Bonding two large areas

[Dunluce]

Hi all. I have only being doing leather work for a few months now following an evening class and I am about to try making my first bag. I would like to try and  line the inside surfaces of the bag with pig suede. My question is how and what do you use to bond two large surface areas like this together (previously I have only had to glue edges together prior to sewing)

[ConradPark]

There is no one way that's right, some will use urethane based glue, aka cement glue, applied with a large brush, some will use a glue gun/airbrush, others are fine with water based white glue. Even ordinary PVA glue for general craft, wood and paper will work fine.

The very simple thing to do though, even if it's a bit unconventional, is to buy a  spray can of permanent adhesive like 3M photo mount. Spray both sides that are going to be glued together on some news paper out doors, wait a minute, move them to a clean surface and put the glue sides together, roll over with a baking roller (clean, preferable) to ensure there are no air pockets left. It's cheap, quick and hassle free.

Good luck.

[Dunluce]

3M sounds easy, I have used it to mount paper patterns on to card to use as templates however I didn't think it would be strong enough for leather. Perhaps I might use that and then some more specific glue at any exposed edge

[ConradPark]

Well, you should sew around the edges... And yes, it's as strong as any glue, as long as you've sprayed on both the meeting sides and let it dry just a minute before bonding it together. Once the edges been sewn together/ you assembled the whole bag, it will hold.

[Colt W Knight]

From personal experience, I can tell you that when you glue two pieces of leather together, the absolute best thing to use is Contact Cement. Coat both pieces, let it dry til tacky, and put them together and use a roller to apply pressure to get them to fuse together tight. Aerosol glues, while convenient, do not hold two pieces of leather together nearly as well. The best of the aerosol glues is 3M high strength Super 90, followed by 3m Super 77. After glueing, you still need to stitch along the edges. I use the spray glues when I glue cloth to leather, and iron it afterwards to really set the glue. Works very well. On my projects where I have spray glued leather to leather, it simply doesn't hold together as well as contact cement. Yes, contact cement application is a pain in the ass, especially a large area.

 

 

 

[billybopp]

Contact cement will work quite well.  There are a couple of things that you need to watch for, however.  If the lining is thin, you need to be especially careful that the contact cement is very smooth.  A glue spreader of some sort is helpful for that.  Those "sample" credit cards that you get in your mailbox all the time are very effective glue spreaders, and expendable.  Contact cement can be a little difficult to align and get flat, so there are a couple of little tricks that can help.  1. Cut the liner a little big and trim off after gluing to compensate for any slight mis-alignment.  A piece of plastic sheet can be helpful in letting you glue a bit at a time, when placed between the two pieces being glued.  Just put it between the pieces and align them, and pull back the plastic bit by bit pressing the two pieces together as you go.

 

Bill

[JREESER1]

That is a great suggestion, billybopp: Cut the lining roughly 1/4" larger on all sides. (I also lightly mark the exact size of the outside piece on the liner, as a visual guide as to where to lay the outside piece.) Once you touch any of the glued surfaces together you are committed. The guide lines give you a small fudge factor, and I have avoided wrinkles and mismatched edges using this tip. You can trim the excess liner after you bond the pieces. Also, as mentioned,  be sure to roll the liner and outside after cementing. A small, clean rolling pin from the kitchen is ideal. 

jr 

[Colt W Knight]

On big pieces, I cut my liner a few inches bigger because laying a large piece down flat is tough. Plus, thin stuff will stretch on you too.

 

[Dunluce]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I'll let you know how it works out