Best glue for leather

t1mpani

t1mpani

Platinum Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2002
Messages
5,494
Hello all,
I'm sure this has been addressed before, but no combination of glue/leather/sheath/fix has brought up anything but a blank page with too many hits for the search engine.

About a week ago, I was re-sheathing an old swept point hunter by Beck when the point caught the back of the sheath part way in. The knife is sharp enough that it just sliced its way on through, and I didn't realize what had happened until I felt a strange warmth and stinging sensation in my leg.

So, knife having been extracted (from sheath and leg), and the leg stitched up, I'm looking to save the sheath, as it's very heavy leather and rather nice. It's going to get a kydex insert to keep that point from plowing through it again, but I need to close up the large slice in the middle of the back.

The cut is diagonal through the thickness of the leather so there's plenty of surface contact for a joint. I know superglue will work on leather but it tends to get sugary and weak after a year or two.

Suggestions? The structure of the sheath itself is fine, stitching wasn't affected or anything. I was thinking that one of the urethane glues like Rhino might be an option, though with expansion might get to be a mess. I'm worried an epoxy joint would be too stiff and would break loose as the leather bends/stretches around it.
 
i use duco cement. it dries fast and holds good. it will glue leather to steel if done right.
 
As a leather worker myself, Barge cement is the way to go. It is waterproof, durable and is VERY strong. It is what I use on all my leather work.
 
Dropped by a boot/shoe repair place that I've taken stuff to in the past, and was directed to a rack over on the wall and told to pick up some Barge cement. With that much of a consensus, I feel pretty good about it. :D

Thanks again
 
You will probably end up with a little spill over outside of the joint on sheath. If so, just take an eraser to remove the surplus after drying.
 
Barge cement available at home depot? I always use that tanners bond, but its a pain to find around here.
 
Just to through another flavor in the mix. I use Beacon Adhesives Fabri-Tac from Jo-Anns fabrics. My wife showed me this stuff and it works damn good. It dries fast and is very stong.

Just my .02

Nick
 
jim moyer said:
You will probably end up with a little spill over outside of the joint on sheath. If so, just take an eraser to remove the surplus after drying.
Click to expand...

Thanks much--I do see that there's a bit of a bead out there so I'll clean it up tomorrow.
 
I like Barge. I find that it does not get thick and un-usable as fast in the tube, as some of the other cements that come in a can with a brush applicator.
 
I sympathize with your problem but do not feel that any adhesive is a "fix" for a slice through the spine of the sheath. The problem has not been removed, the blade has not altered shape and the trailing point is still there. You mentioned that you would put a kydex insert inside the sheath. Do you have adequate slop inside the sheath to do that? If so, the sheath is a poor fit and probably not worth salvaging unless it has some deep sentimental value. I imagine that value is pointless now that you have endured the stitches it permitted. If it were mine, I would relegate it to the trash bin and go for a proper replacement.
 
Swivelknife said:
I sympathize with your problem but do not feel that any adhesive is a "fix" for a slice through the spine of the sheath. The problem has not been removed, the blade has not altered shape and the trailing point is still there. You mentioned that you would put a kydex insert inside the sheath. Do you have adequate slop inside the sheath to do that? If so, the sheath is a poor fit and probably not worth salvaging unless it has some deep sentimental value. I imagine that value is pointless now that you have endured the stitches it permitted. If it were mine, I would relegate it to the trash bin and go for a proper replacement.
Click to expand...

It's a pouch sheath, so the fit of it is around the handle and not the blade, and it fits very well. The kydex piece will just be a folded-over tortilla-type, not molded to the blade, just long enough to protect the sides and keep the point going the way it should. I've had this one for years and years, and this is the first incident of its type, so I'm attributing it entirely to user error (sheathing by braille) instead of maker's design flaw. A little kydex and a tad more care should preclude future problems. :D
 
A piece of the vulcanized spacer material works great for the problem you mentioned. You can cut it with scissors and it will fold over easily without breaking. It has enough spring so that it will expand and press against the inside of the sheath. I use it on all sheaths that are made for knives with a trailing point. I would second the comment about trashing the damaged sheath, and use the liner in a new one.
 
Oops, just noticed something from your post, Swivelknife---it's not a slice through the spine of the sheath, but the back piece that rests against my leg on a belt. You angle the point back a little when pushing the knife in and then it lines up straight along the spine of the blade. Structurally, the sheath should be sound--it will be under almost no stress where the cut is. Here's a few quick 'n dirty shots. The last one is the knife upside down having been shaken hard a couple of times, and it's a heavy knife for its size. Sheath holds it well. :)





 
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