Temporary Gluing Leather For Stitching

[superpacker]

What products are recommended for this? I am making wallets and pen sleeves, and simple need a product to hold several lathers of of leather together, just around the edges, long enough for me to punch and sew. Are trade specific products preferred? I have some people use rubber cement, how does that hold up?

[Tree Reaper]

Most will use a contact cement.

[superpacker]

Is that a leather specific product, or can I get that elsewhere?

[defcon1]

You can get Barg or Master contact cement from the suppliers that support this site. Tandy also carries it.

[Tree Reaper]

Most hardware stores will carry it also.

Look for the thinner at the same time.

A plastic glue bottle with a brush and lid work well to keep small quantities in.

[mlapaglia]

DAP Weldwood also works great. Home Depot has it cheap.

with any contact cement be careful. once you put the sides together its stuck and almost impossible to move or realign.

[Tree Reaper]

Just to add to that, if you let it dry then slip a piece of waxed paper between the two pieces being glued you can line them up and then slowly remove the paper while keeping your edges in line.

Contact cement will usually take ten minutes to set, just follow the instructions on the can.

When put together it helps to clamp or press the pieces together for a short time.

[cgleathercraft]

+1 for Weldwood if your ever need a permanent bond. I was very impressed when I first tried it. Now I use it almost exclusively.

Otherwise some form of rubber cement. I've used Tanners Bond Rubber Cement from Tandy. Not a huge fan of it due to making everything sticky even after several hours (up to 24+) of drying time before stitching. I sometimes get in a hurry so the glue may not be tacky enough when I slap the leather together. Someone else who has used more than one brand will have to give a better response. Just my experience here.

If all else fails buy a small bottle of something that looks interesting and try it out on some scrap!

[Feraud]

I too use Weldwood and it definitely gets the job done!

[Cyberthrasher]

For wallets that you're getting ready to stitch up, contact cement isn't necessarily the best/only choice. Since I'm only putting adhesive on 1/8" strip along the edge, I prefer to just use seam tape here. It seems to take a lot longer to get a clean glue line on that outer edge then it does to slap a piece of tape along there. Keep in mind, I make SURE that it's to the edge and there's a really good bond so that the leather doesn't separate on my. But we're really just talking about a temporary binding until you can get it stitched up.