When, if ever, can you glue only?

[Jamespio]

Still just getting into this activity.  I've done a few small projects which have been chosen mainly to focus on different skills.  Only one has been truly "successful" so far; a leather tote my wife loves.  The rest have been functional and educational, which has been their main point.

But it got me to thinking.  I've been working wood for many years now.  And have come to a point where I know when to trust my glue joints.  There are often times when just gluing two pieces of wood together is more than adequate in terms of strength, reliability, and long term durability.  When is it safe to rely purely on glue to hold two (or more) pieces of leather together?  

Are there times you've relied solely on glue? Under what circumstances? What kind of glue? And how did it work out?

[TacticallySharp]

I sew everything with a saddle stitch. Better safe than sorry!

I have not had one that lasted more than 6 months with dailey use, that was not sewn.

Edited May 4, 2017 by TacticallySharp
Edit: cellphone spelling issue.

[Chief Filipino]

I've tried a few times but was never successful. I think that it is possible with wood because of the way wood grows and how the glue is able to get in to hold onto that structure. With leather I don't think that it's structure is built to be able to do that, it is very flexible. The times I have had contact cemented only one side has torn apart. The cement held, but it just tore apart the leather on the other side, and in some cases it tore from both leather pieces I was trying to bond. I agree with Nstar, if you are making a piece that will just sit and not see much use you could probably get away with it. 

[arz]

That is a very good question. I have often thought if I needed to glue and stitch wallet linings at the edges. I normally use a wax based paint (heated) for the edge, so that would probably help keep it together. 

How about small turned edges? I "think" have seen some very good leather workers (on Instagram) only glue a folded edge on wallet pockets. In that case It might be good enough. Thoughts anyone?

-Adam

[fredk]

If a joint is not to have any forces upon it then glue only would do.

I glue the leather to my boards when making gaming boards; no joint under stress there. All other items I use glue to hold bits together until I get them sewn up

Reading of Viking age finds of Dublin [Ireland, in case there is another somewhere] a great many knife sheaths were only glued together; but these were also the majority where the joint had ripped apart or failed and they ended up in the trash pile, whence they were found.

[Bolt Vanderhuge]

The belt I am wearing right now is a unstitched 1.5" gun belt. I wear it daily and have been for 3 years now. I work 12 hour shifts and on my work days I end up wearing it for at least 14 hours. The edges still look as good as they did when I received it. I am truely amazed by how well it has held up.

This pic is when it was a week old. It still looks that good today. The exotic is Elephant and there is a inner piece between the Elephant and the back panel. I wish I knew what glue the builder uses.

[Chief Filipino]

19 hours ago, Bolt Vanderhuge said:

The belt I am wearing right now is a unstitched 1.5" gun belt. I wear it daily and have been for 3 years now. I work 12 hour shifts and on my work days I end up wearing it for at least 14 hours. The edges still look as good as they did when I received it. I am truely amazed by how well it has held up.

This pic is when it was a week old. It still looks that good today. The exotic is Elephant and there is a inner piece between the Elephant and the back panel. I wish I knew what glue the builder uses.

I wish I knew too! That's crazy! Do you remember who the builder is?
 

[Bolt Vanderhuge]

Hill Country Leather

[Colt W Knight]

On ‎5‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 0:22 AM, Chief Filipino said:

I've tried a few times but was never successful. I think that it is possible with wood because of the way wood grows and how the glue is able to get in to hold onto that structure. With leather I don't think that it's structure is built to be able to do that, it is very flexible. The times I have had contact cemented only one side has torn apart. The cement held, but it just tore apart the leather on the other side, and in some cases it tore from both leather pieces I was trying to bond. I agree with Nstar, if you are making a piece that will just sit and not see much use you could probably get away with it. 

A properly glued wood joint, the joint is actually stronger than the wood, so the wood will actually fail before the joint. Similarly, when you glue leather together, generally, a failed joint isn't because the glue has failed, but because the flesh side of the leather has given away. Leather isn't near as rigid as wood, so those fibers will break away from the glue joint a lot easier.