Leather-wrapped wood panel

[Susan1]

On 2/25/2022 at 1:08 PM, fredk said:

1. the wood I use is thick MDF which is more stable that plywood, especially the plywood I can get here

2. For the leather to MDF/wood, whether its veg or chrome tan I use either 'copydex', a rubber based glue, or a contact adhesive. Which one depends on which one I reach off my shelf first

3. I have a 4 inch wide brayer. A smaller one might do just as well. After laying the board on the leather I flip it over and use the brayer. Going from the centre to the edges and corners, working around in a star design fashion.

4. I do opposite edges next. I usually use contact adhesive on these. I hand press the leather onto the edge then run the brayer over it a few times. Here I must add, you must round off the top and bottom of the edge/side to get the leather to go around it easier

5. Holding the board up with its leather covered edge on my cutting mat I cut the glued leather away from where its longer than the width of the board. I cut it straight, using the board for where to cut

6. These days I cut my leather large enough so that I can bring the leather that's on the edge round onto the bottom of the board as well. I glue this now

7. Now I do the same for the other two sides. For cutting the excess from the corners, I use the outside of the leather already glued on as the cutting guide. This gives a neat over-lap. Sometimes, usually a little extra glue is needed here. But when it comes to the bottom of the board as I glue the leather on I use a sharp knife to cut through the two layers of leather to try and get a 45 degree angle from the corner. This gives a tidier butt join

hth,

if anything is not clear just ask again

Thanks for all the tips! 

[fredk]

I forgot to mention; whatever board you use, if you are going to glue the leather on - seal the board. I use two coats of thinned waterproof PVA glue to seal the board. Without sealing your glue will soak into the board and not give a good bond to the leather

[Susan1]

On 2/28/2022 at 5:48 PM, fredk said:

I forgot to mention; whatever board you use, if you are going to glue the leather on - seal the board. I use two coats of thinned waterproof PVA glue to seal the board. Without sealing your glue will soak into the board and not give a good bond to the leather

Thanks, good advice! I ended up gluing it, but the glue did want to soak into the wood a little too much. I will try this next time. I used a PVA, and did a thin coat on both materials.