Gluing leather to MDF

[Dave Zellers]

I just bought a piece of hard 5mm thick leather and I'm thinking of gluing it to a piece of MDF to use as a strop. Normally I'd just use Titebond II but I thought I'd check in here first since it was a bit pricey and I'd rather not ruin it.

Any opinions?

[glenn bradley]

An adhesive that remains a little flexible like E6000 or 3M spray 77 would be my choice. The E6000 grips like crazy, the 77 can be released with a heat gun.

[Brian Hale]

I've always used 3M Super 77 spray adhesive like Glenn suggested. You won't need much

[Dave Zellers]

Ooh! I think I have the 3M 77 spray. Cool.

[Brian Hale]

I put the fuzzy side up :)

[Dave Zellers]

I put the fuzzy side up :)

I've heard folks say that- can't bring myself to do it. This is hard black leather and the smooth side reminds me of an old barber strop.

But the piece is 12" x 12" and I'll probably cut off 3" for the strop so I could actually do one each way. My thinking at this point is to make 2 and use compound on one and keep the other one clean.

After maybe 2 years of pestering folks here with sharpening questions and acquiring various stones, I think I'm starting to get it.

When friends visit now and want to help in the kitchen, the first thing I do is warn them that the knives are *SHARP!*

We moved the band-aids from the upstairs medicine cabinet to the kitchen a while ago...

[Stew Denton]

I used 77 to make my strop, and it is holding well.

Regards,

Stew

[Dave Zellers]

So glad I asked this here. I would have not thought to use this.

I especially like that it can be released with heat.

[les winter]

I have made several, including a double layer of leather. All smooth side up. I used Titebond liquid hide glue. Easy to use, almost no squeeze out if you coat only the leather. After applying the glue, turn it upside down and clamp it evenly to your workbench. Let set for a couple of hours. Works great.

I choose to use planed hardwood as a substrate.

[Dave Keele]

I make a power strop for my woodcarving tools using MDF for the wheels ( 8" x 1.5"). In years past, I've used 3M 8001 weatherstrip adhesive. The past couple of years I've gone to contact cement. Both work very well, but have found the contact cement to spread easier, as it's a bit thinner on application. Apply two coats to each surface prior to joining. Because the wheel turns at approx. 400 RPM, I can't afford to use any type of releasable glue. (I have never had the leather separate from the wheel on any of the wheels I've made.)

As far as rough side/smooth side out.... My first sharpener was built in 1980 with smooth side out (that was common place at that time). 2 years ago I rebuilt wheels on this original sharpener and re-used the same leather on a new wheel, putting the rough-side out, as that seems to be the thing to do today. (I also put rough-side out on new sharpeners.) To be honest, I can not tell a difference in my edges with use. I'm convinced it really doesn't matter.

I believe the thinking may be that the rough side will hold the compound in place better.... and maybe it does. I believe the more important thing is the technique used to hone vs. rough/smooth side.

FWIW.... I'm not sure using a bare leather strop will do much good. It's the compound that does the work, not the leather. One can use several things to hold the compound besides leather... non-printed side of a cereal box cardboard, jean denim, wood, etc. I know several people who apply the compound directly to the MDF wheel and hone just fine. There is a cardboard (paper) wheel commercially made that is used with compound applied directly. Some folks don't like leather, as it's softer and gives a bit, making it easier to round the edges, but it's what you get used to. I like leather.

Edit: ....apologies for posting about power device in this forum.


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[Don Dorn]

I didn't glue, rather using two sided carpet tape. Still using the same strop years later. Just lazy I guess.

[Dave Zellers]

That's interesting too. I have some of that as well.

Thanks.

[Luke Dupont]

I've heard folks say that- can't bring myself to do it. This is hard black leather and the smooth side reminds me of an old barber strop.

But the piece is 12" x 12" and I'll probably cut off 3" for the strop so I could actually do one each way. My thinking at this point is to make 2 and use compound on one and keep the other one clean.

After maybe 2 years of pestering folks here with sharpening questions and acquiring various stones, I think I'm starting to get it.

When friends visit now and want to help in the kitchen, the first thing I do is warn them that the knives are *SHARP!*

We moved the band-aids from the upstairs medicine cabinet to the kitchen a while ago...


I felt the same at first. But in my experience using both, the rough side is better at removing burrs and refining the edge for anything coarser than a razor.
*this applies mainly to strops without compound. Once you put compound, any strop smooth or not will remove burrs easily.

Actually, I sharpened a razor the other day on arks, and the steel was a bit gummy and I couldn't remove the burr easily on stones, or my smooth leather strop. Switched to the rough side of the strop and the burr was removed easily. Then refined it on the smooth side and got a decent shave. :)

For the OP: I use wood glue (PVA) usually, and just used hide glue on leather vice jaw linings yesterday. PVA has always worked well for my strops and I'm sure hide glue or anything else would as well.
A bit of stiffness in a strop is good for woodworking anyway: a strop that is too soft may dub your edge -- a problem that I've never had.

[Dave Zellers]

For the OP:
A bit of stiffness in a strop is good for woodworking anyway: a strop that is too soft may dub your edge -- a problem that I've never had.
That’s exactly what struck me about this piece. It’s hard! :)

[Stewie Simpson]

If you take into account the merits of applying camber to the cutting edge of your plane irons, some give within the leather used on a stropping block makes perfect sense. Bearing that info in mind, apply light downward pressure when stropping the back of the iron. As to the question of having the smooth or rough surface of the leather exposed, my personal preference is the smooth side.

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af219/swagman001/new%20stropping%20block/_DSC0212_zps1wng0fyv.jpg (http://s1009.photobucket.com/user/swagman001/media/new%20stropping%20block/_DSC0212_zps1wng0fyv.jpg.html)

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af219/swagman001/new%20stropping%20block/_DSC0216_zpsipubvijs.jpg (http://s1009.photobucket.com/user/swagman001/media/new%20stropping%20block/_DSC0216_zpsipubvijs.jpg.html)

[al heitz]

I have always used contact cement to glue leather to anything. Has never failed. After gluing, I usually clamp the leather to whatever I am using for a substrate for several hours.

[Dave Zellers]

Thanks Al- I did actually consider contact cement but given how little stress is on the leather to come loose, I'm actually starting to lean toward two sided tape for the first trial. I can always change it later if it fails down the road.

Stewie- re camber- I've no experience with this but wouldn't you strop exactly as you honed? (pressure on the left, pressure on the right). Perhaps the 'give' in leather provides that on it's own.

Can we talk compound? What I've found is that the compound tends to build up over time and create high spots. I recently took a sharp plane iron used like a scraper to an MDF board I've been using as a strop to clear off all the build-up. It worked great and that board is now clean and smooth. I recently watched a guy on YouTube charging a strop with compound and when it got a bit heavy, he dabbed his finger in mineral oil and rubbed out the unevenness. Is this common practice? It seems to make sense.

Enough questions for now. Thanks all.

[Bruce Haugen]

Does it matter if the strop wears out? The cost of MDF is trivial, it’s not a precious commodity.

[John Schtrumpf]

...Can we talk compound? What I've found is that the compound tends to build up over time and create high spots. I recently took a sharp plane iron used like a scraper to an MDF board I've been using as a strop to clear off all the build-up. It worked great and that board is now clean and smooth...
I use the side of a plane iron to scrape off the build up on my strop.

[Ted Phillips]

I have made several, including a double layer of leather. All smooth side up. I used Titebond liquid hide glue. Easy to use, almost no squeeze out if you coat only the leather. After applying the glue, turn it upside down and clamp it evenly to your workbench. Let set for a couple of hours. Works great.

I choose to use planed hardwood as a substrate.

I'm with you, Les. I use a piece of planed hardwood and liquid hide glue. You don't need to worry about removing the leather typically. By the time you need to replace the leather - it is easier just to make another. I've got four or five floating around my shop...

Oh, yeah - don't forget to leave a little of the wood sticking out on both ends. You'll need places to hold the strop.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I use a lot of epoxy in boat and surfboard building. When it starts to go amber colored from age, I start using it for side projects, including gluing leather to strops. Please note, i'm not saying it's the cheapest way, but I can tell you it will stay forever with epoxy. In my case, I always have a few gallons of epoxy on hand, and always have at least one that I need to get rid of due to short shelf life in my humid climate.

Leather glues well with contact adhesives. If not for all the epoxy I have on hand, I would use contact cement like what you use for counter tops.

[Bruce Haugen]

I'm with you, Les. I use a piece of planed hardwood and liquid hide glue. You don't need to worry about removing the leather typically. By the time you need to replace the leather - it is easier just to make another. I've got four or five floating around my shop...

Oh, yeah - don't forget to leave a little of the wood sticking out on both ends. You'll need places to hold the strop.

Or, you can forget the leather entirely and just put the compound on a piece of MDF. It works great and is nice and flat. Cheap, too. I also use maple and Corian scraps.

[Dave Zellers]

All of this is just so valuable. You know, almost always when I ask a question here, I’m usually not looking so much for an answer, but a conversation. All the different tidbits from everyone add up to so much more than any single reply to my original question. At the end of the day today I glued two pieces of half inch MDF together to create two 1” thick substrates for the leather. That will give me knuckle clearance. I will probably focus on that going forward. Play around with compound vs no compound and even different compound grits.

At this level I’m such a newbie. I very much appreciatie all who replied. I can hone reasonably well. It’s time to learn how to strop.

[Luke Dupont]

All of this is just so valuable. You know, almost always when I ask a question here, I’m usually not looking so much for an answer, but a conversation. All the different tidbits from everyone add up to so much more than any single reply to my original question. At the end of the day today I glued two pieces of half inch MDF together to create two 1” thick substrates for the leather. That will give me knuckle clearance. I will probably focus on that going forward. Play around with compound vs no compound and even different compound grits.

At this level I’m such a newbie. I very much appreciatie all who replied. I can hone reasonably well. It’s time to learn how to strop.


I do exactly the same :)

That being the case, I'll chime in with a thought I had on this subject.

I've recently been exploring different kinds of glues, more out of curiosity than anything else, and in addition to looking into hide glue, I also found a super simple glue that would probably work perfectly for a strop: rice glue (sukui). Super easy to make, too:

Save a small handful of rice after dinner, scoop it onto a piece of wood, smash it and add water until it's a thick glue-like consistency, apply it and you're done. It's not the strongest glue in the world, but perfectly fine for light jobs: excellent for gluing paper or fabric to wood, and decent at gluing wood to wood where joinery or additional fastenings provide the majority of the structural strength. Not good where glue is the only thing holding a piece together.

Should work great for leather on wood though, I would imagine -- and allow you to easily replace the leather when it eventually comes time.

[William Fretwell]

Went to visit the tannery for Rolls Royce leather in Canterbury UK back in 1981. Bought a whole bunch of off cuts and been making strops with them ever since. Fuzzy side down!
Use a spray adhesive for melamine, remains flexible and very strong. Comes in propane tanks so not viable for casual use.
Also have used moose hide, a very soft leather and a bit too thick really.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Went to visit the tannery for Rolls Royce leather in Canterbury UK back in 1981. Bought a whole bunch of off cuts and been making strops with them ever since. Fuzzy side down!
Use a spray adhesive for melamine, remains flexible and very strong. Comes in propane tanks so not viable for casual use.
Also have used moose hide, a very soft leather and a bit too thick really.

Now that's pretty cool!!! Rolls Royce strops. You could charge ten times a normal strop.

[Dave Zellers]

Put them together at the end of the day. Used double sided tape and put it under pressure in a vise. They are one with the MDF. :) Thanks to all.
Already put a nick in it after the photo. :mad:
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