How to Burnish Leather Edges 

The love I have for leather is based on the fact that you are able to create beautiful, useful things that need zero electricity whilst making them. Not to mention the thousands of years of history the leathercraft has 😍

I’ve found sanding in both directions can sometimes raise the grain of the edge and make it “fluffy” or peel. sanding in one direction helps keep the leather slicked flat. I’ve experienced it with both veg tanned and chrome tanned. Doesn’t seem to always happen though (I usually sand back and forth without issue).

I love the way you explain different methods. So helpful for a beginner like me. Thanks

Leather is a very fibrous material that has a bit of a wild pattern kind of like hair. Sanding and slicking in one direction is very much like combing your hair all in one direction. You'll get some extra loose volume by going multiple directions, but going in a single direction will slick it all over and seal it a lot better when you burnish it.

What I really enjoy about watching your videos is the fact that no matter how long I've worked with leather I learn something new. This time..I have a burnishing machine, and I never new to start from the largest to the smallest...I always went to the proper size..great stuff..thanks again.

I'd seen the videos you did without narration...I kind of got the idea of what you were doing but didn't *totally* understand. Now I do. Thanks.

You just have the nack for simplifying the leather crafting processes. This is the video I truly was waiting for. Burnishing is my biggest issue. Too many videos explain differently and half ass. Thanks again for the most simple burnishing tutorial. Chartermade does a very good job also. 👍🏽✊🏽✌🏽 &❤️

Thank you so much for this. Been learning leathercraft for a month now and your channel has helped SO MUCH. Thank you again. Cheers from Brazil!

Your skill videos are greatly appreciated. It is very useful to see your process to better understand how you produce such great pieces. Please keep the skills videos coming! I've learned so much from you both.

I tried burnishing leather for the first time in the week and found it quite tricky! But this video definitely cleared a few things up for me. As you say it's trial and error until you find your style. Great video as always! 🙏🏾🙌🏽

Loved the video. Straight to the point. Plenty of information with visuals without the fluff. Awesome job.

I love how you explain everything like an engineer 😀

I would like to thank you all for doing these skills videos. They are helping me a lot, as I dabble in leather work.

I love this channel. Can't wait to dive into leathercraft. Could there be a video on common mistakes beginners make?

Greetings, Thanks for this video. Got answers to a number of "doubts"-"grey areas". The instruction, is precise, absolutely clear and even delightful. Looking forward to more videos from CORTER LEATHER.THANKS.

THE best video I've seen on burnishing.

You're a very clear and calm teacher, you stay on task, (but throw in useful points), have a pleasant voice, work at a nice pace . Glad to have discovered your channel and business. Cherry on the cake is when you mentioned you are also open to learning. Happy to be another follower and to learn from your experience.

Loved it, probably the best edge burnishing video out there. Thanks!!

Absolutely fantastic, Corter Leather! Thanks so much for doing these skill videos. I just started and they're invaluable. One thing I'd love to see is a tutorial on edge paint. Burnishing is great when the leather is similarly colored, but I'd like to use edge paint when there are different colors and so on. Keep doing what you're doing!

Miracle. Right when I was going to looking for a tutorial to learn how to burnish leather edges, this video appeared!

Best video on Burnishing I've come across so far, great video

Liking the skills videos mixed in with project/tutorial videos. Thanks for creating and sharing them.

Great show and really help- and useful! Specially the process with burnishing!

Another awesome video! Thank you so much for your videos. Have a great day!

Love your videos, love the narration. Thank you!

I love and appreciate these tutorials.

Very informative video. Well done 👍🏾! Keep it boss 💯

Thank you so much for detailing tutorials.

You're awesome! Thanks for all these sick, informative videos!

thank you for sharing your ways of working leather much appreciated!

Fantastic burnishing video, easy to follow. Thank you!

Nice clip and well described process and well filmed.

Another great vid. Been obsessed with all of then

Excellent explanation and demonstration, personally I made a motivated wallet with its videos, I did it recycling a leather from a weightlifting strap, I do not have the right tools, but I did, thanks for its videos and very nice work, greetings from Panama

As always, a great video. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for the help! A good friend made a kilt belt for me a long time ago and the edges are starting to go a wee bit ragged so I've got my work cut out for me! This is so cool and I'm really stoked to give this a try!

Very detailed and informational. Thanks for posting

This is great, thank you! I’ve been trying to figure out how to keep an edge from darkening when I burnish.

Thank you. I picked up some great tips here..!!

This cleared up so much. Thank you

Thanks very helpful to a beginner like me and the video was well done 👏

I’m just getting started in leather working and this video help me a lot thank you. I have a question I was hoping for some help can you do a video about different types of leather and the uses for them with projects?

The demonstration you gave. I thought was well done.... thank you... Kpc from Pgh,Pa.

Thanks for this!

That's what I was most curious about. Thank you.

Great "how to " video #Corter Leather , all the tips a starting hobby crafter like me can use, a Big thank you :-)

Dude thank you so much! This worked out great for me!!

This help me so much, thank you!

Excellent. Must bookmark it.

Thank you, learned a lot from this video.

Well done!

so hepful! Thank you!

Very Informative video.. thanks 👍

5:44 I've found that a double layer of cheap masking tape works quite well to prevent scruffing the face. I've also used it to completely cover a piece so I could have an erasable surface for sketching out scribing lines.

I know loads of people would have submitted this but...I asked for this so it feels YOU DID THIS VIDEO JUST FOR ME!! lol Cracking video again though!

Ditto on Carl’s comment. I’ve learned so much more from these videos then any other. Can’t thank you enough. Would love to sit in a class with this guy!!

Nice video, thank you so much!

Thank You so much! Very informative 😊 G

Thanks master ! Good luck !

Thanks for another informative video. Have a good one. I'm Paulo btw. Thanks again.

Great video thanks !!

Thanks for the informative video. If time permits please make a video on how to finish edges using edge paint.

I'd love to see a video on how your techniques change when working with exotics, specifically alligator (but anything, really).

Thank you so much!

Now I know why artisan leather goods are expensive. I Love the small details that comes with leather crafting.

Hi, very nice video :) if you are making a belt but you want it to be dyed, would you first bevel your leather strap, dye both sides and edges, then apply water, tokonole, or gum tragacanth, burnish, aplly wax and burnish again, is there a need for sanding in between any of these steps?

Thank you very much!!

This guy is awesome!!!

Great demo ! Thanks...Do you have any videos on sharpening " Bevelers " ?

I have 3 edge bevelers. 0, 1 and 2. Even on my ten oz thick belts I find #2 is as big as I want. #2 gives me a nice round edge on my belts. Also note that I use a round beveler on my #1 and #2, not a flat beveler. My #0 makes a flat cut instead of a round cut. I have a 1x42 belt sander I use to sand leather, I have found dampening the edges a little bit helps greatly to cut down on airborne leather dust.

Thank you

I've found that sanding in both directions can cause the grain to raise up and get fuzzy, but I guess it doesn't really matter to me because I use Tokonole for burnishing and it keeps it all slicked down anyway. Keep up the great work guys! I love your ASM and narrated videos!

Excellent video. Would LOVE to see an equivalent one for Chrome-Tanned leather.

You do a absolutely amazing job, I will love to put some links from Amazon with materials what a beginner should buy and to be also at a good quality (leather, tols, etc...) thank you very much

Nice tutorial on burnishing, Thank you. Keep up the great job.

Thank you very much..! 🙏🏻

I love how you said “I’d start with a wooden sticker but I generally always finish it with cannabis “

Great vid. Question: what if you are dyeing the leather. Sand edges - then dye? Also, I read that using beeswax or gum traganth on the edge will prevent touching up the edges with dye in the future because it won't absorb? Help!

Brilliant video, not many as detailed as this. What about how you finish dyed leather? That's A Current problem I have.

Que ideal sería poder estar subtitulada al español este video.Saludos desde chile me encanta este canal:

This was great man I really struggle to get a good edge do you have a tip to know which way the grain goes I have noticed one way is good the other is fuzzy is there a rule of thumb on which way to sand? I have seen guys like toy go back and forward with heavier grit paper but then one way only with the finer grit .

To sand on one direction it's because one don't want to sand up the grain. It's important to make sure that if you use double leather as in the video you need to have bought pieces with the grain pointing at the same side.

I am doing a seat for a chair and the leather is dyed. So would you dye the cut edge before you burnish. I am thinking I should but wanted to double check. I am so happy i found your channel

Really big fan of your videos. Is there anything you do to treat the flesh side of the leather? Say the inside of a pouch or small bag?

I noticed going back and fourth would sand unevenly, meaning the sand paper would pass over more time in the center rather than on the edges.

Great video. I tend to use Tokonole but my one issue is that I tend to overlap the face of the leather and this leaves it dull looking. Maybe I’m using too much Tokonole on the edge - I use my finger tip to apply then smooth, bit still I overlap. Any suggestions to stop the overlap and or clean the face if I do? Thanks.

Hi, thanks for your informative video, I have one question to you, can I use boot polish cream or liquid shoe polish or leather cream as a substitute of dye? Thanks…

Great video. One question. Do you dye first then burnish, or do you sand, burnish then dye??

nice. thanks. Back in Junior High leather Shoppe class (1969/1070 school year) all our projects were laced, so far as I recall. I'm making a leather sheath for my Toferner "Celtic"/"Norse"/"Viking" (non-folding) pocket knife. (OAL: 85mm). I'm saddle stitching all the seams. I don't recall the instructor mentioning burnishing the edges. I didn't know if burnishing was done wet or dry. In all the leather work vids I've watched, theperson adds leather dye to the edge, then burnishes. I'm not doing any dyes. (leather square I have was pre-dyed a dark brown, so I didn't order any dye.) Do you have a vid on wet molding the inside of a box or tray?Wet molding was something else we didn't do in that class. We made a couple wallets and some key fobs for self and the family. That was it. (everything I made is long gone, so far as I know.)

I like your videos alot of love from pakistan💖💖

👏👏 Very nice explanation and work. For the edges, the two abrasive papers which grain size do you use? Thank you....Enzo

I’m kinda new to leather crafting but I noticed that when sanding the edges,if I do the strokes in both directions it leaves the edge kind of scruffy with a lot of fibers sticking out,while if I do the strokes in only one direction the edge is far cleaner. I suppose that if you stroke both sides the grain of the sandpaper will pull the fibers that you compressed one way to the other,raising them,while if you only sand in one direction the fibers will compress in that direction.

Sometimes I wonder what if I go out of order or if there is an order when beveling, burnishing, gluing, and stitching.

Hello! Could you suggest or advise me some books about the history of the appearance of leather belts? And also books on how to make belts according to English canons and rules?)

Does it make a difference after using tokonole followed by beeswax?

Can you burnish a chrome tanned cowhide leather?

I was taught that when sanding or filing ANYTHING, you always go WITH the grain and not against it. The reason my grandfather told me this was that when you go against the grain, you run the chance of tearing or stripping out pieces of the leather, wood or even metal… that is why I only sand or file with the grain and don’t go back and forth like you were doing… my grandfather was a master blacksmith, bladesmith and wood worker… he also worked with leather on a lot of his projects… he made beautiful products and I would give anything to have him here today to teach me again… he passed when I was 10 years old… I’m 50 now and still miss him every single day…

This kind the burnish is for all the types of leathers? synthetic leathers also?

As far as I know, sanding in one direction helps to prevent the edge from getting "hairy", in case we're working with softer types of leather (some oil tans, for instance). If the leather is soft, then the grain tends to just stretch, rather than sand off, so doing it in 1 direction kinda keeps it ordered - these stretching "hairs" don't stick out. I remember being quite frustrated with this, so I just added a pre-step before sanding - apply glue-and-water solution and let it dry a bit. Makes the leather more dense, and thus easier to sand.

Can you show the one needle stitch you always use please?