Burnishing leather edges is a great way to make a leather project look amazing. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, burnishing is basically polishing the rough edges of (bridle) leather. But before burnishing you have to round the edges with a edge-beveler, I have them in different sizes. Than sand the edges with fine sanding paper., and wet the edges (water with a little saddle soap, or gum tragacanth) before you start.
Burnishing edges can be a pretty time consuming technique, but the way it finishes a project is well worth it.
First times I burnished the edges of my projects I did this in a simple way: manual labor and a slicker! A few years ago I bought a slicker I could attache on a drill machine, that was a big improvement, but I had only one size. So I bought a sophisticated cocobolo leather burnisher. From this time on, burnishing is great fun.
As you can see in the photos below, taking the time to finish the edges really does improve the end product. It looks much more stylish than a raw edge.
Just look how the punched holes and edges of my heart cable organizer hearts are smooth and beautifully shaped.
