more burnishing questions

[KimRulien]

Hi all...I read for about and hour about burnishing last night...but did not see an answer to this...

I sew two types of leather together for my guitar straps, buffalo and a heavier cowhide on the back for stability. How do I burnish these two together? I try by hand with my little plastic Tandy wheel thing, but it seems to just mess with the buffalo, and the cowhide ends up looking just okay.

Is there a trick to this? any hints on finishing my edges? I am very new to the whole burnishing thing. I saw the machine on ebay, but was not sure something like that was the way to go for the 2 leathers together!

HELP!

[hidepounder]

Kim, I don't know if buffalo will burnish or not. I use "hair on" cowhide quite a bit and it does not burnish well. I've seen it done, but it looks unfinished and unprofessional. So when I'm using something that will not burnish, I wrap the edges with a 2 oz binding and sew it. A binding can be made out of almost any kind of unfinished or finished leather. That's the only way I know of to deal with that kind of an edge to make the piece look finished correctly.

Bob

[pete]

Kim, I don't know if buffalo will burnish or not. I use "hair on" cowhide quite a bit and it does not burnish well. I've seen it done, but it looks unfinished and unprofessional. So when I'm using something that will not burnish, I wrap the edges with a 2 oz binding and sew it. A binding can be made out of almost any kind of unfinished or finished leather. That's the only way I know of to deal with that kind of an edge to make the piece look finished correctly.

Bob

I've done a few veg/calf or deer albums lately. The calf and deer don't burnish but I have burnished the veg and then glued the backing on afterwards. If you then carefully trim the liner on a flat table and slightly angle your head knife or scalpel it gets real close. You still have an unfinished liner but it looks really nice- especially if you sew it after.

pete

[Bree]

Bob's suggestion is a good one. I have a couple of buffalo hides and they won't burnish for love nor money. I suppose it's the tannage but it sounds like your buffalo is similar to mine. Binding is a good professional solution and fairly easy to implement. Another possibility is some piping which will help hide the unburnished edge of the buffalo. Also fairly easy to implement.

[Rawhide]

Bob,

If you have a picture of this, I'd love to see it. Or maybe next time you do one post up some pictures if you don't mind sharing.

Thanks,

[KimRulien]

Bob,

If you have a picture of this, I'd love to see it. Or maybe next time you do one post up some pictures if you don't mind sharing.

Thanks,

Marlon, are you asking me for photos or someone else in the line of posts? In case you mean't me here are 4 pics...2 of straps that I did with piping for finishing the edges and 2 without, that I am trying to make more done looking (they look fine probably just me being picky!)

thanks for all the answers and ideas everyone!

[Rawhide]

Marlon, are you asking me for photos or someone else in the line of posts? In case you mean't me here are 4 pics...2 of straps that I did with piping for finishing the edges and 2 without, that I am trying to make more done looking (they look fine probably just me being picky!)

thanks for all the answers and ideas everyone!

Sorry for the miscommunication. I did mean hidepounder. However, thanks for posting your work. Looks fantastic. I've never tooled a guitar strap. (Don't know anyone who plays. )