hide glue survey

[lou sansone]

I have been planning to start to use hide on some of my furniture ( specifically for making those nice tea boxes rob M recently showed here ) I was wondering how many of you folks use it, have used it, and any other comments on it.

thanks
lou

[tod evans]

have used it, do use it for high end work. stuff plain stinks, literally! a very forgiving adhesive, it can be mixed to various strengths of made flexable with the addition of glycerin. if my electric pot ever dies i will not replace it the lightbulb powered homemade variety is a better bet in my opinion...02 tod

[Rod Upfold]

Tod

Can you expand on the "lightbulb powered homemade variety" or if you know of a web site about the glue pot?


Thanks

Rod

[tod evans]

sure rod, build a plywood box so that a 1qt stainless bowl can be set into a hole in the top and deap enough that a 100 watt lightbulb can reside below the bowl inside the box. line the box with tinfoil to reflect the heat and place your glue mix in the bowl and turn on the bulb. the glue needs to be 140 degrees to use so untill you get accustomed to it use a candy thermometer. pretty simple.....i don`t leave it unattended `cause of the potential of a fire hazard but you could build the box outta durarock or the like so it would be fireproof? ..........02 tod

[Roger Myers]

Became a hide glue fan when I took a class with Al Breed. Used it for casework and veneering and loved it. The reversability came in handy when I had to redo some of the banding. Ability to rub joints together with minimal clamping was another nice feature. Smell didn't bother me at all nor did mixing it. Did find that it was very advantageous to have a heat gun to warm the joints prior to gluing. Following that class went out and bought some hide glue and a heat gun. Just heat the glue in a mason jar in a double boiler on a hot plate...would like a glue pot, but really don't need one at all, and even if I had one, I'd still have the glue in a glass jar, and that in the pot of water.
I don't use hide glue for everything, but use it on all period pieces, and for veneering where I am not using a vacuum bag.
Roger

[Bob Powers]

I've recently been using it and I like it a lot. In addition to the reversibility feature, you don't have to remove every bit of old hide glue in repairs. The new hide glue reconstitutes the old. It is much easier than modern glues to clean up. Also, I have had virtually no odor from mine. Maybe there are various odors from various types? Mine came from Highland Hardware.

My glue pot is an old Pyrex coffee pot with a jelly jar setting on an electric hot plate. I used my wife's candy thermometer originally to determine temperature, but discovered that just marking the setting on the hot plate control and leaving it there does the trick.

[lou sansone]

thanks guys for the input.

lou

[Tim Sproul]

I use it. I like it. Like most things, it isn't the ideal adhesive for all situations so you'll still want to hang on to some epoxy, pva, plastic resin and such.

Some can smell very strongly. I got some from Joel at toolsforworkingwood. It smells but isn't too bad.

It isn't very useful in an unheated shop during colder months....and we don't get below freezing. I tried using it when the shop was only 15 celcius. Impossible since it gelled nearly immediately.

[Ed Kowaski]

Tried it, hated it. Sticky and stinky and way to futzy for my taste.... a PITA.

[Alan Turner]

I use hot hide glue often, when it is called for. Certainly on period pieces, but beyond that as well. Try to glue a knee block on a cabriole leg. A clamp won't work without a lot of jigging, but a rubbed joint is easy, fast, reliable, etc. I also try to use it on restoration work. Moritse and tenon joints are fine with it. A long edge joint is a tough one, however, as the glue cools quickly. Neat stuff. One nice thing is that it won't stain or spot a finish.

[Rob Millard]

I first used hide glue, because I wanted to try traditional techniques, I kept using it because it is hands down the best glue I have used. I think one of the reasons so many antiques survive is because of hide glue. Its ability to bond to itself is a boon to repairs, something that today’s glues lack. All furniture, no matter how well constructed will have some joints that will fail ( hide glues centuries long track record, tells me this will happen long after I’m gone, but it is still comforting to know). Some tasks would be difficult with other glues, for instance, I recently needed to attach French feet to a clock, clamping would have been difficult. With hide glue, all I had to do was rub on some glue blocks. Also, the veneering of patterns would be much more complicated with other glues, but with hide glue, it’s a straight forward process.
Rob Millard

[lou sansone]

rob

how do you keep the glue at the ideal temp.. do you have a glue pot?
where do you get your glue and do you use ground glue?

thanks
lou

[Corvin Alstot]

What is the open time of hide glue? Seems like you have to use a heat
gun on joints and move pretty fast when used on mortise and tenon
joints, but nothing complicated which might required a few minutes to assemble.

I bought some pearl hide glue either from ToolsforWorkingWood or LV over
the holiday, but now I need to experiment on how to cook it.
How does everyone maintain 140 Degrees F. I understand if you over heat
the strength is compromised. What is everyone elses solution? Here is
the list so far, anyone else?
<O</O
Tod – Electric pot or light bulb homemade variety<O</O
Roger - Mason jar in a double boiler<O</O
Bob - Pyrex coffee pot with a jelly jar setting on an electric hot plate<O</O

[Steve Schoene]

I use it occasionally, sometimes even the liquid hide glue. I have a crock pot (a common tag sale find) that keeps the hot kind right at 140. The glue is in a glass jar, surrounded by water in the pot. The jar can go in the fridge if I don't need the glue for a while.

Even the liquid hide glue from Titebond is as strong as the original Titebond, within a few psi, according to the Titebond website. That means that the hot glue is probably stronger than all most all the other basic wood glues.

[Alan Turner]

I have two different glue pots, one in each shop. One is old, from the 1920's, where the pot sits in warmed water at about 145 degress; the other is a new dedicated glue pot where the pot is dry in the heater.

I tend to make up the glue in larger batches so I don't run out in the middle of a project. I will mix and cook a full pot, and then pour it into a pie tin and cool it in the fridg. I then cut it into blocks of rubbery like consistency, wrap each one, put into a plastic bag, and keep in the fridg. I keep standard glue, and glue with urea added (slower set up time) and just throw the "ice cubes" of glue into the pot and keep on working. Shelf life in the fridg is at least 6 months.