There are few things more satisfying (except maybe the scent of leather) than a slick, shiny edge on a leather item.  When two or more pieces of leather have a common edge that is burnished (slicked) so that it looks like one piece of leather, it is breathtaking. 

Burnishing the edges of a leather project bring that professional touch to the project.  When someone picks up the piece, they are drawn to that finished edge like magic.

 Burnishing leather is not difficult to do with the right tools and some compounds.  Typical tools are a burnisher of some type.  Burnishers can range from a hand-held wooden stick with grooves cut into it to a cocobolo wood bit with grooves that fits into a Dremel.  Small pieces of canvas can be used as well.  As for compounds, it could be leather dyes, Tragacanth Gum (TG), Tokonole, or simply water.

Regardless of the tool or compound, the idea is to place a “compound” on the edge of the leather and rub it with a “tool”, causing friction to transform the edge of the leather into a smooth finish.

Vegetable Tan leather can be burnished with any and all of the above tools and compounds.  There is an extra step involved when burnishing veg tan leather. One must bevel the edges in order to create a small radius on the edge, allowing it to round over a bit when burnishing.  Another step one may add is to sand down the edges to make sure they are fully smooth and the multiple pieces that will be burnished are all even.  A burnished edge will not hide any imperfections.  Make sure the edges are as smooth and flush as possible before burnishing.

 Chrome tan or exotic leather requires Tokonole as a compound, and the best “tool” I have found for applying and burnishing this type of leather is my finger (to rub it in well) and a small piece of canvas to finish the burnish.  The reason Tokonole works well with these types of leather is due to it not needing a lot of pressure.  These types of leather are very soft and supple and really offer no resistance when applying pressure.  Tokonole is lightly rubbed onto the edge, with little pressure applied.

If you have never tried TG or Tokonole, give it a try.  It runs about $5 for a bottle of either and lasts forever.  Otherwise, try using dye or plain water and see what type of results you get.  If you like, feel free to post your results when logged into the ILC website; either in the discussion section (click here to visit the Community page)  or in work showcase areas (click here to visit the Member Showcase page). 

Looking forward to seeing your results!