Gluing Chromexcel Leather

[Blak Smyth]

Springfield Leather now carries Bulldog Brand Latex Cement and claims that it's great for gluing Chromexcel and other oil tan leathers. I think I'll pick up a bottle to see how it does. Anybody else have experience with this glue yet?

http://springfieldle...tact,Latex,8oz/

Keep us posted, would love to hear your results.

[SteelheadFineGoods]

Keep us posted, would love to hear your results.

Well, my order of Bulldog Brand Latex Cement came in the mail a few days ago and I put it to work right away. I cut six 1.5" squares of 2-3oz CXL front quarter horsehide and conducted a test comparing Barge, Bulldog, and Fiebing's Leathercraft Cement. I adhered flesh side to flesh side and followed normal protocol for each adhesive. I did not do any prep work to the leather before the glue up such as scoring or scuffing up the leather. I left everything in its normal state so that I could simply compare the effectiveness of each adhesive.

Bulldog smells awful and it tacks up very quickly. The instructions call for application with a brush which, in my experience, was a mistake because it just gummed up my brush bristles. The bottle says that it washes out with water but that's not exactly what I found to be true.

I allowed all three samples to dry for over 30 hours clamped with binder clips. After removing the clips I attempted to pull the pieces of leather apart from one another at the corners. By far, straight up Barge had the best adhesion power. Though the results were close the Fiebing's Leathercraft Cement (the normal white glue) seemed to outperform the Bulldog Latex Cement. Clearly my experiment is not accurately controlled, but it was clear that the Bulldog and Fiebing's did not have the adhesion power that Barge does with CXL. The Barge holds to itself really well and generally sticks to the CXL without tearing up the leather when pulling pieces apart. When pulling apart the Bulldog and Fiebing's pieces the adhesive seemed to rip the leather away from the top layer similar to how layers of cardboard might come apart.

I'll give Bulldog another chance in the shop, but I feel most confident in my normal routine gluing CXL which is to scuff the leather, apply a thin layer of Barge, let it dry completely, apply another thin layer of Barge, let it dry to a tack, then adhere the pieces together. Please let me know if you have better strategies or different experiences with any of these adhesives.

[Blak Smyth]

Well, my order of Bulldog Brand Latex Cement came in the mail a few days ago and I put it to work right away. I cut six 1.5" squares of 2-3oz CXL front quarter horsehide and conducted a test comparing Barge, Bulldog, and Fiebing's Leathercraft Cement. I adhered flesh side to flesh side and followed normal protocol for each adhesive. I did not do any prep work to the leather before the glue up such as scoring or scuffing up the leather. I left everything in its normal state so that I could simply compare the effectiveness of each adhesive.

Bulldog smells awful and it tacks up very quickly. The instructions call for application with a brush which, in my experience, was a mistake because it just gummed up my brush bristles. The bottle says that it washes out with water but that's not exactly what I found to be true.

I allowed all three samples to dry for over 30 hours clamped with binder clips. After removing the clips I attempted to pull the pieces of leather apart from one another at the corners. By far, straight up Barge had the best adhesion power. Though the results were close the Fiebing's Leathercraft Cement (the normal white glue) seemed to outperform the Bulldog Latex Cement. Clearly my experiment is not accurately controlled, but it was clear that the Bulldog and Fiebing's did not have the adhesion power that Barge does with CXL. The Barge holds to itself really well and generally sticks to the CXL without tearing up the leather when pulling pieces apart. When pulling apart the Bulldog and Fiebing's pieces the adhesive seemed to rip the leather away from the top layer similar to how layers of cardboard might come apart.

I'll give Bulldog another chance in the shop, but I feel most confident in my normal routine gluing CXL which is to scuff the leather, apply a thin layer of Barge, let it dry completely, apply another thin layer of Barge, let it dry to a tack, then adhere the pieces together. Please let me know if you have better strategies or different experiences with any of these adhesives.

Great feedback, thank you! I will stick to the Barge stuff as well, although I only use it to hold long enough to stitch.

Edited January 14, 2014 by Blak Smyth

[WScott]

You could always just give up on CXL altogether and send it all to me for proper disposal