Sticky stringy mess!!!

R

RobertHankins

Joined
Jun 10, 2001
Messages
1,385
I am working on some leather sheaths using Contact Cement...
What a mess!
Anybody have a better glue they are using?
 
I glued up a sheath a few nights ago using a glue specifically labelled for leatherwirk. I want to say it's Tandy brand, but I'm not sure.

It looked and smelled like Elmer's white glue, but dried to be much more pliable. Good adhesive, too. I think I bought it at a regular craft store, A.C. Moore, if my memory serves.

How's that brown micarta working out for you?

Mike
 
The sticky stringy mess comes about because the cement it is too thick. I assume you are using the solvent base cement (Warning: very toxic, assure ventilation!)It quickly looses enough solvent to ecvaporation to get way too thick to use. You can thin it down yourself by adding more solvent. It really works well when it is thin and free flowing. You can use acetone, or MEK. lacquer thinner doesn't seem to work, mineral spirits definitily wont work! I suppose the best stuff is methyl chloride but it is so nasty and toxic I would avoid it. You could also try commercial "rubber cement thinner" and i wouldnt be surprised if the maker of the cement also sells a solvent just for this.
 
The "leather glue" my local leather craft store sells has contact cement on the label. I've used Daps Weldwood contact cement for years and have no problems at all. One thing you need to do before putting any glue on a sheath is dye the leather before assembly. I still reapply the dye after the sheath is done but this way if I'm sloppy and some glue is exposed, the leather is still the color I want. Are you letting it sit too long before assembly??
 
I use BARGE contact cement exclusively. I have not found anything that binds leather any better. It is messy too but I clean it up with acetone.
 
Barge cement for sure. It can be found at shoe repair shops and leather/saddle making shops. It is hazardous and will cost extra for shipping.
 
contact cement is fine for leather,

but rememberyou have to put it together dry.

this means that if you touch it with your fingers and you feels wet in spots or you get any sticky strings when you lift your finger off, it's still to wet for a good stick.

you normaly have a 20-30 min window when you can get good adhesion and no stringy mess. If you let it go to long, no problem, just recoat(a very light second coat will reactivate the over dry adhisive and won't take long to dry)
 
almost any glue will stick to leather. the problem is that most glues do not flex when dry. leather is poris and will absorb the glue. when dry the leather is hard and brittle. Gorrila glue and all of its polyurithane family fall into this catigory

most contact cement is natural rubber or neoprine based and is very flexable when dry. as you can see this allows the leather to move and flex without causing it any harm.
 
contact cement will work fine if you just use a VERY little and let it dry and then stick the parts together. have used it on many occasions.
 
A lot of products work. That doesn't mean they're what you should use or are the best for the job. Most experienced leather workers wil tell you to use barge cement. I agree. Until recently I would have said that contact cement was fine but a friend of mine recently used contact cement to put a new piece of very thin veneer on the top of a small table.
When he applied an oil finish some of it penetrated the veneer and it came up. I then ruled out contact cement for anything that might come in contact with oil. Of course I can't say for sure that numerous other cements would not have come loose. I just know not to trust contact cement.
Tom
 
TomW leather is not wood. rubber(contact) cement has been used with leather for a long time. It is considered by most people a temporary bond It must last only long enough to get it sewn together.

the dye, oils and finish designed for use on leather were designed with the knowledge that this product will be used. I doubt that there will be a problem.

on the other hand it is always a crap shoot to use contact cement on veneer

also remember that any time you oil a knife handle it should be dry before you put it in the sheath
 
What it comes down to is why the leather is being glued in the first place. I use rubber cement to bond pieces for sewing but at times I am bonding a less than .5 to 2 ounce piece of an expensive exotic to a heavier veg. split. This subject of the contact cement letting go got me evaluating how I bond show sides to the backer. When I see the instructions some people post about caring for leather sheaths I cringe. I'm glad I don't make sheaths. Laminations are tricky and an entirely differtent thing than a temp bond for sewing. I'm going to do some testing since it's an easy penetration with some of the real thin skins that I use.
These threads are great since they always get me thinkng and looking to make a better product.
 
Tom what do you use and how do you care for leather sheaths?
I have seen a multitude of opinions on this subject and trying to sort the chafe out is very difficult to say the least.
I have used carnuba cream from Tandy's but you don't want to use very much.
On my H.I.Khukuri sheaths'I just use black Kiwi. That's what the Ghorkas usually use on their issue khukuris I understand.

I learned the hard way to not use neats foot oil. The leather got so soft the sheath turned into almost a pocket sheath.
The sheath I did that on is a standard Marble's model which IMO aren't the greatest anyway.
 
I've been using "Leather Weld" from Tandy for a couple of years. It's cheap, cleans up with water, dries in a few minutes, and holds well.

That's just what I use. There are many other things out there that work.
 
Barge cement all the way, I get it in the 2oz tubes and then just slice a thin piece of leather for spreading the glue along the borders, just happen to have a knife handy for that purpose!

I wait about 10 to 15 minutes until it's dry/tacky and press together, BUT the KEY thing to remember is to rough up the surface of the leather if one side is the finish or good side, glue doesn't want to penetrate and hold well unless you do this, I use some coarse sand paper and at times a knife to scrap down into the leather.

Also a good thing is to apply any dye around the area you are going to glue, if any of those strands drip across clean leather, the dye will have a hard time getting through, it'll make you pretty made at the spots that are left white!

G2
 
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