any body know what glue to use for linhof leather thats coming off?

bicycletricycle · Jun 13, 2006

Any body know what glue they originally used and what might be good to use when that stuff stops working. Also, does anybody know were one can get pieces of that material?

tdeming · Jun 13, 2006

Contact cement is best, you can get it at nearly any hardware store. Just apply to both the metal and the leather, let dry then press together. It usually is best to remove the piece of leather completely and scrape off most of the old glue before you apply more --this will prevent poor adhesion as well as having lumps of glue under the leather.

Microtools has some replacement leatherette, but it's hard to find a good match for original leather

cheers

Tim

edz · Jun 13, 2006

bicycletricycle said:
Any body know what glue they originally used and what might be good to use when that stuff stops working. Also, does anybody know were one can get pieces of that material?

The suitable cement is called "Hirschkleber" although "bone glue" is probably also well suited. Contact cement is NOT what you want to use.

Charles Webb · Jun 13, 2006

Mercy me, I have done a lot of leather glue ups on some mighty fine equipment, and contact cement has always worked just fine. Make the repair once and forget it. Contact cement named Barge, Tandy leather, or just about anything you can find at a hardware store will work perfectly.
No point making a mountain out of a mole hill, just get it done.

Charlie............................................

David A. Goldfarb · Jun 13, 2006

I like Pliobond for regluing camera leather and leatherette. It stays flexible when dry and can be removed, if the camera needs to be repaired.

slewis · Jun 13, 2006

I don't have a Linhof but Pliobond has been is great for what I do have. Plus I truly love this store: Dead Link Removed

epatsellis · Jun 13, 2006

I'd second the pliobond reccomendation, I use it constanly and it's never failed me yet.

erie

Roger Hicks · Jun 13, 2006

Probably rabbit glue, still available at VERY old-fashioned ironmongers and artists' colourmen.

Cheers,

Roger

wfwhitaker · Jun 13, 2006

Gluin' rabbits together ain't the problem; it's gettin' them apart...

edz · Jun 13, 2006

Roger Hicks said:
Probably rabbit glue, still available at VERY old-fashioned ironmongers and artists' colourmen.

Rabbit hide glue is quite good but I think a bit too much for the application. Its got a Bloomgrams in the ballpark of 400. That's great for wood but a bit much for thin leather. Bone glue is in the 100 range and its also better to move into small areas..

I use the "Hirschkleber" stuff.. its standard here in glueing shoe linings to uppers and move convienient that messing with a glue pot..

edz · Jun 13, 2006

slewis said:
I don't have a Linhof but Pliobond

Looking at the info sheet it looks like the mastic we use to glue our tires onto rims. I'm not quite sure one wants this kind of tackness on our cameras.. sure it would work.. Shellac too..

bicycletricycle · Jun 13, 2006

pliobond?

can i get any of these things in stores or do i have to order them? I live in a pretty big city. what is Bloomgrams? a way to measure glue stickiness or something. I am interested in something that is not so srong that i cant take the piece of later if the camera needs work

Roger Hicks · Jun 13, 2006

Dear Mr. Zimmerman,

You are better informed than I; I bow to your superior knowledge (I shall now have to Google 'Bloomgrams').

Cheers,

Roger

bicycletricycle · Jun 13, 2006

not me edz said something about bloomgrams

bloomgrams is ameasure of elasticity in the glue, but how does that relate to camera re glueing?

sharpnikkor · Jun 13, 2006

I had the same problem of the leatherette pealing off with my Technika. I tried contact cement with mixed results. I finally bought some 3M Double Sided Tape from Micro-Tools. I took the leatherette pieces off the camera, cleaned them off and applied the double sided tape to the pieces. It took some time but it worked with great results. I highly recommend it!

Good luck with your project,

Scott

David A. Goldfarb · Jun 13, 2006

You can find Pliobond at a hardware store or auto parts store. I know camera repair techs who use it for this purpose.

edz · Jun 14, 2006

bicycletricycle said:
bloomgrams is ameasure of elasticity in the glue, but how does that relate to camera re glueing?

Its more a measure of gel strength. For glueing leather to metal camera bodies one wants a cement that is strong but not too strong (since one wants to remove it without destroying the leather having it break at the bond), that's thin (don't want clumps under thin leather), does not maintain too much its stickyness once the bond gets broken (to not have it move about and collect gunk like fly paper), to dry slowly, be water soluble (we don't why volatile solvents), not gas out (why superglues are the last cement one would ever want to bring near a camera).... and, I guess, that does not encourage the growth of moulds or fungus and feeding of parasites.

Glues are a big chapter. Casein glues too are very popular (the white glue found in Elmar's brand tubs) and very strong and low in stress (related to how it dries). Buch binders tend to like to use glue made from bovine (cow) collagen.

Recall that camera leather is often meant to be peeled back or removed as part of servicing and maintenance. Sometimes even adjustment screws, for example to recalibrate focus, are hidden behind the leather.

Loads of glues are not meant to have their bonds be as easily broken. The auto industry, for example, use some very strong contact adhesives. Yes.. they hold.. but its like using Loctite on your jam nuts.. not always what one wants..

Kirk Keyes · Jun 14, 2006

edz said:
Looking at the info sheet it looks like the mastic we use to glue our tires onto rims. I'm not quite sure one wants this kind of tackness on our cameras.. sure it would work..

I once tried Pastali rim cement on my Technika - It glued the leather back on fine, but eventually I think it dried out too much and got brittle, and broke loose.

I've used a contact cement that I bought at the local cobbler's shop and that has worked fine.

edz · Jun 14, 2006

Kirk Keyes said:
I once tried Pastali rim cement on my Technika - It glued the leather back on fine, but eventually I think it dried out too much and got brittle, and broke loose.

Pastali is a horrible rim cement. Its got a lot of solvent and some latex mixed in and that's why its a favorite to patch latex tubes but not to mount tyres. On carbon rims I do mix some contact cement into the mix if I don't have any of my "magic" potion--- ICS Gutoral--- available.

I've used a contact cement that I bought at the local cobbler's shop and that has worked fine.

The stuff intended to glue rubber soles contains volatile and in some cases even nasty solvents like acetone. You might want to use it as ersatz tubular cement but I'd not use it on the camera--- where I have used it was on remounting rubber and leather to tripods.

Chazzy · Jun 14, 2006

Now, where can I find leather to match the gray on my Super Technika V? I guess the color is actually closer to taupe. I've heard it described as tan, but it's like no tan that I've ever seen.

Mike Kovacs · Jun 14, 2006

Contact cement is (a) difficult to remove, for example if you need to peel the leather up to service the camera, and (b) it shrinks which can pull the leather very tight against the body and show every flaw underneith.

I normally use Pliobond after cleaning the leather.

bicycletricycle · Jun 14, 2006

I use that tufo two sided tape for my tubs

strage that people are talking about bicycles, those are my favorite things besides cameras. I wouldnt have thought to use tubular glue on my camera.

Michael Kadillak · Jun 14, 2006

Rather than speculate as to what works why not start with what Linhof recommends?

Linhof advises a specific brand of double stick tape because it can be cut to exact dimensions and is perfectly uniform when applied. There is no way I would use any free glue for this application because of the fact that if you need to re-do the job you are going to have to clean off the back of the leatherett as opposed to pealing off the double stick tape and starting over. Clean and easy.

I know a friend that purchased this tape for this exact application and his Linhof looks like it came from the factory. Sure he has some left over and knows the brand if you are interested. Use the right product and do the job one time.

Kirk Keyes · Jun 15, 2006

edz said:
On carbon rims

Carbon rims - wow! I'm living in the past. I was gluing up Dourdoigne tubulars onto Arc-en-Ciel rims. The Dourdoignes were crap. I don't think I ever got more than 200 miles on one before a blowout. So I guess the Pastali was a good match... This was all around 1984 or so.

I bought a case of Pastali (20 tubes) back then and I still have about 5 tubes left, so I'm always trying to find uses for it!

Kirk - www.keyesphoto.com

Kirk Keyes · Jun 15, 2006

Edz - have you ever made it up to Dusseldorf and ride with Ralf and Florian from Kraftwerk?

any body know what glue to use for linhof leather thats coming off?

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any body know what glue to use for linhof leather thats coming off?

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