Good Leather Glue that's not a contact cement?

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HoosierQ

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Feb 9, 2010
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I have a project going that going to require me to glue two thicknesses of veg-tanned tooling leather together, curved, roughside to rough side. I am a Barge Cement man 100% (or Dap Weldwood if I need to). Here I am going to have to have some room to manuever and I really don't think I can pull it off with contact cement.

I need a glue that I can finagle the thing a little bit and then let it dry. Frankly, plain old Elmer's works pretty well but I am not sure I want to go that route. Can anyone recommend a good leather glue that's not contact cement? With at least a few minutes of setup time to allow me to get everything aligned? A great deal of setup time would not present a problem at all. I don't think I could handle less than a minute though.
 
Okay, then if a permanent bond is not critical AFTER the sewing is done, then you can use Rubber Cement and it will hold long enough to get the stitching in. I use rubber cement around the cut out windows for my inlays but stitch immediately after they are set. The rubber cement allows me to remove or move the inlay material and reset it If necessary. Barge or other contact cement would not allow this luxury. Barge is used for the balance of the construction process.

There are also a couple of tricks when using contact cement but without having a better understanding of EXACTLY what you are trying to do, I hesitate recommending them. You might give me a call if you like. Number is below.

Paul
 
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Try a thin coating of "Shoe-Goo." It's absolutely permanent, (virtually bomb-proof!,) flexible, clear (if you choose that type) and will give you 5 minutes or more of set-up time. If it can hold the soles of hiking boots together under high-stress use, it may serve your purpose too.


Stitchawl
 
stitchawl said:
Try a thin coating of "Shoe-Goo." It's absolutely permanent, (virtually bomb-proof!,) flexible, clear (if you choose that type) and will give you 5 minutes or more of set-up time. If it can hold the soles of hiking boots together under high-stress use, it may serve your purpose too.


Stitchawl
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Oh yes. I use Shoe-goo...on shoes. That might work. I have a couple of tests going with Elmer's. A "guy at the leather store" here in town said he used Elmer's for attaching leather linings to the inside of holsters. He said he used the Elmer's to attach most of the material in the middle of the piece, let it dry, and then finished around the edges with Barge.

What I am doing is putting two curved layers together and I need to get it to all line up so I need to be able to slide it around some after pressing them together. Shoe Goo might do the trick! Elmer's will certainly stick the two pieced together and do it pretty well. I am concerned with flexibility and durability of the bond over time...something I never worry about with Barge...and something I would not worry about with Shoe Goo either. I use that to protect high abrasion areas on my boot soles...I pronate apparently and the outside corner at about 7:00 of my boot heal wears down rather quickly.

Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Leather Weld is a white glue available from Tandy/LF and others that works much better than Elmer's since it stays flexible. Another alternative is Tear Mender - a fabric glue that I use quite a bit of that is also designed for leather.
 
New guy here, I don't mean to change the subject or distract from the original question, but will any of above mentioned glues work well for bonding leather to kydex? I'm just get started and am wanting to make a kydex lined leather sheath.
 
Blackhat: First of all, I don't know "git up from sic 'em"about Kydex, but from what I understand.....here goes.

Your most successful (and by far the easiest) bonding of leather to the interior of Kydex would be when the Kydex is flat before it is heated and formed. The Kydex should be roughed up with about 50 grit sand paper to allow for an even more secure bond. Now thinking ahead and using probable logic, the heat necessary for Kydex forming would most probably have a really bad effect on the leather and depending on the adhesive used, degrade the bond or ruin it altogether.

I think trying to line a Kydex sheath after it is formed would be a grand exercise in futility??????

As I said, I really don't know anything about it, but logic says these things are apt to happen.

As far as the adhesive, I would think that an epoxy of some sort might be the best for longevity, but if any flex would be necessary the contact cements would be the best because they stay more pliable.

I will be very interested in hearing from someone who does know what they are talking about.

Paul
 
Paul, thank you for your reply. Since I've already formed the kydex part of the sheath, I guess we'll find out just how much of an exercise in futility it will be as soon as I get some contact cement. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
Well my test of Elmer's was so so. It stuck two rough pieces of leather together like mad. I was very impressed with that. It looked quite neat as well...no goobers if you will. But then when bent...oh my the cracking sounds! I tried to pull the sides apart and the leather gave but the glue did not. However, I fear that the rigidity of the glue may wall have contributed to that...there was a zone of rigidity where the glue soaked in right next to very flexible leather and thus that boundary was weak I think. Now my application will not ever have a load on it but I don't want it to delaminate...something the Barge never does...or Dap.

So my next test will be Shoe Goo...haven;t gotten to that yet, had the 2yo grandson all weekend and no gluing or leather working is possible with little Mr. busy fingers in the house!
 
HoosierQ said:
.......
So my next test will be Shoe Goo...haven;t gotten to that yet, had the 2yo grandson all weekend and no gluing or leather working is possible with little Mr. busy fingers in the house!
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Remember to keep the glue layer very thin. Shoe Goo is flexible, but not when it is a thick layer. You may want to thin it down a bit before applying. I use Stoddard Solvent to thin mine when needed.


Stitchawl
 
Thanks all. I am also going to re-evaluate the whole "rubber cement vs contact cement" thing. So even if rubber cement doesn't allow me to slide around, I can pull it up and try again. I have pretty much decided that regardless of what I do, I am only going to glue a small area so that the two pieces I am "laminating" together are oriented perfectly. Then glue it all up tight in the end with Barge. In fact, I may just run a bead of Elmer's down the spine-side of this folded pouch type sheath, line everything up on my register holes, bolt the halves together and let it dry. Then I can Barge it all up to my heart's content.

You're probably all thinking I'm nuts (which of course I am). I have sort of painted myself into a design corner here and while I have abandoned many a piece of leather to mistakes, I am bound and determined, if nothing else, to forge ahead and learn something here. Since I am making this for myself, there's no risk.
 
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