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.

 

[Grumpymann]

Have you tried leaving a little bit extra room say an extra 1/8th inch on the border and trimming and sanding the edges?

[Grindaur]

Yes I have my issue is that I seem to always have a point at which I lose concentration (or my hand slips, or...)  I even tried applying painters tape to the edge, but the frizzies that occur when removing the tape created a different issue.    I am working somewhat in the blind on finishing edges of the bands as the leather working club has been shutdown since early in the COVID problem.  I have made straps off and on for several years, but it has only been in 2020 that I worked on burnishing the edges (and using veg tanned leather).  Before that it was finished leather usually with a pronounced pull up and the edges were left raw as the band was for a TOOL watch.

[Gregspitz]

use masters all purpose cement and a good hair brush...it dries fast and is perfect for watch straps

get a good container for it and buy the thinner..you will need it  

[Klara]

Similar problem, except I would like to not glue at all, even with tape. For easier fixing of mistakes (I come from textile crafts where stitching can easily be ripped and redone) and better recycleability of pieces I no longer like to use (still making dog collars).

Is anybody out there who clips or pins the leathers together or even basts with a few stitches here and there?

 

[fredk]

41 minutes ago, Klara said:

Is anybody out there who clips or pins the leathers together or even basts with a few stitches here and there?

I have been known to staple pieces together before sewing. On soft leather drawstring bags I staple along the sewing line then try to get my thread spacing so it goes through the staple holes. On some other items, I cut the leather oversize by about 6mm, staple in that excess, sew the item, then cut off the excess with the staples

[Klara]

"Staple" as in one of these office things to clip two pieces of paper semi-permanently together? Interesting thought, wouldn't have occurred to me... Thanks!

[chrisash]

Maybe a simplistic answer but have you considered Rolled inward edges so both the top and bottom are skived & rolled between both sides