[Chad Arnow]

I'm re-doing the grip-wrap on one of my daggers and have a few questions:

-What kind of glue should I use to secure the grip cover?

-Should the leather be wet or will the wetting from the glue be enough to stretch it to shape?

I'm sure it'll be ugly, but I'll post pictures once I'm done. It should be good for a laugh.

[Matthew D]

I would have the leather damp not soaking wet to stretch it as for glue I would use BARGE cement for any of my leather projects.

[Ray Harrington]

I used wood glue. You don't have to wet the leather if it as a naturel stretch to it.

[Jared Smith]

Some of the stretch issue will depend on the type of leather.

I like to use vegetable tanned leather which is not that stretchy (may get around 5% stretch if drenched, some shrinkage after prolonged drying such that final stretch is probably less.) I have not tried chamois, but expect it will behave very differently from my experiences with vegetable tanned leather based upon how chamois handles when washing and drying automobiles...

White and yellow carpenter's wood glues work well. If you have repeatedly wetted the leather (doing so several times over 30 minutes), but wiped the excess water off, the wood glue can be applied to the damp leather, and bind to it to the wood. Have a damp rag and some clean water around to wipe off squeeze out though.

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...+wrap+grip

[J. Pav]

I used Tandy Leathercraft Cement, completely dry leather, and just kept it very tight and well wrapped while it was drying.

It came out surprisingly well for my first try at a leather-wrapepd sword handle.

[Adam Simmonds]

hi there,

i personally like to use fine stitching on grip covers,

not only does it look really good if done well, the stitches can also be used to get a nice tight fit by pulling the two sides of the leather firmly together. this works especially well if you use a reasonably fine gauge of damp leather, and cut it so that, when dry, it barely fits around the handle.

this can of course be used in conjunction with glue though the stitching by itself should be plenty strong enough.

cheers, adam s

[Trent Stevens]

hi! use high strenght adhesive spray from home depot....its in a green can. dampen leather. spray handle and leather.

careful that stuffs strong. put straight edge of leather on the handle wrap it around, cut to fit. .trim of 3 or 4 mm from from leather edge to edge. push 'em together. them get string and fully wrap they leather handle in the string. sit for a day...

it comes out amazing!

TS

[Ray Harrington]

I used deer skin

[Chad Arnow]

I made my first attempt. See below. I learned alot and plan to rip it off and try again.

Things I learned:

-I need a finer cord for both the underwrap and over wrap.
-I need to be more careful with both cord wrappings to get it even.
-Dying the leather beforehand might help since it's tough to get shoe poilish down into the crevices once it's on there.
-I need less excess leather to start with.

[Chad Arnow]

Below is attempt #2, which is a keeper, I think. It looks better than the first one.

I used wood glue and chamois from WalMart dyed with brown shoe polish.

[Terry Crain]

Nice looking job Chad. Interesting blade, don't recognize the maker stamp. Who produced it? Looks like a dagger or short sword? Hard to figure the scale of the piece. Attractive sidearm...

Terry

[Terry Crain]

Duh! I see you said it was a dagger... Old arms and armour piece perhaps?

[Chad Arnow]

[Sean Flynt]

Yeah! Well done, Chad! Now just keep repeating this to yourself:

"My other swords are fine just the way they are. I don't need the following items:
• 25 lb anvil
• 2 ball-peen hammers (one large, one small)
• Various files
• Sheet metal shears
• Dremel Rotary Tool and assorted bits
• Bench grinder
• Blow torch"