Alternative to gluing leather?

[Grindaur]

I have a constant battle when making my leather watch straps in the glue and it's application.  I have tried Barge and battled with nasty strings that seem to be made by a psychotic spider, Eco Bond which seems to migrate to the edge if I get within 2 mm of the edge when I apply it.  Both make my burnished edges difficult to look finished.  I noticed my wife was using seam tape on a sewing project yesterday and wondered has anyone used such a double sided tape to bond until you have stitched the leather?

[maxdaddy]

Tandy sells something they call Tanner's Bond double sided tape and it works very well for me in many situations. It comes in a few different widths and is relatively inexpensive. Give it a try, you'll probably find sometime to like about it.

https://tandyleather.com/products/2535-650-tanners-bond-adhesive-tape

 

[Grindaur]

I have checked out the tandy offering and am ordering a roll of the 1/4", I have 1/2" seam tape (from wife) I plan to use today, will post when I get done stitching.

 

[fredk]

1 hour ago, Grindaur said:

 . . .  I noticed my wife was using seam tape on a sewing project yesterday and wondered has anyone used such a double sided tape to bond until you have stitched the leather?

Yes, quite often, where glue is not always required. I use tape meant for ordinary sewing as its cheaper than rolls labelled 'for leather'

I keep, 3mm, 6mm, 10mm and 15mm widths in my 'sticky stock'  box

[DJole]

I have a roll of double sided tape I got from a local hobby/craft store (in the cards/scrapbooking section). Brand is Scor-Tape, the width I chose was 1/8 inch. 
No drying time necessary, no mess, easy to position where I needed it to hold down ribbon pockets before sewing.

[toxo]

Look for basting tape.

[Grindaur]

tried the 1/2" my wife had, a little too large in that it would not go over both stitch lines.  Going to go with 1/4", it did hold well for burnishing the edges though and NO STICKY MESS!  This is a win for me.

 

[Grindaur]

I agree with using the narrower tape, for working on watch straps you need to plan on having a piece at the edge of the leather overlap at each end, otherwise I have had only positive experiences with this tape.

[Handstitched]

Toxo beat me to it  , but yeh,  Basting tape . I found mine in discount shops,  surprisingly . But haberdashery shops will have it too. 

I use it a lot, for making roo hide straps, handles ,  leather  fel / french seams  etc. Much neater & cleaner...and quicker than contact adhesive, but a  bit fiddly removing the waxxy  paper strips, but otherwise very handy stuff   

Comes in different widths , I use 6mm mostly, sticks like s**t to  a blanket  . I also have 9mm & 12mm . 

HS

P.S. I had a customer ask me today at the markets: 

"What are you like at making watch straps ? " 

In a few words: " crap, too fiddly" . OOPS!  I think I was a bit too honest eh?  But for me with my fingers, I do find them fiddly . 

[Grindaur]

Yes they can be very fiddly.  The tape will remove a lot of that, my doing a better job of planning the tooling will be a big help as will ATTENTION TO DETAIL.  As I was learning to do basket weave stamping I made a lot of examples of what not to do.  Early on I made with a file and a piece of stainless rod a simple leather weave stamp, Since then I have tried four attempts at improving on it, but SIGH... the first is still the better of my stamps.  More time and attention is needed, so perhaps a fifth generation is called for.