Contact Cement Not Sticking To Leather

[chiefrude1]

Hello and thank you for any help you can offer. I am new to leather working and would like to start making belts as my belt doesn't fit anymore. I have purchased all the tools I need and some I don't need. I purchased some leather, it was advertised as "5.5/6oz Red Brown Veg Tan Water Buffalo Single Bend Belt Strap Leather". It was not very expensive but I was not worried about it as this is basically leather that I will learn to hand stitch on. My intent was to glue to pieces together and stitch them.

The leather arrived and in Picture 1 you can see what I believe to be the top of the leather. It looks basically identical to my current belt.

I was expecting the back of the leather to be soft with grains showing, however it is very dark and hard. It feels like almost plastic. see pic 2 please.

I have tried using EcoWeld Water Based Contact Cement to adhere the two pieces together, however the dark side (back) of the leather does not allow the contact cement to absorb in and therefore does not hold tight. I can easy pull the pieces apart after 24 hours of drying. The glue pulls right off one of the sides.

So, I assume I have to rough that back side up to expose the grains so the glue will hold, or that the glue I am using is not correct.

If I need to rough up to expose grains can anybody offer the best way to do this please.

If its a glue issue can somebody please point me in a better direction.

Lastly, what type of leather did I buy? Looking for the term used to descide the leather style that is treated on both sides,,,maybe??

Thank you for reading and any help you can offer.

-Rudi

Edited January 9, 2016 by chiefrude1

[Northmount]

The first pic is the backside or more commonly called the flesh side. It's against the muscle/meat of the animal. The top side is the second pic. Commonly called the grain or hair or finished side. The show side normally, but depends on what appearance is wanted.

The smooth grain or finished side needs to be roughened up to give the cement something to stick to. Coarse sandpaper works well.

For glueing almost any material together, smooth surfaces need to be roughened up.

Tom

[NVLeatherWorx]

And don't forget to apply your contact cement to both pieces and allow it to get tacky before putting them together; and above all, let it dry for a bit before doing anything else to it so that you can be sure that the leather won't peal apart while setting your stitching holes.

[Art]

As said before, you have your pictures or knowledge backwards. It is not uncommon to see "rough-out" applications where the flesh side is used as the top. In the second pic, note that the finish is flaking off in places around the edges; this might say something as to the quality.

If you mean to have a "rough-out" finish, then

Rough-up the grain side of both pieces

Put contact cement on both the insides (what you just roughed-up)

Allow adhesive to Tack-up, this can be as long as 1/2 hour (especially with water based cements)

Check to see that both sides are shiny, if not you need another coat of adhesive, thin coats are always better; repeat till it drys shiny

Put them together, I like to hammer and press with a light smooth hammer (shoemakers) to set the glue

Let dry for another 1/2 hour

Sew

Art

[chiefrude1]

Thank you all for the help. I definitely had my knowledge backwards. The quality of the leather is definitely not good, I think I paid $65 for it. My next piece will be a much better quality and rest assured I'll be asking questions about what exactly I need to purchase. Thanks again gentlemen.