Alternatives To Contact Cement Prior To Stitching

[jdm0515]

It seems like every time I am making something, an unnecessarily large amount of time is spent waiting for contact cement to dry enough to bond the pieces of leather together.

I have tried a couple different types of contact cement, the basic Lepage heavy duty, and 3M Ten Bond, which gives better results. I have also tried the permanent double-sided adhesive tape that Tandy sells, which I was very excited for, but the hold is far less than I would expect for something I would call permanent. It also was very sticky and gummed up my awl as I was punching holes.

Does anyone have anything else they have found that works? I was sure the double sided tape was the answer, but that might have just seemed too good to be true.

[TinkerTailor]

Do more projects while the glue dries.

Take up tea time. I glue stuff up and then put on the kettle. When the water is boiled, and the cookies and tea are beside the bench, usually enough time has passed for the glue to chooch.

For leather seams, that tape is crap, and worse on oily/waxy leather. It is really for fabric seams. It does work on the backside of patterns to keep them in place however. I will use it for small items like buckle billets, but i do not trust it to hold when using my machine for straight seams.

As far as waiting for glue to dry, without contact adhesives, you would have to glue it up, and clamp it for hours/overnight for the glue to dry before moving it. The positives of contact adhesives; dissimilar material adhesion,instant, permanent bonding and high strength far outweigh the negatives of waiting for glue to chooch.

Edited December 19, 2015 by TinkerTailor

[LumpenDoodle2]

The double sided tape is only really useful for temporary placement of pieces. Contact cement and patience is best IMHO.

[Dwight]

Go to your local Harbor Freight store (print off a 20% off coupon before going, . . . get it on line at Harbor Freight), . . .

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Use the brush, . . . apply a THIN coat of Weldwood contact cement, . . . go back and forth with the brush, . . . smoothing out puddles, . . . and when you have both pieces cemented, . . . gently wand over the pieces with the heat gun.

AND, . . . put them together while they are still warm. Finish the process with a rolling pin, . . . a seam roller, . . . or your thumbs, . . . push em together, tight.

Works wonders in my book.

May God bless,

Dwight

[soccerdad]

I am a hand-stitcher. After trying three or four types of contact cement, I now use Ever Tack, a white glue I get at Springfield Leather. You might ring them; I got some advice from Kevin on glue once.The best advice I’ve gotten on this is to use as thin a layer of glue as possible at the edges, as long as its enough that the pieces will bond properly. This may be easier to do if you thin the glue or contact cement a little. I use far less glue now than when I started — typically two very thin coats, depending on the leather. Once the glue is on the edges, you can hit it with a fan of some sort, including a hair dryer, to speed the drying to the point that you will join the edges. After the edges are joined, I don’t know of anything to make the curing go faster, though the thinner layer of glue goes faster, I think. Perhaps others will have tricks for this. The main thing I’ve learned in dealing with this problem is to plan projects so I have other things to do while the glue cures, as Tinker also mentioned. It's the same issue for finishes. I’d be curious to know from others if machine sewing differs on any of these points.

Edited December 19, 2015 by soccerdad

[Dwight]

Not meaning to bash your idea, soccerdad, but your process looks to me like a lot of extra effort expended, . . . for a basically inferior end result.

Whatever glue used, . . . over the whole of both surfaces, . . . will give a much stronger and better product than stitching alone, . . . unless you are doing some sort of quilt stitching all over the thing.

Putting on the contact cement, . . . and letting it dry, . . . usually takes about 1 full minute longer than just putting on the contact cement, . . . and I have full assurance that when the product leaves my shop, . . . it will not come back because the stitching failed and it fell apart.

But then again, . . . to each his own.

May God bless,

Dwight

[soccerdad]

Dwight,

Apologies if my note was unclear. I apply glue, then stitch when the glue has cured. I work hard to make strong and attractive edges. If the piece is lined, I glue all of both surfaces.

Best,

Dale

[Gump]

I use nothing but Lepages heavy duty contact cement, and rarely have to wait more than 2-3 mins. for set up. You only need a thin coat on each side, just enough to change the colour of the leather to a wet look. If you think Lepages is slow, don't ever bother with barge cement as it will drive you crazy waiting for it to set. I have not found any glue faster or better holding than Lepages, including spray glues used for upholstery.

[johnv474]

For me, a big part of the answer is planning out the order of assembly to consider cement times. If I am gluing a few pieces at once then by the time I have spread cement on the final part I can go back and put the first parts together. By the time the last part is together, I can sew (though in all cases it's better to leave the cement/glue to fully dry before sewing).

If you just can't wait then consider using cyanoacrylate (super glue) for holding the pieces. I can put a few dots of that, press pieces together, and be ready to sew in 10 seconds. Since super glue is not flexible, though, I would run a line of flexible white glue or contact cement as well, which can finish drying after the sewing is done. Maybe not ideal, but it would work.

[Pablo27]

I have just been experimenting with all the above. A big lesson, and a time and money saver, is to apply the adhesive with an artists pallet knife. The come in many sizes/shapes, are quite cheap and spread the adhesive evenly and use about 1/3 of what I was using with a brush and takes less time to dry. I am very happy with the results.

Paul

[kevinp]

Go to your local Harbor Freight store (print off a 20% off coupon before going, . . . get it on line at Harbor Freight), . . .

Get this..... http://www.harborfre...1160-69343.html

Also get ..... http://www.harborfre...shes-61880.html

Use the brush, . . . apply a THIN coat of Weldwood contact cement, . . . go back and forth with the brush, . . . smoothing out puddles, . . . and when you have both pieces cemented, . . . gently wand over the pieces with the heat gun.

AND, . . . put them together while they are still warm. Finish the process with a rolling pin, . . . a seam roller, . . . or your thumbs, . . . push em together, tight.

This is the best way, I find most people use too much glue, you only need to use a little

[Northmount]

An old credit card makes a good applicator/spreader to spread out the glue and make a nice thin layer, especially for larger surfaces.

Tom

[wlg190861]

I just use super clue before sewing, just little dabs

Edited December 29, 2015 by wlg190861

[Northmount]

I just use super clue before sewing, just little dabs

Looks like autocorrect gotcha!

Super glue

Tom