Glue for leather bumpers

[George700DL]

I found a nice old worn-out leather belt that I plan to use to make new bumpers for my bass - it's a perfect match, kinda rustic looking. I need to glue up 2 layers of the leather together, and I immediately thought hide glue is the best. But then I realized there might be some movement and perhaps hide glue is too brittle for that. Am I right? Or is hide glue the best choice there?

By the way, my current bumpers are pieces of leather glued together with 5-min epoxy, then glued the whole thing to the ribs with contact cement. The contact cement works great and it's totally reversible, but the epoxy will probably give in time.

George

[robobass]

Krazy glue. Don't get it on the bass though.

[nic salsus]

Sounds like you're on the right track with contact cement. Barge Cement is by a long ways the best stuff I've used. Worth having a tube in the shop for all kinds of things....not much it won't stick together. Places that sell re-sole kits for rock climbing shoes or Birkenstocks often have it if the hardware store doesn't.

[George700DL]

Originally Posted by nic salsus

Sounds like you're on the right track with contact cement. Barge Cement is by a long ways the best stuff I've used. Worth having a tube in the shop for all kinds of things....not much it won't stick together. Places that sell re-sole kits for rock climbing shoes or Birkenstocks often have it if the hardware store doesn't.

I read good things about Barge after I made the post yesterday. Just to clarify, I'm talking specifically about the leather-to-leather bond.

Bumper-to-bass, contact cement is perfect.

Thanks for the info.

George

[Jake deVilliers]

Hey George, Barge is a brand name of contact cement that is favoured by shoemakers.

[George700DL]

Originally Posted by Jake deVilliers

Hey George, Barge is a brand name of contact cement that is favoured by shoemakers.

That's the word. I would have liked hide glue, but like I said, it might be too brittle for the shock absorbing feature of the bumpers.

The material I'll use is a thick old broken leather drive belt from an old-school sewing machine that my grandparents used to have. I've kept that belt since about 1988 - I knew it would be useful some day. And now it will be a perfect match for the bass.

George

[Jake deVilliers]

Originally Posted by George700DL

The material I'll use is a thick old broken leather drive belt from an old-school sewing machine that my grandparents used to have. I've kept that belt since about 1988 - I knew it would be useful some day. And now it will be a perfect match for the bass.

George

Nice score!

[MR PC]

Barge Cement was the adhesive of choice for Birkenstock sandal restorations in the '70's. It was part of the hippie survival kit along with the VW Bug manual, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and Massage Therapy for Anyone texts. Maybe it still is..... Barge Cement should be perfect for the bass bumpers as well.

Just be careful with those toxic fumes. Nasty stuff.

Bravo, a perfect use of the old sewing machine belt!

[nic salsus]

Originally Posted by Jake deVilliers

Nice score!

Hey Jake. I see you're doing work for L&M. If you're at the Terminal Ave store in Van you should stop by my place at 2nd and Main. I'm moving onto a boat and while much is gone I still have much evidence of 30 years of pack-ratting stuff like that. Hate to chuck it and you're welcome to come scavenging. Sooner the better as I'm gone in a couple of weeks.
I sent you a pm with my number.

[Jake deVilliers]

Hi Nic, I'm there Fridays and Saturdays taking care of the repair and setup needs of violin family instruments.

I'll have to drop by. A boat eh? Sailing off into the sunset?

[Karl Beck]

I would be careful with glueing anything to the outside of your bass depending on your finish, if you need to take them off, you might remove the finish.

[George700DL]

Originally Posted by Karl Beck

I would be careful with glueing anything to the outside of your bass depending on your finish, if you need to take them off, you might remove the finish.

That's where contact cement comes in. It can be carefully peeled off without hurting the finish. Been there done that.

By the way, I used very thin varnish on that bass. It was not a problem taking the old bumpers off, the glue peeled off nicely with no damage to the finish.

George

[Cody Sisk]

I use Weldwood which I believe is cut with Xylene. The xylene will dissipate before it has a chance to hurt the varnish..

[George700DL]

Originally Posted by DallasStrings

I use Weldwood which I believe is cut with Xylene. The xylene will dissipate before it has a chance to hurt the varnish..

My old bumpers, I glued with DAP (same as Weldwood? - Home Despot sells it). They came off easily when I needed them to come off - but a little too easy.

So I went with Barge this time for the new bumpers, after reading good things about it. A local mom & pop hardware store happened to have it - the blue tube, not the old yellow and red. It seems to be stronger than DAP. But again, I don't want a permanent bond here.

The bumpers turned out great, by the way. Hardly noticeable, the old beat-up brown leather color is a good match.

George

[1st Bass]

Originally Posted by Karl Beck

I would be careful with glueing anything to the outside of your bass depending on your finish, if you need to take them off, you might remove the finish.

The liklihood is good that without the bumpers you will be removing wood.

[George700DL]

Originally Posted by 1st Bass

The liklihood is good that without the bumpers you will be removing wood.

Done that too . I don't like premature "antiquing". That is why I took the old bumpers off, and replaced them with bigger ones, since I'm not the only one who uses this bass...

George

[Jack Clark]

If that turns out not to hold for you, try Shoe-goo (aka Goop). It dries to the consistency of a hockey puck--tough but not brittle. I've glued leather to wood with it before myself. Permanent.

[George700DL]

Originally Posted by Jack Clark

If that turns out not to hold for you, try Shoe-goo (aka Goop). It dries to the consistency of a hockey puck--tough but not brittle. I've glued leather to wood with it before myself. Permanent.

Cool, thanks for the info.

Barge seems to have done the job well - and again, I don't want a permanent bond there.

While I was at it, I also fixed a shoe with that stuff

George

[Jake deVilliers]

Originally Posted by George700DL

Cool, thanks for the info.

Barge seems to have done the job well - and again, I don't want a permanent bond there.

While I was at it, I also fixed a shoe with that stuff

George

Dude, I'll send you my Birkenstocks!

[George700DL]

Originally Posted by Jake deVilliers

Dude, I'll send you my Birkenstocks!

They took that famous chemical out of it, but you can still get some nice fumes up the nose from the blue tube . That stuff is still nasty, so the garage was open the whole time.

George