I enjoy working with leather. As a material, leather has a nice old-world feel to it, being nicely organic yet luxurious and strong. Often I’ve gotten some inexpensive gadget in a cheaply molded plastic case and have wanted to replace it with something more sturdy. Unfortunately in many of these gadgets the case serves a crucial function insulating the internal PCB from the outside world. For this application, leather is not a very good replacement, since it conducts electricity about as well as human skin does, especially when humid or damp. While considering possible solutions, I hunted for some kind of paint-on coating that would serve as an insulating layer, ideally being as durable and flexible as the leather itself. I ended up finding a product variously known as “liquid electrical tape” or “brush-on electrical tape” sold in small cans having an integral brush. It is available in various colors, ranging from clear to black. I was surprised to find this is stocked by my local hardware store, albeit only in black.
A first test of the liquid electrical tape on a piece of scrap leather (veg-tanned tooling hide) shows some promising results. I painted on three coats, waiting about 5 minutes for it to dry between coats. After drying, the liquid tape becomes a somewhat rubbery substance that happily flexes and stretches with the leather. The resulting coating seems to function as a good insulator, even when the leather is completely soaked. (Not too suprising for a product sold as a replacement for electrical tape.)
Next up is to find a likely candidate for an enclosure makeover…
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