Replies

1. 
   MikeHennessy | Mar 24, 2009 03:59pm | #1

   I may be misremembering here, but I believe hide glue is the traditional approach. Only makes sense, I suppose, since you are gluing hide after all. ;-)

   Mike Hennessy
   Pittsburgh, PA

1. 
   simplywood | Mar 24, 2009 04:01pm | #3

   Thanks Mike

   Makes sense. Someone also said to me that either PVA or copydex would work

    

   Nick

2. 
   Gretchen | Mar 24, 2009 03:59pm | #2

   Not real specifically but get a roller to get it flat.

   Gretchen
1. 
   simplywood | Mar 24, 2009 04:02pm | #4

   Thanks

   N

2. 
   Shoemaker1 | Mar 24, 2009 04:04pm | #5

   You have a couple choices, Contact cement, Weldbond.
   The bigger considerstion is what are you going to do with the edges?
   Can you expand? and what kind of leather and thickness?
   I have never used hide glue but it does make sense.

1. 
   simplywood | Mar 24, 2009 04:16pm | #6

   My design mean that all but a very fin edge on the styles and rails of the doors will be rebated to the depth of the leather (don't know yet what sort of thickness needed but anticipate it being 3mm ish). This will enable the leather to be flush with the woodedn styles and rails, which in turn will act as the edging to the leather.

   Does this make sense. The advantage of a flexible glue (eg copydex) is that if there is any wood movement the glue and leather can move slightly with it - the downside of a contact cement or hide glue

   What do you think?

    

   Nick

3. 
   Lataxe | Mar 24, 2009 04:17pm | #7

   S,

   I have1/8" thick leather faces glued on to the hard maple jaws of the Veritas vise on my workbench.  The faces are around 16" X 10", from memory. These have stood up very well, even at the top edges where there is most abuse to the leather from work pieces going in and out of the vise. 

   The glue I used was just PVA; but I watered down a small amount first to "size" the leather with.  Once it had absorbd this size, the leather's napped surface glued very well to the maple with the PVA at it's normal strength.

   The leather has been on the jaws a couple of years now.

   Lataxe

1. 
   simplywood | Mar 24, 2009 04:18pm | #8

   Now that does sound as if it's doing the trick

   Thanks

4. 
   Jfrostjr | Mar 24, 2009 04:20pm | #9

   I don't have any answers - just a question.

   I would be concerned about the leather stretching as you attempt to flatten it - if your glue of choice "wets" the leather in any fashion.

   Frosty

   "I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922

5. 
   joinerswork | Mar 24, 2009 05:40pm | #10

   Simply,

   Traditon says to use flour paste- wallpaper paste, in other words.  I've seen old work that was glued with hide glue too.  I've had good success with pva glue.  I coat the panel surface with a fairly heavy coat of glue- the leather will absorb some, but you don't want it soaking clear thru. You want the leather to lie flat, of course, but you do not want to stretch it, as it will pull back, when your back is turned, the leather is trimmed, and you think you are done.

   Cut the leather about an inch oversized each direction.

   If it is a very large piece, roll it up like a scroll, from both ends to the middle (I mark the center of the leather with a bit of masking tape, and also the panel's edge, for alignment), and place it in the center of the panel.  Then unroll it onto the glued surface, and carefully press out any wrinkles or bubbles.  If you find you are a little shy on one end, lift it up and reposition it, don't try to slide it over. A little pressure  from a roller will ensure all of the leather is in contact with the panel, but be aware that a hard roller's edges can leave tracks if you are bearing too hard on one edge.

   Once it is positioned, if you use pva glue, you can go over it lightly with a warm clothes iron, and set the glue.  Too much heat will scorch the leather of course if you don't keep the iron moving, and if the leather has a textured or nappy surface, the pressure from the iron may make it look different, so do a trial piece to avoid surprises.

   At any rate, if the panel is out of its frame, you are done for the day.  After it is dry, you can trim back to the edges.  If you are gluing it into a recess, you can lay a straightedge on the leather, against the edge of the recess, and cut thru the leather with an exacto blade or similar.  Angling the blade slightly will make up for the distance the thickness of the leather is holding the straightedge away from the frame edge. Once the cut is made, you just press the cut edge into the recess.

   Ray

1. 
   Eef | Mar 26, 2009 11:38pm | #20

   ray,

   just wanted to say what a pleasant read that was...

   eef

1. 
   joinerswork | Mar 27, 2009 12:41am | #21

   Eef,

   Well thanks.  Glad you enjoyed.

   Ray

6. 
   Kaleo | Mar 25, 2009 01:20am | #11

   I've been doing a lot of leather to wood work in the past few months. But I have been using sole leather it's about a 1/4 inch thick. THe only glue that really works to adhere the leather to the wood is Polyurethane. The Poly seems to penetrate into the leather a little bit thus creating a better grip.

   Kaleo

   http://www.craftsmansbrew.wordpress.com

1. 
   davidbrum | Mar 25, 2009 04:20pm | #16

   Hey KaleoDidn't I see you on an episode of The Wood Whisperer?David B

1. 
   Kaleo | Mar 25, 2009 06:11pm | #17

   David- yes that was me on an episode of the wood whisperer. My 5 minutes of fame. LOLKaleo

   http://www.kalafinefurniture.blogspot.com

1. 
   davidbrum | Mar 26, 2009 07:05am | #19

   That's cool. You look like you know your way around hand tools pretty well!David B

7. 
   rpholland | Mar 25, 2009 01:28am | #12

   A word of caution about contact cement. A friend had a desk built with a leather insert work surface. A laptop computer was used on this surface and the heat from the laptop caused the contact cement to loosen and bubble. Good luck with your project.

   Robert

1. 
   Shoemaker1 | Mar 25, 2009 03:31am | #13

   I would avoid flour paste as bugs like it. The weld bond stays flexable so I don't think it would cause any warping issues.The traditional AKA last 30 years for shoe repair is contact cement not far off wood working cement. It will stick leather to a lot of things if it has enough film built up. That said a quick treatsie on leather. The thicker stuff like in Latazes Vise jaws and Kaleo is most likely a Vegetable tan leather, like a sole or carving leather, saddle leather made with Oak bark and Chestnut hulls high in tannins. if get in contact with water and iron turn black. Can be from light and semi firm to hard as heck,The thinner leather like shoe uppers, garment leather, etc are mostly a Chrome tannage, they use metallic salts such as chrome and other witches brew to achieve the finished product. They can be oiled, thicknessed/split, embossed, dyed,sanded, gold plated, lots of things.
   These leather's which I assume he is using can be adhered many ways. One consideration is you don't want to wet the leather so much, that it strikes to the surface, or it may discolor the leather.Use heat with extreme caution. We used to take a hot spoon to the toes of our Army boots to give the toe a "Spit Shine" we would smooth the pebble grain with heat to get a flat Base for a mirror finish.How ever you do it make a sample first.
   !!! make sure there is not speck of dirt/saw dust as it will shine like a beacon!!!!
   make sure your edges are restrained.
   try not to stretch the leather , try to romance it.
   Don't fold the leather, roll it, some leathers will develop a crease and hard it to get out.I could ramble for hours, Fell free for any questions about leather.

1. 
   joinerswork | Mar 25, 2009 03:26pm | #14

   Uh, Shoe,

   I guess you were addressing simplywood, since you repeated many of the points I made in  my post.

   Cheers,

   Ray

1. 
   Shoemaker1 | Mar 25, 2009 03:51pm | #15

   Great minds think alike!!!

8. 
   TEXAS70 | Mar 26, 2009 03:22am | #18

   I just glued up three panels this week using Tandy's white leather glue. It worked well. Be sure to get an even coat on the plywood and use a "J" roller (available at Lowes in the flooring dept) to press the air bubbles out toward the edge. Use another piece of plywood and clamp the panel.

9. 
   KeithNewton | Mar 27, 2009 04:34pm | #22

   I have used contact with no problems. However it can be tricky if you do it wrong.

   I coat both pieces, then lay the substrate on top of the leather while it is still wet, rather than after it is dry.

   After laying the substrate on top of the leather, I flip it over, and gently smooth it out with my hands, then leave it to dry once I am sure it isn't holding any bubbles.

   After it is dry, I trim the leather to size.

   If you choose another glue, be sure to do a test first. I would caution you to be careful if the leather is very thin that some may bleed through, and if the glue is water base, the glue and leather may contract beyond the limits of the substrate, which will cup it.

10. 
    swannyww | Mar 27, 2009 05:17pm | #23

    Master cement from Marilu products 952-854-0140 works great on leather and veneer.