Natural aternative to contact cement?

R

R.C.Reichert

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Jul 26, 2008
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Can I use hide glue to secure the welt in a sheath instead of contact cement before stitching it up? Will this work? I don't even really know the specifics of how sheaths were made 200-300 years ago... or if they even used welts in sheaths for that matter. :p If I'm going to make an 18th century style knife sheath however (old fashioned iron acetate to color it black even), then I would just not feel right slathering it with contact cement. I don't know...it just wouldn't be right.:(
 
Most "white" made 18th Century sheaths were center seam rather than edge seam so no glue and no welt.
There were welted sheaths as well and the welt was just sewn in no glue was used. The whole edge is clamped in the stitching horse to hold things together or you can use several short strrands of thread and tie the pieces together in several spots along the way, a common period method. FWIW - Although hide glue was used by leather crafter's, the most common leather glue of the period was rye flour and water like the old library paste.
There is a video put out by The Williamsburg Saddler (the gent used to run the saddle shop there) on how to make "white" sheaths in the proper period manner but the website has expired - I've asked elsewhere on any contact info and will report back ASAP.
here it is
Eric Myall
757-564-9659
757-532-1970
http://backintimeleatherworks.com/images/SalesFlierpdf.pdf

Indian sheaths were and are a whole nother ball game - most being made with a braintan buckskin cover over a birchbark (eastern & Great Lakes) or rawhide liner (western).
I did a short tutorial on how to make one here
http://knifenetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38872
 
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I haven't had the chance to try the rye flour and water yet, but I did try something else... I picked up some Knox gelatin from the grocery store and dissolved it in a brew of some strong black tea instead of water...I hear tannic acid is supposed to make hide glue water resistant so that's how I got the idea to use tea. Anyways, I mixed up a strong syrup-like mixture and tried it out on two pieces of veg-tanned leather.... Holy Cow! That is some strong glue! After it dries completely, in order to get the leather apart you actually have to rip the leather. With the contact cement, I find the join is not even that strong. Anyways, I am kinda liking this gelatin-goo stuff. The fact that the hide glue/gelatin is sensitive to moisture I don't think will be much of a problem since I plan on using the good old neatsfoot oil and beeswax to give a good water-resistant barrier.
 
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Now that's interesting! :D How flexible is the glue when it dries?
 
that's very cool - I had never considered plain gelatin.
I've heard of - but not had the chance to try yet -- pine sap glue where you boil pine sap/resin with wood ash and add some finely milled bone meal or eggshell (for the calcium carbonate) as a catalyst. This is supposed to be a very sturdy "primitive" hot glue, and water resistant as well.
 
The leather I glued with the gelatin was actually very flexible. Not stiff or brittle or crackly like I thought it might turn out. I'm not in the habit of bending my sheaths in half anyways. I compared it to some leather that I glued with contact cement... The stuff I glued together with contact cement I was able to pull apart without much trouble...like pulling apart something that had been glued...no big deal...the glue finally gave up. The stuff I glued with the gelatin was like trying to rip a solid piece of leather in two. The gelatin glue was actually stonger than the leather itself. Apparently it's the same way for gluing wood with this stuff...the glue is stronger than the wood itself. It takes a little more time to allow the gelatin glue to harden up so it reaches full strength and I think it should be clamped, but I think it is well worth it. I really like the idea of using something that is natural and "primitive". I guess primitive would be making my own hide glue.:D

I figure that as long as I treat my sheaths really well with the neatsfoot oil and beeswax the gelatin/hide glued sheath should hold up quite well to moisture....maybe even better if the entire sheath was given a nice hot-wax dip.
 
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it makes sense, since one of the main ingredients for gelatin is hoof, so it should work very similar to hide glue, I just never made the connection.
this is a very cool idea.
 
I had posed this question in another forum (Paleoplanet) thinking they would be able to give me some ideas on natural adhesives that would have been used back in old times... I thought it was kinda funny when I got recommended to use Barge Cement.:D Now that sounds like a real "paleolithic" alternative...Barge Cement.:rolleyes: Anyways, some of the other poster's there did say to use hide glue or try pitch glue. I think I'm going to try using the pitch glue (cutler's resin) for sealing my knife handles.
 
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