only thing the Dremel is fantastic at is speeding up the rate at which you screw things up. There's a reason those things come with a little package of 100 cut-off wheels, that's enough for about 5-10 projects.

[AndyH]

I recently aquired a cheap dual speed dremel & use an old wooden spool with a bolt run through, tightened with locking nut & coated spool with beeswax to burnish. Not as nice/fancy as most but does the job

[AndersenLeather]

I do all of my burnsihing with a dremmel. I have found that if you attach sandpaper to a sanding drum you get a very good burnishing drum. You can get 10 sanding drum mandrel for close to nothing on ebay (from china)

Please check this out:

http://andersenleath...burnishing.html

[Toolerlass]

Thanks ao much for all the great replies. Its really appreciated.

The first thing i tried was sawing one of those standard wooden burnishers in half (cutting off the smooth handle part) and then drilling a hole down the centre of that to use.

But the hole was slightly off centre, and the wooden piece too long i think. So when switched on it wood spin in a slight wonk lol and would vibrate so much it took all my strength to reach and switch the off button hahaha.

So maybe i need to cut it again leaving only one usable groove and practice getting a more dead centre hole.

I'll also have a try of the sand paper drum idea too. I already tried it with the ones supplied (i tried all of the wheels etc to see what would happen) but i dont have any fine grit to try yet.

I also need to get some lube for the whole process it seems. All i have is gum traga for doing it by hand but it sounds like i need more than this for a better job.

Thanks again everyone :-)

[lightningad]

i tried using one of those stone burr wheels that came in the box with my dremel - no grooves cut into it or any other compounds used, I was trying it to sand down before the burnish, but was surprised to find it didnt do much in the way of sanding, but it did an surprisingly good job of the burnish!

This is the piece i tried it on...

[Toolerlass]

Woo hoo i've just found something that works okay though it wouldn't work in a tight spot. I was sitting at my desk and it was staring me in the face. Saves the hassle of trying to drill a dead center hole!

[lightningad]

dont keep us in suspense!

what have you found?

[Toolerlass]

Woo hoo i've just found something that works okay though it wouldn't work in a tight spot. I was sitting at my desk and it was staring me in the face. Saves the hassle of trying to drill a dead center hole!

Drawer nob hehe

[lightningad]

good idea…i'll have to try that one!

[Toolerlass]

:-) might look around and see if i can find a smaller nob. First time in my life ive ever said that lol

[papaw]

Great ideal using a pull nob, I've been using old wood thread spools.

[Dwight]

Looking at the knob, . . . you'll have to watch your speed with that thing.

The bigger the tool rotating, . . . the faster the edge speed becomes, . . . one of those annoying laws of physics, you know.

Also make sure you take some beeswax and break it in using some scrap leather, . . . work it till you get a smooth patina on the knob, . . .

Looks like you hit a winner, . . .

May God bless,

Dwight

[shtoink]

I made one similar for my Dremel. Not from a drawer pull, but from a chunk of scrap Lignum Vitae from a side project for another member in here.

I chucked it up in the lathe to put a hole down the center and, at the time, the drill chuck arbor in my tailstock wasn't straight. Sherline replaced it for me, but that's another story. After getting a hole into it and shoving a chunk of metal in one end so it'd be usable in the Dremel, the tiny amount of offset was exaggerated greatly once it started spinning at the lowest setting of 5000 RPM. I ended up using a round rasp end ran it up against it while spinning to help even it up and later putting it back in the lathe at a higher RPM. I'm certain the the free-hand cutting I did to cut the groove didn't help with it being eccentric either, but it ended up being functional in when finished.

It's ugly as sin and I'm slightly ashamed of it, otherwise I'd post some pictures. Poor thing looks like it was a jr. high school wood shop assignment that was slapped together in the 15 minutes before it was due. Despite it's ugliness, it spins true now, burnishes an edge nicely, and taught me a few things along the way. As an added bonus, the Lignum Vitae can take a ton of heat without damage, though the same could not be said for my scrap leather I was testing on.

[Toolerlass]

Hahaha the things we do just to avoid a bit of elbow grease :-) its amazing how inventive we can be when it comes to reducing the amount of hard labour required :-)

[horseplay]

I'm more of a newbie to the business but my dremel is a must have! I actually had a cordless one but have since upgraded to a variable speed corded dremel with flex arm. I use it to sand edges and then burnish them with the dremel burnishers made by leatherburnishers.com. It takes a little practice but I now have beautiful edges with much less time involved.

[Halitech]

another thing you can do is get a small electric motor like from a small pump, leave the pulley on it and wrap it with canvas. Attach it to a table or bench and turn it on and then you have both hands free to hold your leather piece. Obviously this is better for smaller pieces and you want to make sure you get a motor that has a lower rpm so it doesn't turn too fast

[eastwes]

:-) might look around and see if i can find a smaller nob. First time in my life ive ever said that lol

[glockanator]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8KhcB1QGWM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Ian Atkinson posted this yesterday.

[humperdingle]

Toolerlass, a chap in the UK made me a great burnisher to my spec. I told him what width of slots I needed, the shank diameter for drill (I used an ancient 1/2" chuck drill) Cost me £15. Can put you in touch with him if you like?

[Toolerlass]

Humperdingle yeah deffo thanks, sounds a good price! :-)

Edited February 9, 2014 by Toolerlass

[Toolerlass]

Thanks for the link glockinator i like watching leodis vids. Can't order from america again though, just not worth the extra cost