Floss Burnishers and Dubbing Brushes

[hap]

Hap,

Very nice work! Thanks for sharing the idea with us. I've never used a burnisher on dubbing, but I'm certainly open to the idea. What type of finish do you use on your wood burnishers? I would think that the heat generated from burnishing could soften the finish causing it to discolor the dubbing? Do you find that the wood burnishers perform any differently than the metal ones? Also, I have quite a few deer antler tines and they look like they might also work well. Your thoughts...

Jim Smith

The burnisher end is used on floss or thread bodies, the brush end is for dubbing. These have no finish on them, just polished with Brasso which has a small amount of wax in it. If the wood seems a bit dull I will apply a tiny bit of hard wax and rub it almost dry. There is no finish to wear off and the little bit of work done by the burnisher to the floss is not enough to stain the floss. I just did a bunch of Alaska Mary Ann variations and all have white or cream floss bodies and none showed the slightest trace of discoloring.

I have used metals, obsidion, antler, horn, ivory, teeth, baleen, and woods... The shape is the issue far more than the materials. Be veycareful with antler though because the outside can be very thin and the porous center will snag floss terribly. Caribou antler is especially thin on the outside. Some kinds of horn will fray and tear up your work, too.

[hap]

I am a little jealous, I would really like to have a wood lathe, just cannot manufacture enough sawdust with a table saw. There's an osage orange tree in my brother in law's pasture I am planning to cut a limb from at the next opportunity. I want to try a homemade bow using it and hickory. Back home it is more commonly called bois d'arc (wood that bows) but pronounced "bow doc". I remember my dad talking about making single trees from it.

Actually wood technology is very much "my thing" and etymology especially... bois is French for "wood" and d'arc is "bow" or of the bow... Indians found out it made really good bows. Interesting wood that was used to make yellow dye and a lot of other neat stuff.

[rookie]

Very nice work. Agate is another product that is great for burnishing floss or silk bodies.

Steve

[hap]

Better the white powder than little livestock roaming amongst the feathers. Really nice lathe work.

Regards,
Scott

If the livestock thinks it hates the powder they should see what happens when I do my annual dose of real moth balls... Not a fan of those bugs!

[hap]

How 'bout first to correctly identify BOTH skins gets a burnisher?

Shouldn't be that hard...

[rainbowchaser]

golden pheasant and ptarmigan?

[maodiver]

Pheasant and turkey

[Uncle Jesse]

Sooty grouse and Hooded Merganser skins.

[hap]

Don't force me to put up better pictures!

[hap]

Very nice work. Agate is another product that is great for burnishing floss or silk bodies.

Steve

Steve
Agate would be great, I am sure, but wet grinding is not an option for me right now except at very slow speeds...
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