Does Neoprene Affect Leather?

[tboyce]

Hi guys, I'm in the process of building benches for my shop and have decided to design and build a permanent jig for holding belts (see attached PDF file)

I figure the push/pull toggle clamps with the neoprene pads would be perfect for clamping and holding belts and glued liner together while the glue dried and then I can use the jig as a stitching clamp later by bringing the belt up and exposing the side I'm currently stitching.

It ought to make dyeing edges a lot easier as well.

I've designed it so that the belt will be sandwiched by (2) 1/4" thick pads of neoprene but I'm not sure if that will have any sort of chemical reaction to the leather...anyone out there know how that would work out?

belt clamp.pdf

[Bob Blea]

That's a cool idea! I had thought about making something long like that for sewing leather except it would clamp to the edge of my bench and be open on the bottom to allow something to hang down. I was thinking of lining it with something like suede or chore tan leather but I think the neoprene would work OK too. I don't think there is anything that would react in the neoprene though it could potentially absorb oils it could transfer to the leather. Suede/leather would have that risk too. Can't say for sure but I think you would be OK with Neoprene. Maybe someone else here would have different ideas though.

[tboyce]

Thanks. I've been toying with the idea for a long time but wasn't sure how to provide the clamping easily and then I ran across these push-pull toggle clamps and they just seemed to be tailor made for this kind of application. You can get them for about 8 bucks apiece off of Amazon.com I think the whole thing can be built for under 40 dollars

[JohnD]

Looks like a great idea, but if you use a good contact cement it shouldnt be necessary to clamp it, it should stick as soon as you press it together. If you use an adhesive with more open time, to allow for any adjustment when putting the parts together, a clamp would be useful. Although, I think maybe neoprene would not be ideal in case any adhesive squished out, it would stick the neoprene to the belt.

Maybe for clamping, use some smooth acrylic sheet that the adhesive may not stick to, or line the clamp with leather and use wax paper while clamping for glueing, remove the wax paper when using the clamp for stitching. just some thoughts.

[Colt W Knight]

Neoprene melts in the presence of lacquers and some chemicals. I learned this the hard way building guitars. Some common leather finishes are lacquer based, and if you let them sit on neoprene or neoprene like rubber, they melt into it.

[Bob Blea]

Good to know Colt!