Best adhesive for camera vinyl/leatherette?

Bayliss · Apr 2, 2024

Some of the vinyl came off my Linhof Technika, and I wondered what the best adhesive for glueing it back down would be.

I actually tried a contact adhesive but I found it impossible to spread it perfectly evenly, and after glueing the surface of the vinyl looked uneven/lumpy. Perhaps a double sided tape would work betteer? Thanks!

chuckroast · Apr 2, 2024

Here's how I do it...

Thin layer of Pliobond on each surface - the body and the back of the covering. Let it sit for a few mins to dry, and the place the piece on the body.

Try on a small piece to make sure the Pliobond doesn't stain the material.

sorbrant · Apr 2, 2024

Shellac. 99% certain that's what was used on my Linhof. I've used it successfully on many other cameras too. Way better than contact cement.

DREW WILEY · Apr 2, 2024

There are different kinds of shellac. You'd need to be more specific. A thick sticky shellac was once used as an automotive gasket sealant. That would work, but might be difficult to find today. Shellac is also alcohol soluble; so one should be aware of that fact too.

Steven Lee · Apr 2, 2024

@chuckroast Which Pliobond? They have several products. I bought this bottle a while ago to fix the peeling leather on my film back. Extremely stinky! It took almost a year for the smell to fully evaporate. To this day I wonder if I bought the right thing, because if I had to re-leather the entire camera I wouldn't be able to use it for months after!

chuckroast · Apr 2, 2024

Steven Lee said:
@chuckroast Which Pliobond? They have several products. I bought this bottle a while ago to fix the peeling leather on my film back. Extremely stinky! It took almost a year for the smell to fully evaporate. To this day I wonder if I bought the right thing, because if I had to re-leather the entire camera I wouldn't be able to use it for months after!

I use the stuff that comes in a toothpaste style tube. Pliobond only requires a very light coating on each side of the surface you are joining, and you have to let it dry for a bit before squeezing it together. The squeeze out will dry to a rubbery texture and you and use tweezers to remove the excess. In other words, don't overdo it.

I just fixed a small vulcanite chip on my Leica M2 this way, as well as the plastic cover my the frame preview on my M5.

chuckroast · Apr 2, 2024

sorbrant said:
Shellac. 99% certain that's what was used on my Linhof. I've used it successfully on many other cameras too. Way better than contact cement.

Yeah, it's pretty great. I've never thought of it as a cover adhesive, but it seems like it would work. Did you just get the flakes and dissolve them in denatured alcohol, or did you buy a commercial shellac product?

ic-racer · Apr 2, 2024

Not all contact adhesives are the same. I also sometimes struggle with thick adhesive that leaves unfavorable results. For the last few years I have been using this 3M product that goes on thin and is black.

There are also spray adhesives that go on thin too.

xya · Apr 2, 2024

I'm not sure about shellac. I think it was Pattex, the German equivalent to Pliobond. I have owned several Technikas and the residue on camera and leatherette looked very much like Pattex. Pattex was and is THE glue in Germany since the 1950s. In any case, if you clean the surfaces and apply Pattex, wait some minutes and then assemble and press very hard, it sticks for ages. Pattex was first made to glue the soles onto shoes. In this case the shoemakers applied a hammer to press. Works well, short and hard is better than pressing for a longer time...

Bayliss · Apr 2, 2024

chuckroast said:
Here's how I do it...

Thin layer of Pliobond on each surface - the body and the back of the covering. Let it sit for a few mins to dry, and the place the piece on the body.

Try on a small piece to make sure the Pliobond doesn't stain the material.

Ah interesting, unfortunately seems very hard to find where I am though (UK), but perhaps I just need any contact adhesive that spreads more smoothly than the one I tried

Bayliss · Apr 2, 2024

sorbrant said:
Shellac. 99% certain that's what was used on my Linhof. I've used it successfully on many other cameras too. Way better than contact cement.

I've never heard of shellac used as an adhesive before, can I ask what your process for using it is?

Bayliss · Apr 2, 2024

ic-racer said:
Not all contact adhesives are the same. I also sometimes struggle with thick adhesive that leaves unfavorable results. For the last few years I have been using this 3M product that goes on thin and is black.

There are also spray adhesives that go on thin too. View attachment 367236

Looks good, I guess the contact adhesive I used was just too thick

Bayliss · Apr 2, 2024

xya said:
I'm not sure about shellac. I think it was Pattex, the German equivalent to Pliobond. I have owned several Technikas and the residue on camera and leatherette looked very much like Pattex. Pattex was and is THE glue in Germany since the 1950s. In any case, if you clean the surfaces and apply Pattex, wait some minutes and then assemble and press very hard, it sticks for ages. Pattex was first made to glue the soles onto shoes. In this case the shoemakers applied a hammer to press. Works well, short and hard is better than pressing for a longer time...

Do you know what kind of Pattex? There seems to be many types available. Thanks!

blee1996 · Apr 2, 2024

I also use Pliobond (1oz tube like in the Amazon link below). It smells bad, but works well. If you use a thin layer, the smell will mostly be gone in a couple of weeks/months. In addition, it is not destructive like superglue. You can always peel back the leatherette in the future if needed.

Amazon.com

BobUK · Apr 2, 2024

I use flake shellac in methylated spirits.
Simply put about an inch depth of the flake into a jam jar, cover with the alcohol. Replace the lid, then leave overnight.
An occasional stir with a small wooden meat skewer will help to mix and dissolve the flake quicker.
If it is too thick, add some more alcohol. Too thin, add more flake shellac.
A nice consistency is between thin maple syrup and black treacle.
To use, simply paint onto the material to be glued and hold in place with elastic bands or sand bags.
I leave for a couple of days before taking the bands off.

Another method if it is a bit thin, leave the lid off to let some alcohol evaporate.
Trial and error.

dxqcanada · Apr 2, 2024

Hmm, I use typically use Pliobond, but it is not so easy to obtain in the UK.
Adam at Polar Bear Camera I recently sent me Konishi G17 to review and it has no lasting smell but sets faster than Pliobond.
You could just coat a single surface with the spatula ... then apply the leatherette.

https://polarbearcamera.com/product...urpose-epoxy-adhesive-20ml-glue-spreader-incl

DREW WILEY · Apr 2, 2024

I already have three or four options in my own shop which would work fine, if I needed to do something like that. But ordinary contact cement is not something I'd use.

I once supplied the special cement for use on the Hubbell Space telescope, specifically the sealant for the correction lens mounts. I'll let you guess what it was. Hint -surprisingly inexpensive per gallon, but the most expensive shipping cost conceivable! (NASA Express delivery). And a disclaimer - I was merely fulfilling a request, and had nothing to do with the engineering decision involved. Certain products behave quite differently in oxygenless space than on earth. But the sealant was actually applied here in advance, not there - that would have been awfully sloppy.

Don_ih · Apr 2, 2024

To tell you the truth, normal pva glue will do just fine, as long as both surfaces are clean. Or are you people planning on hanging guys dangling from hard hats from the vinyl?

DREW WILEY · Apr 2, 2024

PVA glue ideally needs both surfaces porous. It won't properly dry air-free. And what exactly do you mean by "normal" PVA glue? - there is a wide variety of them. I wouldn't use any of them for vinyl to metal. And damp weather might prove the doom of any "ordinary" PVA glue that does seem to hold.

Maybe it's just the thought of Elmer's white glue which bothers me. I still remember my classmates in First and Second grade eating that stuff in paste form. I never did. Now I think they use dextrin glue sticks in schools instead - very sticky spaghetti. The wretched cheese sauce they use at the nearest pizza parlor should only be used for gluing purposes; you might try that.

On a more serious note - RTV tube sealants are generally black silicone. That will work, but with a caveat. Once you apply silicone it's a one-way street. Nothing else will stick afterwards if you change your mind.

A substitute for silicone would be Lexel caulk, which is really more like a quick setting thick clear glue. You have to work fast. But any overage cleans up easier than Pliobond (paint thinner cleanup, versus acetone or hot solvent lacquer thinner which will melt vinyl).

sorbrant · Apr 3, 2024

DREW WILEY said:
There are different kinds of shellac. You'd need to be more specific. A thick sticky shellac was once used as an automotive gasket sealant. That would work, but might be difficult to find today. Shellac is also alcohol soluble; so one should be aware of that fact too.

"Normal" shellac for french polishing wood, either prepared as flakes dissolved in alcohol (how viscous it is depends on how much alcohol you use to dissolve it) or purchased as a premade solution. Colour is not important.

The fact that shellac is soluble in alcohol is a feature not a bug, it means that if you ever want to take the leatherette/vinyl off again that you can. Contact cement is definitely overkill. Shellac is not so alcohol soluble that the vinyl will slough off if you happen to spill your piña colada on your camera

sorbrant · Apr 3, 2024

xya said:
I'm not sure about shellac. I think it was Pattex, the German equivalent to Pliobond. I have owned several Technikas and the residue on camera and leatherette looked very much like Pattex. Pattex was and is THE glue in Germany since the 1950s. In any case, if you clean the surfaces and apply Pattex, wait some minutes and then assemble and press very hard, it sticks for ages. Pattex was first made to glue the soles onto shoes. In this case the shoemakers applied a hammer to press. Works well, short and hard is better than pressing for a longer time...

Definitely not Pattex on mine. The residue can be cleaned off with alcohol. A benefit with shellac is that it dries slowly so you have time to reposition the leatherette and get the fit right. Way less messy too than contact cement. I'm something of a shellac evangelist.

sorbrant · Apr 3, 2024

Bayliss said:
I've never heard of shellac used as an adhesive before, can I ask what your process for using it is?

Paint the solution (quite generously) on the camera body and the covering. Mate the surfaces, wait. Unlike the NASA glue mentioned above, it's not rocket science.

sorbrant · Apr 3, 2024

BobUK said:
I use flake shellac in methylated spirits.
Simply put about an inch depth of the flake into a jam jar, cover with the alcohol. Replace the lid, then leave overnight.
An occasional stir with a small wooden meat skewer will help to mix and dissolve the flake quicker.
If it is too thick, add some more alcohol. Too thin, add more flake shellac.
A nice consistency is between thin maple syrup and black treacle.
To use, simply paint onto the material to be glued and hold in place with elastic bands or sand bags.
I leave for a couple of days before taking the bands off.

Another method if it is a bit thin, leave the lid off to let some alcohol evaporate.
Trial and error.

Excellent, a fellow traveller.

Don_ih · Apr 3, 2024

DREW WILEY said:
PVA glue ideally needs both surfaces porous. It won't properly dry air-free. And what exactly do you mean by "normal" PVA glue? - there is a wide variety of them. I wouldn't use any of them for vinyl to metal. And damp weather might prove the doom of any "ordinary" PVA glue that does seem to hold.

Putting vinyl or any fake leather on a camera shouldn't involve any kind of permanent adhesive. If it comes off easily, that's great.

Keep silicone away from cameras altogether. Don't use any solvent-based adhesive on a camera skin. Shellac is fine but there's no real reason to mess around with it when any number of premixed glues will work. Very thin double-sided tape would work on the Technika in the original post.

Ian Grant · Apr 3, 2024

Evo-stik contact adhesive is the UK equivalent of Pliobond.

Ian

Best adhesive for camera vinyl/leatherette?

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