Opinions on Renia Aquilum 315

Questions
1

Has anyone tried this product instead of Colle de Cologne? I am a big n00b about adhesives generally, and have gotten the same water-based temporary adhesive glues twice and the toluene-free Barges which i guess is also temporary. So I was gonna grab some CdC for lasting and soles and stuff and saw that a lot of suppliers were trying to push people to Aquilum over CdC as being water-based but as strong as solvent cement. I figure I also clinch nail heel layers, and I think I love the stitchdown enough that everything through the midsole is stitched together anyway. So it’s really just if it’s enough to hold the lining to the insole, if I cement the lining instead of inseaming/welting (what do verb does one use here?).

2

Only marginally related, Marcell’s book uses screws in one of the heels - that’s so wild. Has anyone tried that? Do you pre-drill holes? Do you use wood/deck screws?

3

I’ve used Aquilim 315, Colle de Cologne, and Barge Original on shoe builds. I keep A315 and CdC on my bench these days. I pretty much only use solvent-based cement for bottoming, while I’ll often use A315 on uppers and other projects as a general cement, when I don’t want to use PVA.

The impression I’ve gathered is that solvent-based cements generally have an edge over water-based in adhesive strength and bonding more materials. I’m not sure how much of this is supposed to be due to the solvent versus the other, adhesive components.

I know there are folks who have found ways to do bottoming with Aquilim to their satisfaction, often with careful prep and multiple coats. I think @Customboots shared a video on this some years ago…here:

If you’re interested in more info on Renia products, they posted a number of very terse, informative lectures to YouTube:

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4

Damn, I need to just watch Lisa’s whole channel, maybe then I’d be entirely out of shoe questions :sweat_smile: I would not have thought to let it cure for multiple days! I will grab a bottle and give it a go.

5

I haven’t watched anything close to all of @Customboots video, but I did copy a list of the titles to my notes so it’s easy to search them.

List
6

My A315 finally came in yesterday! Couldn’t wait for it to stop being so cold so they could ship it. I’ll update the thread with how it goes. I have been using CDC from Deborah to finish the heels on the bat boots in the mean time (although the CDC did not stick well on Deborah’s project when we were gluing in the cold, damp January weather, she wound up removing it all and needing to use TopFit and PUR pre-treatment on the upper leather, which she had to sand). I hate having to care about the properties of these chemicals and also sitting outside with the respirator.

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7

Ive watched all of Lisa’s videos and yes its amazing how much she anticipates just about every question I’ve had :sweat_smile:
My boot teacher is mostly self taught, he told me when he watched them he was like “I don’t know if she knows this, but she kind of tells all the little secrets” :laughing:

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