Shop made burnishers for Dremel ~ Ltd. Ed.

[slipangle]

A bit of a preamble if I may.

A couple of years ago I made two of my custom awl hafts out of a piece of Lignum Vitae i had had for over thirty years. And two large drill press burnishers. I kind of wish I had kept one of the awls,  as it tuned out the remaining piece of this rare wood I also had was nice,  but not quite like this one. Genuine lignum vitae, (the tree of life) is pretty much non-existent these days. And the old growth wood, like this awl haft and these burnishers are made of, is exceeding rare. 

 

I had two strips of wood left over from that project. One 8 inches long and 1/2 inch square. Not sure what I can do with that. Maybe make a pointer. :>  The other small billet was about 7/8 inch square. So I finally decided to get around to turning it into something,  so to speak. Hence,  these burnishers. A few people inquired back then if I also did burnishers for a Dremel and at the time I wasn't. And then many other projects later,  I'm back to give this a try, and hopefully make something beautiful and useful. I may get one more out of what's left in my lathe chuck. But essentially, what you see here is it. Which is why I'm referring to these as being limited edition. This beautiful golden, yellow, green wood is gone. 

I could certainly make these out of cocobolo,  as many others do. I have loads of that. And I may in the future. But I decided to take this last small piece of this scarce wood and make some nice tools for a few folks that might be as much into the beauty of a nice tool as they are of its utility. 

Any of you here that might be lucky enough to have worked with this amazing wood will know what I mean when I say this wood is a distinct please to work with. Especially on a lathe. I rough out a cylinder on my wood lathe,  but then do the final turning on my metal lathe. This extremely heavy, dense and tight grained wood cuts almost like a hard wax. Turning it with sharp cutters is magical.  It takes an amazing polish like no other wood and it gives off a very pleasant and distinctive woody floral scent when you cut it. And when you burnish with it,  for a while at least. Nothing else smells like lignum vitae. It's intoxicating. And while I think you could burnish edges well with just about any hardwood, this wood makes for a burnishing material that's a cut above. Being naturally very high in oils , it was used in ships and submarines as bearings for their large propeller shafts, its natural lubricity and imperviousness to water making it ideal for the purpose. It has an almost waxy feeling to it, and thus,  burnishes very well. Some will remember it is what the old Tandy and Osborne ring burnishers were made of. 

Anyway, forgive my too-long screed. I've made four of these,  which I'll identify by number. And please refer to the number when inquiring about one. I didn't make these to any set pattern or dimension. Just concentrated on the general fun of creating these and then tried to makes the slots what I thought looked good for various thicknesses of leather. But in general, I designed these for smaller work. Although I think one could do a holster in 7/8 ounce in some of these larger slots.

The shafts are 1/8 inch tool steel drill rods. Two of these have longer shafts,  two a bit shorter. My Dremel is the older flex shaft with hand piece type...as is my Foredom... and my hand pieces will accept a longer shaft,  as they're hollow. But on a motor-in-handle type Dremel, as is common today, I'm not sure if there is a stop for the shaft. Probably so. So please be aware of this. These should ideally be used up close to the chuck, to lessen potential flex as well as less strain on the motor, and for better control as well. 

I'll describe to the best of my ability the dimensions of each of these. All have 3 grooves of varying widths and end treatment which features a button for holes, etc.  But each is a little different. 

If you are interested in one, please send me a personal message. And which number you are inquiring about. First come,  etc. Coming up with a price on these was tough. I'm asking a lot for them. Relatively. Especially when compared with the cheap Chinese made burnishers so prevalent these days, made of who knows what kind of unfortunate Southeast Asia tropical wood. But as you can tell,  I consider these in a different light. 

 $36 each... plus 2 dollars shipping. USA only.  I accept Pay Pal, friends & family type payment only,  thanks.

Any questions, please let me know,and  thanks. 

Edited March 26, 2017 by slipangle

[slipangle]

#1

1 1/16 long. 3/4 diameter. Slots are; 7/32nds. 3/16ths, 3/32nds. With a radiused shoulder on the end and a 1/4 inch hole button on the end.

 

 

 

 

[slipangle]

#2

1 1/8 long. Slots are 1/4,  3/16 and 1/8, roughly. With a 3/8 end button. Shaft is 5/8 long. 1/8 diameter.

 

[slipangle]

#3

 1 & 1/4 long. First wide slot has a sort of a flat profile,  which I like for some things. It is 1/4 wide. Next slot is roughly 3/16, and third is 1/8.  First shoulder is 9/16. End button diameter is 5/16.  This burnisher would be suitable for slightly larger work.

 

[slipangle]

#4

1 1/8 long. Slots are, 3/16,  5/32nds, and 1/8. End button is 5/16 and 3/16.

Thanks for looking. Slip.

[bikermutt07]

I will take #4 please.

[geargarcon]

I'll take #1

[slipangle]

Thank you both,

PM sent, Bikermutt.  I will send you one now, Geargarcon.

 

Slip

[slipangle]

No's 1 and 4 are sold, pending.  Thank you.

[slipangle]

Numbers 4 and 3 are sold, thanks. And # 1 is still pending.

number two still available .