Amira

First of all, thanks for all the advice and sorry for the lack of my replies to your feedback, the suggestions were really appreciated. What I did was try talon-shaped scalpel blades, so they're sort of like the clicker knife shown in the first photo. They were a lot easier to cut with than the other shapes and tools that I used to cut with, as the leather gets easier to cut when you can cut the whole thing from the side through its entire thickness than cutting through the thickness starting from the top and going down (I'm sure that phrasing doesn't make a whole lot of sense). Might get a clicker knife when I feel like getting another knife to maintain (sharpen) properly. However I will heed Spyros' advice on practicing as well - as I am, after all, completely incompetent when it comes to crafts in general (mostly due to a lack of experience... or so I like to believe anyway), but cutting inward curves felt so much more difficult compared to other things that I felt I was probably doing something wrong.

Not sure that this is actually a "how do I do that" topic, but rather I need some advice. I'm really struggling with making decent cuts that curve inwards. In case you're wondering what I mean, take a look at an "S" for instance, on the opposite side of the outward curve there's an inward curve both at the top and the bottom. I have no issues cutting something round if it's outwards, but inwards I feel like I sort of have to use more force than I'd like - more force for me equals greater risk of cutting wrong or rather it just feels less precise and it is sort of fatiguing. The leather I'm currently using is veg-tanned, ~4mm thick, cow butt. I've tried: cobbler's knife, box cutter and surgical scalpels with different types of blades. Some works better than others, but none are satisfactory. So, any suggestion either about technique or a type of knife to try? Or is it just the nature of the beast? I suppose it doesn't have to be perfect as I could sandpaper to finish it off. Speaking of sanding, if you sand the edges of leather down and you want to glue several pieces of leather together, would you sand before or after putting them together or both before (more roughly) and after (just to align everything perfectly together)? Any suggestion is highly appreciated. Edit: Or is it just a matter of practicing on making those kind of cuts more (i.e. lack of proper technique)?

Thank you for the suggestion (and sorry for the late acknowledgement - it's been a busy month), unfortunately ventilation is one of the reasons I don't want to use solvent based contact cement. For myself I could use a respirator of some kind and keep it on for hours if needed but I share my apartment with a cat as well - so opening the windows large enough for a good breeze through isn't an option either. To anyone wondering, I still haven't received all the adhesives yet, but so far regular PVA adhesive seems to create a strong enough bond (I've only tried with squares of about 2x5cm and 4 layers of 3,5mm veg tanned leather), as does Kyoshin Elle's 100 waterbased adhesive as well. It is possible to tear off if you glue two pieces together in a way that you can pull on both ends in opposite directions (well I suppose it was actually the leather fibres that tore not the bond) with the PVA adhesive, haven't tried with KE's. But that won't be possible with my project so I suppose in a way the PVA adhesive seems to be sufficient.

Thank you, I'll look into that.

I know, I really should have mentioned it in my post. I did manage to find Weldwood though and some wated based contact adhesives (which I didn't even know existed) from your suggestion so that opened up quite a few new searches and things to look for. Thank you so much for that link. I'll ask and see if I can find that product, seem promising.

Thank you for the tip, I'll see if I can get a hold of that within EU, as I failed to mention that I'm EU based and not US based.

Hi, I'm looking to glue several pieces of leather together in a stack (approximately 4-5 layers of 3 or 3.5 mm leather - I currently can't get thicker leather else I would have opted for 6+ mm leather and just used two pieces or something like that, but alas that's not an option). What kind of glue is generally best for this? I am looking for glue that will last despite the object being used, non-toxic and preferably with some flex or bend to it. It will be stitched as well, but given the... width of the item compared to the stitching, the stitching will most likely just become a decorative part rather than completely functional. Does PVA "work" (I mean, I know it works) for this kind of gluing or will the glue come apart in a few years? Had the item not supposed to be a gift I wouldn't have minded as I could easily have fixed it myself had the glue started to deteriorate. I would prefer to avoid flammable adhesives like contact cement. In case PVA wouldn't be suitable, where does leather cement land in this question? In case it is relevant information, the gift itself is supposed to be a paddle. I've previously just done some knife sheaths, AirPod cases and similar things and for that the limited gluing that was done PVA worked fine. I'd really appreciate any input I can get for on this.