Bob Klein writes:
Howdy,
I have had lots of experience putting leather desktops on wood
but this project has me guessing and I do not like to guess. The
top of the desk and credenza are a formica/plastic like material
looking like walnut over a particle board core 1.5 inches thick
with a walnut border.
I put the tops through a 44" sander to remove the formica (or
something like formica) but the tops have cupped a bit over time
and will not go clean although the whole surface has been cut
some. Solvent will not release the formica.
I will not use contact cement to glue the leather down and have
always used hot hide or wheatpaste glue when gluing leather to
wood cores with no problems at all.
Has any one any experience gluing to the plastic formica base?
If so, what glue did you use that gives a bit of open time for
placement and positioning of the leather. The tops are 4 x 6 feet
and 2 x 6 feet with gold borders so I have to have some open
time. I did a test with both the glues I like and the results were
ok but not as good a bond as I would have liked. When I pulled
the sample patches off, the one with the wheatpaste showed
some black mold spots on the underside of the leather. I do not
know if this would cause a problem in time but it is a concern.
The pieces will be in a county office with daily usage. The
leather will come to within 1/4" of the edge of the top with no
border to guard the edge of the leather.
All comments welcome,
Thanks.
Bob Klein
Pensacola, Fl
~~~~~
Bob Klein follows up:
What I ended up doing is adding a
small bit of mildicide to the
wheatpaste and using that to attach the leather. The leather is
cowhide and was done in the UK at a cost of about $1000.
Perhaps I agonized too much about gluing to the plastic but I
would rather worry now rather than have to redo later...as
always, I appreciate all the input from Groop members.
I did learn a few tidbits during this job. Since bugs are attracted
to the flour paste because of the gluten as a food source, to make
it into starch (which is flour without the gluten) is a simple
procedure and much less expensive than buying ready made.
Also, wheat starch is stronger than rice starch but rice starch is
whiter. Japanese starch (expensive) is precipitated starch. This
is helpful cuz it seems like I end up repairing a lot of rice paper
art objects that have had moving damage tears and holes. I used
to use rabbit skin glue to repair these but think that the rice starch
may be a better choice. Chinese starch is 1/10th the cost but I
have not found out the difference in quality or characteristics. All
we have to do is put the wet flour in a muslin bag and change the
water when it sours. After it quits souring the gluten is gone and
we have precipitated starch.
Tidbits, I love em.
Bob Klein
Pensacola, Fl
