Edge paint VS Burnished edges showdown!!!

[immiketoo]

That's odd.  This stuff seems pretty impervious once its dry.  Then again, I don't dip dye anything.

 

[Bolt Vanderhuge]

It wasn't just when dipping. Even when using a dauber. It would blacken the dauber and if that went on the other parts of the holster there would be transfer. I had to either do the front and back then the edges later. Or do the edges and throw out that dauber and use a new one for the rest of the holsters. These were with 4 different acrylic finishes. Other types of finishes may not have the same results. All I know is this does not happen with Pro Oil black dye so I am sticking with that. We gotta use what works for us, right? 

[immiketoo]

Absolutely.  The Fenice has been impervious to RTC and Tan Kote so far

 

[garypl]

I apply Giardini Edge Paint last and have no problems with rub off.  I have also sprayed with Resolene after applying edge paint with no problems.

I just ordered some different samples of Giardini paint along with their base coat and gloss finish - supposed to be delivered tonight.  Will try out and report results.

Gary

[immiketoo]

Looking forward to it!

[Mark842]

Man that looks good..well both look good. I've always been traditional myself but this has me thinking. And frankly, maybe it's because I'm not as good as you but by traditional methods I'm slicking, sanding..repeat until silky smooth which usually takes 4 to ? times for me to be happy so three times with the paint doesn't sound like extra work to me. Not sure I really  understand the glue and hammer method. What kind of glue and are you hammering just to compress the fibers or?

[garypl]

7 hours ago, immiketoo said:

Looking forward to it!

Shipment held up in US Customs - hope for delivery tomorrow!

[garypl]

I received a package from Giardini a couple of days ago and I have been experimenting with the four colors of paint plus base coat and top coat products.  I painted 4 scraps of leather with and without the base coat - here are preliminary results:

Base coat applied to raw leather edge - you can see it leaves a very smooth white coating

1st coat of paint - bare edge on the left and edge with base coat on the right - much smoother after one coat of paint

 

After 3 coats of paint

 

After 5 coats of paint - less of a difference between treated and untreated edges

 

After 5 coats of paint and a top coat finish

The green color is Dense Edge Paint and the tan, red and blue are basic edge coat paint - all from Giardini.  I am going to continue experimenting with these paints and finishes, but from what I have seen, the base coat product will allow a better edge with less sanding and fewer coats of paint.  

The top coat finish results in a very glossy finish - will look good in some applications but might be too shiny for some projects.  I am going to try the matte finish - I believe it may look better on many of my projects.  These paints do not rub off, with or without the top coat finish.  I thinned all of the paints with @10% distilled water and they all went on smoothly.  I have 125ml bottles and they will last a long time because a little paint goes a long way.  Shipping to the USA was not bad - @$25 for 4 bottles of paint, a small bottle of dye, a small bottle of base coat and 1 liter of glossy top coat.  The dye looks very promising - I tested on a piece of scrap and it gave a rich dark brown finish that seems to be fairly water resistant.  I’ll post pics of a future project where I use the brown dye.  Give Giardini products a try - I am very pleased with products I have tried to date!

Gary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 5, 2018 by garypl

[Lobo]

I see some exceptionally nice work displayed in this thread.

I also see an enormous outlay of time involved in each piece. That is just fine for the hobbyist, doing one piece at a time without worries about maintaining a production schedule, no worries beyond artistic perfection. No problems at all.

I spent 43 years in the business, about 32 as a part-time sideline business and about 11 as a full-time endeavor. My shop completed an average of 40 orders every week consisting of holsters, belts, and accessory items (cartridge pouches, magazine pouches, etc). I had to maintain a work-flow that maximized production for the time involved with each step of the production process.

Edge finishing says a lot about the quality of a leather product. A well done edge treatment shouts "quality" like nothing else. Burnishing by hand, edge paints, and other processes can produce beautiful results, but the trade-off is lots and lots of time and effort. Over the years I developed some methods (or I should say I adapted some methods from other processes) that produced excellent results with minimum time, effort, and expense.

In my shop the edge finishing was one of the very last steps in production. Most of my edges were of two-layers or more (lots of welted seam construction), so the process described below reflects that.

1. Dress edges on a power sander. Depending on the size, shape, and complexity of the item the sander may be a belt sander or a drum sander (drums of 3", 2", and 1" diameter are useful). I like to dampen the leather prior to sanding because that allows residue to fall to the bench rather than filling the air with dust and fibers, irritating the lungs and spreading the mess all over the place. Most pieces can be done in a couple of minutes.

2. After sanding to a smooth and even finish the edges need to be beveled. This usually takes only a minute or two.

3. Touch up dye on dressed and beveled edges. Another minute or so.

4. Rub exposed edges with a mixture of beeswax and paraffin wax (50-50 mixture, muffin-sized pieces work nicely). A minute or less per piece.

5. Chuck a hard felt polishing bob into the drill press, turning at about 1700 RPM. Burnish edges thoroughly (takes a minute or two per piece) with the friction melting the wax and forcing it into the compressed exposed edges. When done the edge will shine like a new penny, edge completely sealed against moisture, and very resistant to abrasion.

6. Proceed with final finishing (oiling, sealing, acrylic or whatever you wish to use).

Edge paint, as shown in this post, can be beautiful. It is also easily worn, chipped, and abraded in use. My edge finishing stands up to hard use very well, is easily touched up when showing a bit of wear, and stands the tests of time over years of use. It is also very fast and easy to do on a production basis.

You can work hard. You can stress yourself out over every result. Or you can work smart and be done with it in a few minutes, and at very little cost. The choice is yours.

Just a few little hints from the old retired MILLIONAIRE holster maker for your consideration.

[JD62]

@garypl Can you give more detail about  your impressions of the dense vs. tha semidense paints? I'm just wondering if one has a real advantage over the other on say tow layers of 3/4 oz. or 7/8 oz.  I've watched the videos they have but am still not sure what to order.