Burnishing

wmhammond

wmhammond

Well-Known Member
I'm new to knife making and still haven't finished my first knife (see my WIP in New to Knife making). I've come to the conclusion that if you are going to be a knife maker you also need to be a sheath maker so I started playing around with leather. I'm sure this is the dumbest of the dumb questions but can someone tell me what burnishing is and what it is supposed to accomplish? Does it need to be hard and fast to create friction (heat)or is it as simple as laying the grain of the leather in the same direction. Thanks,

Wallace
 
Burnishing means to smooth and polish the leather, usually on the edge. We burnish the edges of belts to make them look better and make them slide into the belt loops easier. Knife sheaths with burnished edges just look very professionally finished.

I burnish all my leather work except some of my Neo stuff.
 
A little secret (or not) to getting very nice burnished edges is to get them sanded silky smooth before you even begin to burnish. No amount of rubbing or burnishing will successfully smooth a rough sanded or cut edge. You'll simply get a nice shiny lumpy finish.
 
run it on your belt grinder slow with a 220 grit new belt, fast enough so as not to burn the leather. Wet the edge with a sponge and rub it with a little candle wax or bees wax then rub it real hard with a canvas rag or a hard stick like maple or cocobolo. I use cocobolo
 
I use briwax to finish my leather sheaths...it acts like a top coat that shines and gives it some moisture protection.

I finish the edges on a worn out belt being careful not to burn them. Before I finish the leather with the Briwax I lightly dampen the edges. Then take a old piece of blue jean denim and rub the edges vigorously in both directions. If your arm doesn't get tired and it doesn't heat up from the friction, you're not doing it correctly. After a few minutes it will begin to shine. I then use the briwax to finish the entire sheath, using a soft cloth after the briwax dries to buff to a shine. I then take the denim and do the same to edges. There are probably better ways of doing it, but this works for me.
 
I find that a very sharp round knife and edger will completely eliminate the need for sanding when burnishing edge's. I use only water and a 10 oz canvas wax impregnated cloth for burnishing.

I was taught this way when learning to build saddles and see no reason to fight years of experience of those who where doing the teaching. You just need to break in your cloth, use the correct amount of water and use elbow grease. Keep rubbing briskly until the edge has a real shine to it.
I second N.N's statement about a tired arm.
 
roughcountry said:
I find that a very sharp round knife and edger will completely eliminate the need for sanding when burnishing edge's. I use only water and a 10 oz canvas wax impregnated cloth for burnishing.

I was taught this way when learning to build saddles and see no reason to fight years of experience of those who where doing the teaching. You just need to break in your cloth, use the correct amount of water and use elbow grease. Keep rubbing briskly until the edge has a real shine to it.
I second N.N's statement about a tired arm.
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I completely agree with this. I've seen the saddles and sheaths Robin makes and the edges are smooth, clean, perfect color and shine great.
 
agreed, I just use the grinder because it's quicker for me and doesn't require me to have all those special leather tools. Leather work is not the most fun thing I have to do, and the quicker that thing gets to usable the better, lol. I tell people that want a leather sheath from me....It's not going to be ornamental or pretty, but it will be heavy duty and survive whatever you throw at it. If you want something functional, I'll be happy to make you one. But if you want something pretty, I know several leather workers that will gladly charge you as much as the knife to make you something cute. I don't particularly like working with leather, I just do it out of necessity.
 
NN, not a thing wrong with your thinking about the leather work. The only thing I notice a lot is this. A really good knife maker will turn out a finely crafted blade that is just about perfect and then wrap it in a thrown together piece of leather and send it to a customer.
It deserves more than that. I'm not talking about fancy carving or stamping, just really good design, fit and finish. Burnished edges are simply that last finish. It is only 10 percent of the work but will count about 50 percent in the look of the leather. This kind of sheath need not be expensive.
A plain sheath that is functional and done very clean with well rounded edges burnished to a high gloss is my favorite. Over time it just gets better.
Stamping is just a way to cover flaw's in leather, it will shorten the life of leather in the long run. JMO
 
don't get me wrong....I work hard on the fit and finish of my leather and it's not just thrown together (not that you were implying that..or that I think you did). I think it would be tragic for to send out a great knife with some poorly stitched, not glued, thrown together sheath. I just would rather not spend as much time on the sheath or more time than I spent on the knife. I get the basic shape down, glue it up, stitch it, dye it, hit it on the grinder to final shape and even do the rounding of the edges on the slack instead of using a leather edger, dye the edges, burnish with water, then burnish with wax. It looks good without the steps to sand with 60 grit then hand sand with 100 grit, then with 220 grit, then edge kote, then hand sand again, then burnish, then dye, the hand sand again, the burnish again, then wax, then bake for 2 hours, then burnish again, lol....all those steps that I've seen people take just seem way too far when I can get "good or great" from far less time. I think we agree here. :cool:
 
I do think we agree. I also think that most would find that the way I finish leather edges is faster, easy and way more pro looking than the sanding and dye way. It's not my way, just the way the masters before me insisted I do if I was going to work in their shop.
 
roughcountry said:
I do think we agree. I also think that most would find that the way I finish leather edges is faster, easy and way more pro looking than the sanding and dye way. It's not my way, just the way the masters before me insisted I do if I was going to work in their shop.
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Fascinating, honestly I've not heard of not sanding the edges of a sheath or any leather piece. I've only been doing it since the early '90's so I'm relatively new to the craft.

The more layers you have in a stack of leather the more you encounter uneven edges even after they've been cut smooth. Once stitched they have a way of compressing and pooching out. I try to cut them even before I mark the stitches, but after stitching its inevitable to have to sand a little. I'll have to try this again though.

There is always more than one way to skin a cat. :)
 
Dwayne. Try just folding a sample piece of leather over a welt and itself, like a pouch sheath. But leave the welt and bottom piece proud by 1/4 to 1/2 inch. Stitch it and then use a round knife to cut the bottom two to exactly match the top piece on a cutting block. Now edge both sides with a good sharp edger and wet with a sponge and burnish with a waxed cloth. Play with it a bit, how much water and how hard to burnish.

I'll try to get a couple pictures of what I try for.
 
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