Gluing A Patent Leather Lining To Waxy 3.5Mm Sedgewick Bridle Butt

[howler]

Does anyone know a better way of preparing the flesh side of waxy bridle butt for gluing a lining?

I'm experimenting with gluing a 1.5mm patent leather lining to 3.5mm Sedgewick bridle butt.

The bridle butt is coated with what I guess is tallow on the flesh side (white stuff like candle wax).

I didn't want to glue the patent leather directly to that slimy greasy surface because I thought it wouldn't stick properly.

I tried scraping the wax off with a knife but the surface was still waxy and slimy.

I found an article on the Internet which suggested washing the surface with soap and water. I did this but found that no matter how much I washed it the surface remained slimy when wet. (I assume this is because the bridle butt is treated all the way through it's thickness).

I left the leather to dry, the sliminess disappeared and it seemed OK to go ahead and glue the patent leather onto it. I'm now waiting for the glue to dry. (I'm using Evo-Stik Timebond).

The problem is that by washing the leather on the flesh side the grain side got wet too and I'm now wondering whether I've damaged the bridle butt by washing out too much of it's oils and tallow. (I'm not using this bridle butt for saddlery by the way).

So my question is:-

Does anyone know a better way of preparing the flesh side of waxy bridle butt for gluing a lining?

[Tree Reaper]

I don't think you'll every find a glue that will bond to that.

[howler]

Thanks.

The question is more around the preparation for gluing rather than the choice of glue itself.

I'm looking for something I could use to remove the tallow or wax without messing up the leather.

Regards

[gary]

I use a lot of Sedgewicks and have to glue linings to some. Use a knife to scrape off the majority of the wax. Then use sandpaper to roughen up the surface. If that doesn't produce a nice key for the glue you can get a bit more drastic and scratch the surface with something like a scratch awl. Bostick is fine but use a J roller (or an old wallpaper roller) to get good adherence. I always stitch round the edges as that's where any glue failure will start. Gary

[Tree Reaper]

The only thing I know that makes wax move is heat so if you moderately heated the leather with the flesh side up it will draw the wax and tallow away from the flesh side.

Edited March 13, 2014 by Tree Reaper

[wlg190861]

100 grit sandpaper on a hand held vibrating sander