1. The difference between edge paint hand application and machine application

The choice of the type of application (by hand or by machine) usually must be performed upstream and is determined by the following factors:

• the type of product you will working on;
• the quality of finish that you want to achieve;
• the time that you have available for the item production (in case of industrial production).

For every item you will working on, being it a belt, a purse, a wallet, a key ring, you will have to deal with different geometry. Angles and very pronounced curves are hardly achievable with the use of automatic machines. In the hand-application of the quality of finish is largely influenced by the experience and manual skills of those who work, however skilled craftsmen (or even major industry brands) prefer the hand-application because if well performed it allows the best quality. Normally in case of a very large production the hand-application will require a greater number of hours of work, however, this factor must be assessed according to your needs.

2. The most common tools

The four most commons used tools for leather edge paint hand application can be resumed in the following four craftools:

• The High Density Sponge;
• The Rod;
• The Roller Dye Pen;
• The Roller Dye Tool;

The sponge is perhaps the most popular tool among the leather crafters, because of its easy availability and its low cost. However it is not a very easy tool to be used as it requires a great experience by the operator, and turns out to be uncomfortable when found ourselves faced with particular curves or very tight corners.

Some leather crafters prefer to use a rod for the leather edge paint handapplication. The rod can be of different materials, depending on what is available, it can sometimes also be used the back side of a paint brush. It allows high accuracy on very tight corners or hard to reach, but being a little handy tool when you are in front of large items or anyway with very large surface areas.

It is perhaps one of the most used tools for painting leather edges by hand application, as it is one of the best compromise between cost and performance. It allows to apply the leather edge paint almost on all types leather goods items, in a quick and precise way.

It is one of the latest tools presented on the market of leather craftsmen. This manual instrument fairly well simulates the type of processing of an automatic machine, allowing an application also fairly accurate over a very large surface, in a quick way.

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