question on wet leather/ first project

[desertwastes]

I decided I wanted to further burnish one side of a project I was doing, after it was already stained...After I wet the edge I realized the water caused part of the leather to darken along the sides. I'm just wondering how much it might change the colour of the leather? I may re-stain the other side to make it have a darker edge as well. Suggestions?

This also happens to be my first ever attempt at leatherwork. 

 

[Stetson912]

What are you using to burnish? And what's it look like after a few hours of drying time?

Im no expert by any means but these are  my observations based on my past projects and what I use. 

A wood slicker tends to darken the edges as the grooves wrap around the edge. You may also be using too small a groove when burnishing, this causes just the sides of the leather to darken instead of the actual edge. You may be able to even it up by doing more burnishing on the other side. 

The water will darken the edge as well, so let it dry completely before trying to correct anything.

I tend to use denim more often than anything else now. I like to wet the edge a bit and burnish with denim scrap that I rubbed/charged with saddle soap. Glycerine saddle soap is better but I don't have any so I just use the regular feibings soap. Then when it's slick I will dye the edge and repeat the process and touch up the dye. I finish the edge with paraffin wax and a wood slicker to rub it in. Then buff the edge with a soft cloth just to polish it. I recommend reading the edge burnishing guide by Bob park (hidepounder). You can find it in the pins on the how to section. 

Hope his helps. 

[desertwastes]

On 5/21/2017 at 1:59 PM, Stetson912 said:

What are you using to burnish? And what's it look like after a few hours of drying time?

Im no expert by any means but these are  my observations based on my past projects and what I use. 

A wood slicker tends to darken the edges as the grooves wrap around the edge. You may also be using too small a groove when burnishing, this causes just the sides of the leather to darken instead of the actual edge. You may be able to even it up by doing more burnishing on the other side. 

The water will darken the edge as well, so let it dry completely before trying to correct anything.

I tend to use denim more often than anything else now. I like to wet the edge a bit and burnish with denim scrap that I rubbed/charged with saddle soap. Glycerine saddle soap is better but I don't have any so I just use the regular feibings soap. Then when it's slick I will dye the edge and repeat the process and touch up the dye. I finish the edge with paraffin wax and a wood slicker to rub it in. Then buff the edge with a soft cloth just to polish it. I recommend reading the edge burnishing guide by Bob park (hidepounder). You can find it in the pins on the how to section. 

Hope his helps. 

It looks much better now that it's dry. I just left it, I think normal use will even it out. Lesson learned for next project.

I was just using a wet cloth along the end then a wooden burnisher. I think at first I was using a size that was too small, so that was part of the problem. It was a combination of stain that wasn't dry enough, cloth that was too large, and wrong burnisher edge. I will check out the guide and check around for the soap and wax. 

Thanks for the help!

 

 

[Stetson912]

Very welcome. Bob part is an amazing artist and knows his stuff. Many people use his method and it gives a glass smooth edge every time. Takes a bit of work if you don't have power tools set up for it (like me) but the result is worth the elbow grease. Keep it up