Hints on treating raw edges

[joel_in_bhm]

I like to hand sew with an awl and saddle stitch. I can edge ok, but sometimes I worry about the appearance of my edges.

Does anyone have any hints and maybe some ideas on different types of edging techniques?

[bruce johnson]

Joel,

Ok where do I start? The first thing is to have the edges squared up. There should be no stairstep between the lining and the the outer piece. I use a stationary bench top belt sander with different grades of grit, depending on type of leather and how much stairstep there is. The belt sander is much less prone to heat up and scorch leather like a Dremel or sanding drum will.

I then use an edger. Which one? I have used Tandy edgers, Osbornes in a couple styles, Ron's edgers, and most recently got a set of Jeremiah Watt's round bottom edgers. For the price, quality of cut, blade's ability to hold an edge, the ones from Jeremiah Watt are the best hands down. The others are in a drawer.

Then what do you use to set your edge with? I use plain water, water with Procarve, gum tragacanth, spirit dye, bees wax, saddle soap, Ron's edge dressing, and diluted white glue. Sounds like a lot, but I DO use all of these throughout the course of a month. Depends on what I am edging, how thick it is, what is the piece used for, whether I am going to slick with a wood slicker or rubrag, is it going to be dyed, and am I going to put a finish coat on it..

I either rub in both directions with a rub rag or use a wooden slicker. The rubrags are canvas, denim, or other coarse cloth. Some are rubbed in bees wax and others are dampened, rubbed well in white saddle soap, and then left in the can to stay moist or left out and allowed to dry. The wood slickers are either used by hand or most commonly chucked into a drill press on moderate speed.

So, I guess to summarize I use a lot of different techniques depending on what I need the final product to do. Try each and see what works for you.

Bruce Johnson

[Gregory B. Moody]

I have never owned or tried out those fancy expensive edgers.... all I have ever used were a number two bent stem Tandy edger... for belt weight edges....and a number 3 for thicker projects... The straight shank are too hard to find the right angle.

The best trick I know is to use a sharp knife blade held at 90 degrees to the edge to cause long fibers to be loose at the edge... and to do that you must scrape only ONE direction... the longer they are the smoother and easier you can make the edge. Use the knife to round take out the line between where the edger cuts and the side of the project. Then also only slick in one direction.. you are trying to make those long fibers lay the same direction.

I grew up using rough cloth held in the hand for slicking... but you can not get something like a belt slicked right down to the tapered tip with that.. so I suggest a powered wooden slicker...

I have tried Gum Trag... but a properly prepped edge slicked with plain old beeswax is cheap and longlasting for almost no cost. We used a single piece of beeswax for at least 10 years... I was about 12 when I saw my first new clean round beeswax... could not believe how nice it looked...

[joel_in_bhm]

I havent tried too many types of edging.

I havent tried bee's wax or gum-trag. Although I do have both.

I get the edges even and then apply edge kote. I dont really like edge kote, because it has remained tacky on some projects. But it does cover and is quick and easy. I am not really looking for easy though, I would work twice as hard on the edges as I would on anything else if I could get a nice edge.

I really like the hand sewing, but the edges sometimes leave alot to be desired. I am hoping to find a way to make them acceptable in my book. And I do understand that not all techniques are going to work on different materials.

[Johanna]

On regular vegetable tanned leather, there is no substitute for the one thing you cannot buy in a jar, elbow grease. I use a piece of scrap leather (or a rag) and gum tragacanth, leather balm w/ atom wax, or just plain water and rub rub rub. It helps if you have already used an edging tool, and if you are careful about making the leathers line up exactly. You want an edge that looks like one piece, not two. I think lacing was invented to cover up those edges! When lacing fell out of fashion ("too bulky" the customers said) and we all started sewing again, we forgot how important those edges are. In competitions, like at the IFoLG, your edges can make or break your piece. The trick is to get all the fibers to lay down in a smooth burnish- easy on a strap or belt, not so easy on a wallet.

Johanna

PS

Bruce, what is "Ron's Edge Dressing"? I'm not familiar with it- do you mind explaining? TIA

[bruce johnson]

Johanna,

Ron's Edge Dressing comes from Ron of Ron's Tools fame. (www.ronstools.com) . It is a thin liquid to dampen edges and then burnish. It obviously has some beeswax or similar wax, because when it dries in the dish, it is wax. Don't know what the carrier is. It slicks down easily, and darkens up with more friction heat. I like it for edges I won't be dying later, as it resists the dye somewhat. It is nice on saddle part edges, but for horns and sewn stirrup edges, I still like my diluted white glue. Makes a darn hard glassy edge that really resists scuffing.

Bruce Johnson

[Johanna]

Thanks, Bruce, I never knew where Montana Edgers were from, either, and now I do. I used to have one when I lived in Georgia. I don't remember where I got it from, but I liked it, and someone walked away with it one day when it was laying on the back table at the Tandy store. I saw Verlane's Stitch Ripper on Ron Edmond's website, too. That tool not only looks like fine art, but a huge timesaver.

A set of those Montana Edgers would be sweet. I've never seen the Watt ones, but I can imagine they are fine tools, too. I don't know much about saddle tools, and I think I better start reading up on them.

Johanna

[joel_in_bhm]

Bruce,

Could you explain in detail how you use the diluted white glue?

I know you sand the edges even. but what do you do after that? Treat me like a moron, because, as far as this is concerned, I am.

[bruce johnson]

Joel,

This is a technique I have not seen in print before. I was originally taught it by a holster maker about 15 years ago. Since then I have had two old-time saddle makers share it with me too. Have shared this with quite a few people, and only one had ever heard about it before.

Basically once the edges are even, dampen slightly and when the moisture is correct, burnish with a fairly coarse cloth until the edge is pretty smooth. You don't necessarily want it to be glassy at this stage. Then take thinned down white glue. I have used Elmers, last night I used Leather Weld. The glue is thinned to three parts glue - one part water (by guess). I usually use a damp cellulose sponge and lightly smear some on the edge. Let it get pretty tacky, not quite dry. Then start burnishing with a clean dry cloth. Rub hard and fast. It will get hard, dark, and glassy - very hard. You can hardly dent it or scratch it. I usually only do this on saddles, especially horns or sewn edges on stirrups - things that take a lot of abuse. It does act as a resist, so this is one of the last steps I do on a saddle.

Bruce Johnson

[joel_in_bhm]

Saddles....

Ok.

I mainly do smaller things like purses, folders, wallets and briefcases. From the sound of it, it doesnt sound like this would be applicable. I could be wrong.

What kind of cloth do you use?

Do you only go in one direction?

[Gregory B. Moody]

I think you are correct. I grew up hand slicking belt edges... but that is a special case for that weight leather... you can hold one end and cup your hand with the rough cloth in the other and pull hard and fast... but with smaller items which you hand can not reach both sides of ...or both sides are not being slicked... that is a problem... you can hold some items on the edge of a table and keep them straight while applying the necessary pressure and speed... but at some point you will realize that you are working way too hard and not getting the perfect edge that a simple wooden slicking wheel mounted on an old washing machine motor will give you...

But as well as that worked on the main part of belt edges I was always aware that at the tip where it went to a point there was no way the simple slicking with a cloth can do the job right.. you can't compress your hand in an even fashion down to nothing ... so if you are going to have to use a slicker at any place on the project you might as well use it all over it...

For some things it is really hard to beat a nice laced edge.... no matter how much fun you have hand stitching...

I have used denim , burlap and cheesecloth at different times... the later probably the best combination of coarseness and conformity for ease of holding... we are talking several folds obviously...

On belts it is just easy to go one direction... and if you use a knife edge to make your long fibers hang out I have always felt that it then needed to be slicked in that same direction....

Greg

"I mainly do smaller things like purses, folders, wallets and briefcases. From the sound of it, it doesnt sound like this would be applicable. I could be wrong.

What kind of cloth do you use?"

[joel_in_bhm]

Where do you get your wood slickers?

(Sorry, I only use tandy as a source right now. Its the only local vendor)

Thanks for all the advice.

I am going to try some of these different things....

[Gregory B. Moody]

A motor powered plastic slicker will do a good job...

but in order to have more size options... which means different width slots in the round edger it is easier to deal with what is the traditional material ... a wood which has natural oils in it... I don't know that that really makes any difference... but it is fun to feel Rosewood and those types of wood...

This is probably one of those times you need to contact a local wood worker to make what you need.... be sure they don't make the cuts too deep as that will put marks onto the top face of your project...

Or, with a little work you can drill a piece of wood and mount it onto the electric motor and then sand/cut it down to what you want... a lathe effect in which you leave the lathe power attached permanently...

I suggest at least a 1750 rpm one third horse motor ( easy to find in old washing machine ) ... Greg

Where do you get your wood slickers?

(Sorry, I only use tandy as a source right now. Its the only local vendor)

Thanks for all the advice.

I am going to try some of these different things....

[bruce johnson]

Joel,

I have not had the good luck with the plastic slickers that Greg has had. They and the wooden counterpart they sell are only available in one size. I have melted a few or had them deform. might be a difference in the plastic from different time periods. One thing you will find when someone refer you to Tandy for tools. The tools sold today often bear little to no resemblance in materials or design to other eras. I am not saying they are bad, just different. Some are better and some aren't. Your Black and Decker drill is nothing like your Dad's from the 60s. Same with some leather tools. No offense intended to anyone.

I have used wood spindle slickers from Weaver and Norm Lynds. The Weaver one has a thin spindle tip and three slots. The spindle is good for slicking inside slots. It has a wooden spindle at the top to chuck into a drill press. Eventually it wears from the jaws of the chuck and gets out of true or breaks. I have another I got from Norm Lynds in WA. Norm made it with 8 or 9 slots in it to my specs. It has a metal spindle and will not wear out. I can do everything from 3 layers of skirting to 2 oz leather. I prefer Norms obviously. I am not sure if he is a member of this forum or not. Easier for me and a more efficient use of my time to buy tools rather than make them.

I do everything from shirtpocket business card holders to saddles, so I have different slicking needs for different projects. That is why I use so many different things on my edges to set them up for slicking or burnishing.

Bruce Johnson

[CitizenKate]

The maker of Bee Natural leather finish also suggests using it for slicking. I tried it, and it worked quite well. Now that's all I use for slicking, since I keep it on hand for finishing anyway. I've used both a heavy cotton cloth or a hand-held plastic slicking wheel - they seem to work equally well for me. I got very poor results with the plastic slicking wheel mounted on a variable-speed drill. Just ended up with a lot of friction burns on the leather.

[Johanna]

Hi, Kate, good to see you!

I am glad I am not the only person who has had trouble with friction burns with Dremel tools and other drills. I hand slick everything, too. At our house, when a pair of jeans (heavy cotton cloth) wears out, they go to the shop to be edging rags.

Pretty please, post some of your work in "Show Off!" I'd love to see what you've been up to lately!

Johanna

[ClayB]

Hi, Kate, good to see you!

I am glad I am not the only person who has had trouble with friction burns with Dremel tools and other drills. I hand slick everything, too. At our house, when a pair of jeans (heavy cotton cloth) wears out, they go to the shop to be edging rags.

Pretty please, post some of your work in "Show Off!" I'd love to see what you've been up to lately!

Johanna

Hi Kate, I am glad to see you here too! Been forever since I have talked to you. I tried to put my plastic slicker on a drill once and ended up melting the plastic slicker. I have tried the wooden one from Weaver, and a porcelain electric fence insulator mounted on a drill. I didn't like either of those all that well. When I started learning to make saddles, my teacher told me to rub the edges with a bar of saddle soap and then rub with canvas. For me, that works pretty good. So many different ways to do the same thing.

Clay

[CitizenKate]

Pretty please, post some of your work in "Show Off!" I'd love to see what you've been up to lately!

Hi Johanna... I've been working on some new ideas (after a round of wholesale orders, I'm ready to do something different), so I'm hoping to have something interesting to post fairly soon.

[abn]

Joel, I do a lot of small projects like wallets, and get decent edging results from the following technique.

After glueing the two edges together, use a sharp knife to shave down any parts of the edge that aren't even. Then round the edge corners on both sides using a Tandy #2 Beveler. Moisten the edge with water and go over it lightly with 400-grit extra-fine sandpaper. Then, apply a coat of Gum Tragacanth (or Fiebing's EdgeKote) and slick using a Sharpie pen. Repeat this last step one more time for a nice, smooth edge.

Not sure I'd really want to do this on a long edge like a belt or saddle, but it works for me for the small stuff.

-Alex