Feibings tanners bond white glue

[esantoro]

I've switched to Feibings tanners bond white glue for most of my leatherworking needs. I was wondering if there is a good wood glue out there that could also be used. The glue has to dry clear and have a setting time of 10 to 15 minutes. I'm not sure if the traditional yellow carpenters glue does this.

I've been reading about these vinyl wood glues and noticed that they have a shelf life of about one year from the date of opening the container. Is this also about the same shelf life for Feibings Tanners bond?

Thanks,

Ed

[whinewine]

The important thing to ask is: is it flexible enough to be used on leather? Wood glue might not be, I would think, because it needn't be.

[craftsman827]

I dont know if it dries clear,but I use barge contact cement,

I do some leather & wood projects.

It works great for me,I dont know if its good for you.

[craftsman827]

Did you switch because of the toxic, & smell of contact cement ?

[esantoro]

I had been using Duals 88. I'm switching because I get a better bonding of the suede lining to the flesh side of chrome tanned and veg tanned leathers. And I only have to apply the white glue to the flesh side of the leather and then place the suede lining on top of it. I probably could get a better bond with the Duals if I applied it to the suede as well as the flesh side, though that would also use up the Duals rather quickly.

I've heard that Barges has quite strong fumes, which wouldn't work well for my situation. I'm using the Feibings white glue because of the better bond I get with it and the lack of toxic fumes, and I think it might be more economical.

Another reason for my thinking of using wood glue is because some of it is about $12 per gallon than the Feibings.

Ed

[Peter Ellis]

I can't think of any wood glue that has a set time in the ten to fifteen minute range. Most of them don't dry clear when they do dry.

Things with that short a set time are generally either contact cements or epoxies. Woodworking doesn't put a high priority on fast set times, so glues specifically for woodworking applications don't tend to be quick setting.

[howardb]

Being the newbie that I am, I bought some generic contact cement at lowes to try. The leather pieces that I glued took hours to cure and still peeled (with effort) the next day.

I never considered wood glue to bond leather. I have several floating around (being a woodworker as well) and will try to set up a comparative test between some of the major types. I've got some "craft glue" (aileen's tacky) that stays flexible when dry. I will add that to the mix.

One of the good things about having too many hobbies is I do have a wide range of supplies to try!

Brent

[Jordan]

Generally wood glues are not designed to be flexible, in most cases the surrounding wood will fail before a good glue joint does. I don't think that it would work very for leather projects due to it's inherent flexability.

[howardb]

I was determined to prove wood glue would work! Alas, Jordan seems to have it pegged. The wood glues, at least the ones I had, were definitely brittle after drying. However, I did find two possible glues with varying levels of environmental friendliness.

I used the Aileens Tacky craft glue (brown bottle) on several samples with good results. I also tried some "Gorilla Glue" (Urethane glue) as it tends to remain flexible once cured. On to the show & tell:

Aileens Tacky Glue - I glued up two "stacks". One was flesh to flesh, both scored with a feather blade prior to glue up. Hand squished and then peeled, and when re-squished it seemed to grab pretty quick. Not like a contact cement, but just enough to lay aside comfortably.

Peel result: Note the flesh tore away before the glue let go.

Flex: Stayed flexible.

The other stack was 4 pcs bonded back to back, back to flesh, and flesh to flesh again. Similar results. Note that the back to back almost wouldn't peel for me.

Gorilla Glue - I clamped this setup together after lightly casing the leather and applying the glue. VERY high strength. Reasonable flexibility, though I'd consider it for rigid assemblies rather than moving ones. Note that the back-to-back joint gave way at the glue, while the other joints tore the flesh side.

Contact cement (DAP Weldwood) - I coated both sides of one piece, and a flesh and a back of two others. I even re-coated as it seemed to dry out much faster than expected (absorbtion?). after just a couple minutes I joined the pieces and wieghted them down for several hours. Then I let it sit overnight. The next morning, I peeled and it didn't take much effort. The flesh gave way quickly. That may have been the type of leather too.

Peel result:

Hope this helps.

Brent

[esantoro]

Brent,

Great job testing. I think I'll stick with tanners bond white glue and get a bunch wherever and whenever it goes on sale.

Thanks.

Ed

[Kevin King]

3M 90