Techniques for finishing edges quickly

[Jason046]

And yes you are right, water and saddle soap are fine to burnish with before dyeing but I learned the hard way that bees wax and gumtrag can seal the leather so if you get some on your leather it wont accept the dye

[Jason046]

On 11/18/2019 at 10:11 AM, fredk said:

I only use a beeswax/nfo/carnauba wax mix for my edges. Edge is dyed and then the mix is applied with a cloth and burnished using either a wood slicker or just a piece of linen.

Hey, this is probably a stupid question but I was going to try your mix and was wondering what nfo was? Cant find a description for it

[billybopp]

nfo is short for Neatsfoot oil.   (not neatsfoot compound) - Very useful stuff in leather work in a number of ways.  

My preferred edge finish is a quick burnish with water and maybe a little saddle soap - then dye as needed.  A light burnish first helps keep the dye from oversaturating, as it sometimes does on a raw edge.   That's followed by a more thorough burnish using Tokonol, and maybe a little beeswax after that.  Tokonol makes a beautiful edge, but for some things it's a little too shiny, beeswax knocks that shine down a bit.

I do use a 50/50 beeswax/nfo mix (melted together in a jar in a water bath)  as an overall finish for some items, if needed melted in with a hairdryer.  It makes a very nice finish - not too glossy, not too matte, and water resistant.

- Bill

[Jason046]

11 hours ago, billybopp said:

nfo is short for Neatsfoot oil.   (not neatsfoot compound) - Very useful stuff in leather work in a number of ways.  

My preferred edge finish is a quick burnish with water and maybe a little saddle soap - then dye as needed.  A light burnish first helps keep the dye from oversaturating, as it sometimes does on a raw edge.   That's followed by a more thorough burnish using Tokonol, and maybe a little beeswax after that.  Tokonol makes a beautiful edge, but for some things it's a little too shiny, beeswax knocks that shine down a bit.

I do use a 50/50 beeswax/nfo mix (melted together in a jar in a water bath)  as an overall finish for some items, if needed melted in with a hairdryer.  It makes a very nice finish - not too glossy, not too matte, and water resistant.

- Bill

Nice, yes I have used neatsfoot oil for awhile just didnt know the abbreviation.  I have been doing a similar process. Burnish withwater to get the edges to come together,  then dye and finish with beeswax. Just tried the 50/50 mix of beeswax and nfo today and really like it. Might get some Ron's edge rub and give that a try as well. Right now we do about 20) 65"straps a month so I get alot of practice. Lol

[NeilMott]

Hey Frodo.

No hard feelings.  It's tough to judge tone, etc online.  I appreciate you saying so.  Threads wander and often I find out new/different ideas by reading through threads that we're always 100% on topic.

Best,

Neil