Short Product Review

[Horsewright]

Shortly before Chirstmas I received some packages from various suppliers. These were orders I'd placed a little earlier and they were starting to arrive. Due to the holidays and finally being able to breathe I set most aside. One I did open was a box from Sheridan Leather Supply in Sheridan Wyoming. I'd ordered some Pro Carv, a few horse butts for Nichole and a new product that I'd wanted to try Wyo Quik Slik http://www.sheridanleather.com/Quik_Slik_p/quik-slik.htm

Quik Slik ia an alternative to Gum Tragacanth. A friend had recommended this Quik Slik sometime back but I hadn't tried it yet as I had a big 1/2 gal bottle of Gum. Well the gum was running low so I thought I'd give this new product a try.

We were finishing up a belt for a local gal. She's come in second at a mustang makeover deal and one of her prizes was a silver 3 piece buckle set that had the date and her second place win engraved on it. This belt was tapered for the buckle set and tooled out of 7/8 oz veg tan on top and lined with 5/6 oz veg tan. All edging and sanding I did as normal. The only difference was I used Quik Slik rather than gum.

While this is the only project I've used this on, a belt is a pretty darn good test as there are a lot of linear inches to rub. I'll have to give this Quik Slik a hearty thumbs up. The results were quicker, simpler (application was easier) and the results in my opinion were better. It produced a better edge than gum with less work, period. Slick and shiny. I thought I'd just pass this on.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

I have a love hate relationship with GT. I love the smell, it works, and it's not a big deal but I'm always looking for the right time in the drying to burnish. I've had decent luck with saddle soap, although I don't know that plain SS is the right tool for the job. Can you say what your steps are after you apply the chem? What do you do before the chem and burnish?


In terms of durability, I've noticed that my personal sheaths edges (that I purposely do not baby) get banged up pretty quickly, usually before any gouges and scrapes on the face. Obviously we all want the customer to be suitably impressed by the edges when they take their new sheath out of the box.

Btw, a half gallon of GT?! That would last me about, oh, forever... I'm still under two ounces total. Stuff seems to last forever. I'm impressed.

 

[Salolan]

I've not ever used gum trac. I had a local saddle maker tell me it was messy and not worth the hassle. He recommended using a bar of glycerin. I picked up a bar of glycerin saddle soap and though I haven't anything to compare it too, I am pleased with how it works.

Chris

 

[Horsewright]

Strig this is what I do. I trim the lining after stitching, (if possible I will always leave the bottom side of a project oversized and trim after stitching). I then use my 6x48 grinder with a 120 ceramic belt to even up the layers. After they are even I will edge. On this belt I used a #3. After edging I go back to the grinding bench and hit a 400 aluminum oxide belt on my 2 x 72. This is VFD controlled and I run the speed at about 45 percent. I hit both sides of the edge and the top blending this into one rounded edge. I then put on the Quik Slik/gum with a wool dauber. I keep the same dauber for years just keep re using it. I'll probably do about 24 inches at a time and then burnish. If I'm doing sheaths I apply it to 3 or 4 sheaths at a time. By the time I've got it applied to the last sheath the first is ready to go. I still want it wet when I burnish. I use a full size lathe for burnishing. It has a piece of rosewood chucked up in it that I made several different size grooves on. Two passes is about all it takes on the burnishing. I do have the lathe set on warp speed though. I then put two coats of Bag Kote on the edge. Edges done this way will stay good for a very long time, even under very hard use. My own personal sheaths the leather can be all worn to heck but the edges are good. Yeah that half gallon of gum lasted me couple of years Strig. Chris I've been using gum for about 30 years I guess. It works well but it is messy. Lots of saddle makers don't use it and I think this had more to do with availability than with anything else. The traditional methods in an old western saddle shop were saddle soap (glycerin), beeswax or parrafin, becuase they were available. I've read that the plant the gum is made from only grows in Iran. I've never researched or confirmed this mostly cause I don't care but gum just wasn't always around. I've seen lots of saddle makers that don't rub edges at all which I don't get. Good edges makes sales, thats for sure. On sheaths I do throw in an extra step. When they are wet but before their wetmolding I will run them at the lathe. No gum just the damp leather. This helps to really shape the edge. After the wet molding, drying and oiling I will then burnish the edges one more time with gum (will be Quik Slik from now on), prior to putting the Bag Kote on the edges and on the sheath. Two coats on the edges, two on the top and one on the bottom , good to go.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

From Wikipedia-

Tragacanth is a natural gum obtained from the dried sap of several species of Middle Eastern legumes of the genus Astragalus, including A. adscendens, A. gummifer, A. brachycalyx,[1][2] and A. tragacanthus. Some of these species are known collectively under the common names "goat's thorn" and "locoweed". The gum is sometimes called shiraz gum, shiraz, gum elect or gum dragon. The name derives from tragos and akantha, which means in Greek "goat" and "thorn", respectively. Iran is the biggest producer of the best quality of this gum.

From my brain-

Thanks Dave. I remember seeing your lathe setup in pics. Any reason for the abrasive type? I used to use aluminum oxide but switched to zirc. Ceramic better with leather? I use one of those eraser belt cleaner bars and I get decent mileage out of a 4x36. Oh I just remembered, I use AlumOx drums too, but not that often. Just what they have at the store. Bag Kote... Argh, the list only grows doesn't it?

 

[Horsewright]

Tan Kote works great on the edges too. Its a tad shinier maybe. Really can't tell the difference between the two, too much. Stretch an old t shirt tight across two fingers and that is your applicator.

Locoweed? Heck some years I got acres of the stuff. Imagine its a different locoweed though. Ours is nasty enough and impossible to get rid of really. As long as they send theirs in bottled form its ok I guess....no seeds. I probably started using those belts cause thats what I had on hand at the time. I keep these two belts separate and don't use em for anything else but leather. They last a very long time. Even when the 400 a/o seems all worn it keeps on trucking. A lot of finer blets can cause marks or discoloration so I settled on A/O becuase it doesn't. I did get a batch of blue green ones one time that I wouldn't use on leather but your normal reddish brown a/o belt doesn't discolor the leather.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Locoweed meant something entirely different to my friends back in high school.

I bought some green 40 grit drywall strips a while back, I didn't realize what they were but they color leather green pretty badly. Collecting dust with other misguided purchases. My belt sander isn't that fast but high grits burn leather if I linger. The 3" (or thereabouts) wheels work well as contact wheels. Better than the platen.

Sorry for getting ot.

 

[Horsewright]

No problem Strig, don't seem much off track. But ya know it took me about three times reading it to figure what you meant. I was going with over time (ot) and just wasn't getting it. We were talking about gum anyhoo so it wasn't off track just tangential. Yes I use the 3" contact wheel on my 6x48 quite a bit, specially on sheaths. I do use the platen a lot too just depends on what I'm sanding. On this belt I used mostly just the platen but did use the wheel on the tapers. This belt tapers from 1 1/2" to 3/4" at each end as that was the size of the buckle set. On my 2x72 I have one of those flipping platens. That lets me use an 8" contact wheel, a 2" contact wheel and a flat platen all at once. I just mde a trip through the shop and got rid of all my "dust collectors" as I lost a third of my floor space in the shop. Back in July we got Nichole a new car, an Optima SXL Turbo. She'd been wanting a Bmer but the Optima was the same money with better reviews. So I get back from that roping back in Oct and we're going to the store the next morning. Car won't start. Get er towed down to the dealer in Bksfd. Bunnies ate the wiring harness from bumper to bumper. $3250 later the car is parked inside and I lose a 1/3rd of my shop space. So no more room for dust collectors. Had to consolidate. 3 of my 5 drill presses are down in the barn.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

I am loath to admit it, but I had to look up the turbo. I used to write the occasional car article and was up to date on every model. Better know what you're talking about if you plan to sell to a magazine.

I bought a new Kia years ago not long after they started selling here. Worst car I'd ever bought. They have come so far since then. My friend bought a new Optima a couple of years ago, I was very impressed by the car. World class.

I still drive a gas guzzling supercharged V8 F-150 (requires premium of course) but if I ever get rid of it I'll be looking East.

Yeah, a 2x72 would be nice. Hard to justify for leather alone, but I would definitely press it into service were I a knife maker. I was actually saving my pennies for a KMG but traded my new Baldor and thoughts of knife making fame for a go at leather. Maybe one day I'll get silly and take out a loan for real shop equipment but for now that's not likely.

Best thing about the thread being your own is that you can stray as much as you like.