Glueing 2 Blanks Together

[Bree]

I thought that I might share a little trick I am using to get perfect alignment of 2 belt blanks and excellent adhesion of the blanks.

I use my drill press fence and a clamp guide which you can get at Rockler or other stores.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=16...p;filter=guides

You could use any fence or even two clamp guides. They are just the right height. To set your distance between the fence and clamp simply put your blank in there and clamp down the guide. Perfect fit based on the actual material to be put into registration.

I roll the top belt back in the opposite direction of the bottom belt so there is no possibility of having the contact cement come in contact at the wrong place. Then I just roll it forward into the channel formed by the guide and fence. The sides are always properly alligned. I use a registration pin to get the ends aligned though that isn't visible in these pics.

It's easy and is adjustable for any size blank.

To make sure that the two blanks are properly bonded. I am using the new Espresso Tamper that I got along with a piece of tightly woven LINTLESS cloth. The tamper has a flat bottom with rounded edges and is just slightly wider than the 1 1/2" belt. It glides over the lintless cloth which stays stationary on the leather. There is no possibility of abrading the leather and I can put pressure on to make sure the glue bonds uniformly. I can also give some extra pressure to the edges where delamination is most likely.

It produces a very tight and straight seam which burnishes out very nicely... but that is a different subject.

[badger]

Bree,

That's so cool!

Nice idea.

I bought a coffee tamper, it's really good. Thansk for the lead....

Karl