diluting contact cement

[chapelstone]

I was looking for a better grade of glue. I ordered a can of Barge All Purpose Cement and Barge Thinner. It did not come with instructions for how much thinner to use. Is there a guide to go by??

[OLDNSLOW]

I couldn't find any when I bought some myself so what I did was thinned to my liking and then checked for its effectiveness.  Tandy has some red plastic spreaders that I bought and that is what I use to stir it all up.  I did start to use the thinner when I found the glue starting to become very thick and gooey for lack of a better term, and it seemed to work just fine in fact I need to order more thinner here in the near future, but I would say to mix a little, check the consistency and then add ore if need be. 

[TinkerTailor]

You can thin NEW contact cement with the recommended thinner to a consistency that is sprayable. YOU CAN NOT THIN OLD BOOGERY CONTACT CEMENT. Once it starts to cure, it is done. You may get it to thin out, but it will not bond as well because it is half cured molecularly. That is why we use it, because once its cured and stuck, there is no going back and it ain't coming apart.

Water based, obviously use water to thin, and only just enough to thin it. Too much thinner can mess up the glue, and the additional water content can mess with the leather.

For thinning solvent types of cement, acetone is mentioned, as are toluene and MEK. Go with whatever the manufacturer recommends, though likely any of the 3 will work. Sometimes the MSDS sheet of a glue will list the active solvents. Generally it needs to be one of these. All of these are super dangerous solvents and will require very good ventilation and respiration. Be aware that electric motors can cause these types of solvent vapours to explode into an atmosphere fire. You do not want to have or see one of these.  Spraying makes this MUCH worse. Always have a properly rated fire extinguisher handy when using solvent based products, especially if spraying.

Be safe with solvents.....

Edited October 13, 2016 by TinkerTailor