Gorilla Wood Glue

[JAZZMAN]

Hi so i have been using tanners bond leather cement for my projects when i need to just hold something together until i stitch it. Now my wife bought some gorilla wood glue for a craft project and it was half the price for 4 times as much. In my opinion the leathercraft cement seems to just look and smell like pva glue anyway. So i stuck a couple of pieces of scrap together with the gorilla glue and they seem to have stuck just fine. Can anyone tell me why i should not just use the gorilla instead of the dedicated leather cement. If i was using the glue as a permenant fix i would understand why i might use leather specific glue, but when it is only until the stitches are in place i cannot see why it will not do the job just the same, unless anyone can tell me any different. I do live on a very low income and so am always looking for ways to save money on my leathercrafting, but not at the expense of making lower quality items.

[Troy I]

I use good ol ' fashion contact cement from Lowes...about $12 to $15 for a 32 ounce can...works just fine.

[zuludog]

A bit of Surfing shows:-

http://www.theidentitystore.co.uk is Tandy's agency in UK, and sell Tanners Bond Cement at £29-47 per US Quart, which is 946 ml, or as near as dammit 1 litre.

I have seen on YouTube a recommendation, possibly by Ian Atkinson, to use Evostick Timebond, which is a contact adhesive. Prices for this seem to vary considerably

65 g tubes are about £3-70 to £3-99, and so too expensive for a large amount

250 ml tins are mostly about £6 to £9, but I have seen them at £16

1 litre tins seem to be about £20 to £30, but Homebase are selling them for £12-99, and I think you get an over 60s discount as well, if that applies to you.

But I know you are disabled, so perhaps you know someone who is old enough to do the shopping for you, with a discount, if you give them a precise order.

Often a local shop will be as cheap as any, so shop around. And there will be no shipping costs.

If you order by Internet/mail order, is is more than likely that Royal Mail will class it as hazardous, and so refuse to handle it. That means using another carrier, so don't forget to check the delivery/shipping/p&p costs.

I use Bostik, UHU, or own brand contact or general purpose adhesive from discount stores, whichever is the cheapest, Typically they are £1 to £1-50 for a 65 g tube. When my current tube runs out, I'll get some Timebond

With these or Timebond I would use small dabs of the glue, just to hold the leather in place, not to have a continuous 'run' of glue.

But if you already have the Gorilla glue, and it does the job, just carry on using it.

Edited May 9, 2015 by zuludog

[JAZZMAN]

Wow Zuludog, thank you so much for taking the time to give me such a well thought out and well researched response to my question, you are obviously a very giving person, i have seen a lot of your posts and they are always very informative and heartfelt and i thank you for them. I will have to see if i can indeed get a litre of evostick timebond if i can get one for £12.99, my wife is using the gorilla glue to make rocking chairs out of pegs so hopefully she will get bored of that after a bit and i can nick the rest of it from her . Thanks again zulu and take care my friend.Peace.

[zuludog]

When making knife sheaths, I tried holding the glued edges together with Bulldog clips, but even though I padded them with scrap leather they left marks & impressions on the 'proper' leather.

If you look at Nigel Armitage's video on YouTube - How To Make A Simple Hand Made Wallet - you'll see that after he has glued, he uses a screw press. Well I don't need anything that grand or expensive.Now I lay the work on the bench, then place a piece of wood on top followed by my toolbox. But as Nigel shows, I pad underneath and on top. He uses leather but I use 3 thicknesses of old, much washed white T shirt fabric each side kept just for that purpose.

Rocking chairs out of pegs? Presumably they're models?

[zuludog]

1 litre of glue is a lot of glue. Why not try a tube of Timebond first, to see if you like it. Alright, £3-75 or so is expensive for 65 ml, but it's cheaper than spending £13 or more, and you would only need to do it once. Or shop around to see if you can find 250 ml for £6, which would be a reasonable compromise.

PVA glue is usually used for wood, but might be OK for leather as it's only being used to hold the leather together for sewing, and it's cheaper than the others.

Again, why not get a small amount to try? It can be used on paper, card, and wood, so if you don't like it for leather you or your wife could use it for other things. Should be easily available at DIY stores.

[TinkerTailor]

I use 3 thicknesses of old, much washed white T shirt fabric each side kept just for that purpose.

I used to do this, then i noticed i had imprinted the texture of the cotton fabric onto still slightly damp leather. I fixed it by re-casing the leather, and pressing it again using the smooth plastic from a pastry box lid from the bakery, instead of the fabric. I got some dedicated leather chunks for this now. I cut them out of an old leather jacket from the thrift store, cleaned and resolened them, to eliminate any potential dye transfer.

[JAZZMAN]

Rocking chairs out of pegs? Presumably they're models?

LOL. yes zulu they are models, i hope she does mean models anyway or else we are going to need dustbin sized containers of glue. Sorry for not making that clear.I will post a picture of one when she has made one.

[Boriqua]

Gorilla glue expands and can come out of your seams if you are not careful. It is also a very stiff kind of foam when dry. May not matter in some areas but that is your call. If you stick two piece together it will be very stiff. Regular old contact cement from the hardware store is cheap and remains flexible. I LOVE gorilla glue for wood but I wouldnt use it for leather

[JAZZMAN]

Thank you Boriqua,as i said in my original post i am all for saving money but not if it might cause me problems or a poor quality project, because i like to make bags(well i am only on my second one so far) with curved gussets i think i need to get some contact cement as this seems to be the most common glue everyone seems to advise, so thank you all for helping me with this. This forum is fantastic

Edited May 10, 2015 by JAZZMAN

[LumpenDoodle]

How about some double sided tape instead of glue.

The bag I use as my avatar (quick knock together in a day, one for me) was held together pre-sewing, using double sided tape cut into narrow strips.

It worked well for me.

[Boriqua]

Thank you Boriqua,as i said in my original post i am all for saving money but not if it might cause me problems or a poor quality project, because i like to make bags(well i am only on my second one so far) with curved gussets i think i need to get some contact cement as this seems to be the most common glue everyone seems to advise, so thank you all for helping me with this. This forum is fantastic

The other thing I forgot to mention is that with regular contact cement should you get some on the smooth part of the leather you can just let it cure some and then kind of peal it off and that spot will still take dye. One drop of gorilla glue misplaced and you have to throw that piece away. It will never accept dye since its a resin. I get the quart can at about 8 dollars. Its a lot of glue. I put it in smaller jars so it doesn't get nasty before I use it all up. It lasts me months and I work with leather everyday.

[JAZZMAN]

How about some double sided tape instead of glue.

The bag I use as my avatar (quick knock together in a day, one for me) was held together pre-sewing, using double sided tape cut into narrow strips.

It worked well for me.

Thank you Lumpendoodle, i will have to give the double sided tape idea a go. I am looking forward to the day when i can make a bag of your standard and just think of it as something i knocked together, it looks fantastic to me, i just wish i could get a bigger picture of it up on my screen so i could get a better look at it.

[LumpenDoodle]

Thank you (blush emoticon here).

There are lot of silly little mistakes in it, but since it was for me, I didn't mind. It was a good way to use up some lovely chrome tan leather I got from Hewitts (the bookbinding suppliers, and just a few miles from me, lovely people). They don't usually stock chrome leather, but there were a few part hides they had bought back from a old customer's widow (as I said, lovely people) and I fell in love with this one.

I took this picture when it was 9/10th finished. Just finished the edges yesterday.

Sorry, I appear to be hijacking your thread.

[JAZZMAN]

Thank you Lumpendoodle for taking the time to post those pictures for me, that is very kind of you. Now i have seen it close up i love it even more.Does chrome tanned leather normally have to be stitched with a sewing machine or can it be hand stitched as well? Do not worry about hijacking my thread i feel it is pretty much done now anyway, i have had my question answered thanks to all you helpful and kind people.

[Thor]

Well if you don't mind Jazzman, than I'd like to add this question:

Why are things being glued anyways?

[LumpenDoodle]

You can hand stitch chrome leather, but I find it's a bit on the elastic side, but the finished item looks fine. I prefer to use my energy and fun on sewing veg tan, so that's why I prefer to hold the chrome tan together with double sided tape, and run it through my Consew.

[JAZZMAN]

Well if you don't mind Jazzman, than I'd like to add this question:

Why are things being glued anyways?

Sorry Thor, i am not sure i understand what you mean, i think it is fairly common for people to glue projects prior to hand stitching in order to hold awkward pieces together for stitch marking and then the final stitching, i know it helps me. I am quite new to leatherwork so i am open to any suggestions or advice on easier ways to do things.

[taintedelephant]

I have used rubber cement before, seams to have worked fine. but if you or your clients are allergic to latex it could be a problem. I've even heard of people gluing patterns to their leather with it, but when I tried it it made a mess, I couldn't get it off even after it was dry.