Holster edge

[Pappy Hayes]

What do you do to the edge so it does not show a seam where the two pieces are stitched together?

[amin ledbetter]

Wet it, slick it, and if you need to apply some some edge coat! Seem should almost disappear after its slicked, but in some extreme cases you may need some edge coat. Also, if the two edges are uneven, and you have a belt sander or access to one, give it a quick run on the belt sander to even the two edges before slicking. That should get where you need to go pard!


A little Gum Trag, will do wonders on that edge as well pard, if the water ain't workin!

[bedbugbilly]

+ 1 to what Amin said.  I usually slick mine quite a bit.  I've even gone to running an Osborn edger along both the front and back side of the bucket seam and finish the edge the same as you would a belt edge.  I probably stitch my seam a tad bit further from the edge than a lot of fellows do - for me, finishing the seam side off with an edger gives it a more "finished" look.  If all else fails . . . there is always "plumbers putty" - I wonder if they make "plastic leather" like they make "plastic wood"?     On the serious side though - try what Amin suggested.  If you are hand burnishing, you might want to try a burnisher of some sort chucked up in a drill press or similar.  I hand burnish the bucket opening edges, toe edges, etc. by hand but have gone to using a hickory dowel chucked up in my drill press to do the seam edge.  Next winter, I hope to build a motor driven "burnisher" with a similar hardwood turned burnisher like has been shown on this forum with various diameters of rounded bottom slots.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Me too. I sand the edge using a little sanding drum )with a shank so it can be used in a drill or whatever)
they can be found at any hardware and chucked up in a variable speed drill run on low speed.  You can even hold the drill in your vice for better control. A #80 grit works fine. Then the edger to dress it up on both sides, a little Gum T and slicker does the rest.

[Springfield Slim]

Dremel tool with a sanding drum, then hand burnished with beeswax. Fills in all kinds of voids.

[Pappy Hayes]

Do soften up the beeswax someway?

[Slowhand Bob]

Put a felt bob on that Dremel and run at a fairly high spped to see what it can do to that wax.  I like a 40 to 50% ratio of canning paraffin added to the beeswax for edge dressing.  Last time I posted my mix it had a little neatsfoot oil added in but that was somewhat unnecessary as adding less paraffin equals a softer mix anyways.

[Pappy Hayes]

Sorry I am ignorant about the edge. Slowhand Bob after you use the wax, can it be coated with edge coating or some other coloring agent?

[rickk]

do any dye application first, before you add anything to the edge.

Wax and Tragacanth will inhibit the penetration of the dye.

[TN Mongo]

Waxing the edge is always my last step.  You can get a nice finish after the wax with just some hand buffing with a piece of canvas.

[Slowhand Bob]

The only thing I leave for after the wax is Edge Kote(?) and part of the reason I like some paraffin in the dressing.  Pure bees wax stays to soft and doesnt do as well with final dressing.  I have not tried adding dye to the wax while it is melting and blending but Ill bet it would enhance the contrasts over an edge that was dyed that same color but different from the main dye color??  Anyone tried to add dye their edge dressing wax?

[Pappy Hayes]

WHat keeps the wax from melting or cracking when it is very hot out?

[TN Mongo]

When the wax gets warm, it melts.  When you burnish an edge, the friction causes heat and the wax melts.  Some of it is absorbed into the leather because leather is porous.  It's the same principle as buffing a shoe after you have applied shoe polish.

I haven't tried to add any color with wax.  I'm afraid that it would bleed onto clothing.

[Pappy Hayes]

So can someone tell me the recipe for making the bees wax for using on the edge?

[rickk]

First, Get some bees...   

Pappy, it's straight Bees Wax.

Zack White leather sells it.

There are several sources of bees wax on ebay as well.

If you make your own BP lube, you might be using it for that too, so buying it in bulk is a good thing.

I bought some about 4 years ago on ebay for 2 bucks a pound, but it looks like the gong price is more like 5-6 bucks a pound.

If you don't use it as a lube as well, a few 2 ounce cakes will last quite a while.

It works good for waxing thread too.

Rick