Metal to Leather bond?

O

Omega Leather Works

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Jun 13, 2007
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Hey guys, so I'm doing a special bracelet for my friend. He was a police officer and one of his coworkers was killed in the line of duty. He had a metal bracelet made as a tribute and wore it for a few years. He asked me to cut the inscribed portion out and rivet it to a leather cuff. It's going nicely, but I'm wondering if any of you know about bonding the metal and leather. The steel has what looks like a black oxide coating, but I can sand the back down a bit.

According to the Dap (Weldwood) literature contact cement is good for metal, obviously it's good with leather. I have drilled the metal plate for rivets, but I'd like to bond the leather to the plate as well. If there's a good chance that they'll separate over time I'd rather not do it. I want this to be as close to perfect as possible.

Anyone have any thoughts or recommendations? If I do use cement I'll rough up the leather and sand the plate. It would look terrible if it came apart though...

I'll post pics once it's done.
 
Anthony, I think the rivets alone would be the best solution. Anything that is subjected to movement or bending, flexing etc. will loosen a cement bond over time. Thinking of cementing it to a curved cuff is kind of like a solution looking for a problem.

Paul
 
sheathmaker said:
Anthony, I think the rivets alone would be the best solution. Anything that is subjected to movement or bending, flexing etc. will loosen a cement bond over time. Thinking of cementing it to a curved cuff is kind of like a solution looking for a problem.

Paul
Click to expand...

agreed. the only other option I see is epoxy resin and that dries 'hard' which means, it's not going to be flexible in the slightest.

I would just use rivets.
 
Thanks guys, for the words of wisdom. I just went ahead and riveted the plate to the bracelet and I'm happy with it. Gotta do an emu lining and some finishing work. It's pretty cool so far. :)
 
sheathmaker said:
Anthony, I think the rivets alone would be the best solution. Anything that is subjected to movement or bending, flexing etc. will loosen a cement bond over time. Thinking of cementing it to a curved cuff is kind of like a solution looking for a problem.

Paul
Click to expand...

I agree 100% to that
 
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