How to Make and Use Hide Glue 

Love Hot Hide Glue. My Mentor introduced me to it more years ago than I care to remember. His trick was to make a batch up and let it sit for two days before using it. It does make a difference to the way it flows and the open time. During winter I like to warm up the timber to around 30 deg Celcius under a heat lamp before glue up. This help the glue to penetrate the timber and avoid the dreaded 'glue freeze' that is frustrating and often disheartening for people new to HHG.

About the gram strength: Next is a quotation from The Sawdust- newsletter, volume 17, issue 5. " The grade number is the amount of weight in grams to push a ½” plunger into a jar of glue chilled to 50 F for 17 hours, 4 mm. -That indicates molecular weight. The higher the weight the more complex the compound. Denser. -The number then correlates to set time, etc." So it is an unholy alliance of metric and imperial measurements. That newsletter is worth reading by the way, it has plenty of information on hide glue. Thank you James for your efforts in sharing glue knowledge!

Great overview James, thanks.

Very interesting , looking forward to the head to head test results

I was pretty thrilled to find this video -- thanks so much for running through all that. Detailed enough for me to feel comfortable getting started, but not so much as to be overwhelming. Appreciate it! (PS -- the link to that warmer needs an update) :)

Thanks for this. Helpful information for sure.

Thanks for the info James! 👍👊

wax heat is excellent, it avoid troubles of double boiler that are time wasting, glue wasting, and too much dirt adhere to tools,

Thank you Sir ,very informative

Very interesting. I've been thinking about going down the hide glue route for my furniture projects and this has convinced me. I like the ancient natural feel to the whole process.

hide glue is one of the best known glues for luthiery and carpenternary

Wow, you just really made hide glue less scary to try. I will be a lot more agreeable with trying it now. Thanks.

Great vid so I've subscribed thanks

I found, that a simple desktop coffee mug warmer holds 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Ta Da thank you!

Awesome idea for heating up your hide glue. I use Titebond hide glue on any glue up that’s going to be difficult or time consuming. And everyday glue is Titebond lll you get that tack up feeling with Titebond lll that you refer to with hide glue but I always use clamps.

great overview. Looking forward to the strength testing. It would be interesting to make several "boils" from your rawhide pieces and see if it gives similar results to the various gram strengths of commercial glues. The only time i have ever made my own hide glue from scratch was for a sinew-backed bow project years ago, and that bow is still in great shape, so i guess i did something right! But i generally use the packaged commercial granules so i can know what sort of bond to expect. You are inspiring me to do some experimentation of my own. =)

Cameo from the SV Seeker mug.

Great video! By the way a Baby Food Warmer works great for hide glue.

I made a bow from oak, used unflavored gelatin as a hide glue, and rawhide to cover the limbs. Isn't a very strong bow, being about 35lbs pull, but it is still together and was built in 2005. Supposedly the best is fish glue made from the swim bladders of fish. The highly regarded horse bows of the Mongols, Koreans, and others use this traditionally with horn and sinew. Just don't get it wet. But that is another advantage of hide glues, one can apply steam or sometimes just a bit of heat and remove the parts, veneer, etc for repair or what have you.

The wax warmer is a great idea, cheap and easy to find. Purpose made glue pots are just too expensive.

Good stuff. You may have mentioned, but I missed is another really valuable property of hide glue is you can undo it. Just apply heat and it gives. And, you may be doing some people a disservice by not mentioning how your workshop will fill with a not unpleasant aroma when you warm up your glue pot! Cheers and thanks, David.

I know video is old but, still useful - I prefer a glue like Hide Glue. Thank you, just what I needed to know! Got a 50 years old Brazilian Classical Guitar... long story short, neck started to 'crack' - i.e. possibly gluing off the body... I guess it probably was a water based glue, as guitar was mistakenly left in a room where ... (I know!) we dry clothing with a heat-dryer, so you get a 2 hours damp, then all dry up (the air too). I believe that is what happened, so I thought to add that glue - in the same room when damp - then position clamps to straighten it a bit and also forcing it to glue in that point. Hopefully works as the neck is not really bent - very slightly - it is the neck just coming off a bit from the body and I did not wish to actually detach it and re-glue - am I silly in doing this? I cannot afford a Luther, but I am a good DIYer - I fixed so many things and still working fine, having done a lot of different work in decades, but never done this one.

I've always used unflavored gelatin from the grocery store. I figure it's the same stuff and easier to get my hands on. I never gave thought to what strength level it is though. I'll have to buy some glue that's been graded for strength and compare.

Thanks that was interesting and extremely informative! I am re-gluing a guitar back, (vintage 1960’s), it has hide glue on it. Can the Titebond Hide glue be heated (steamed) later and taken apart? Can the hide glue you made be heated up later and taken apart? Or is it better to use 315 which I assume is real Hide glue and can be removed later. Thanks again!

Have you considered trying to work with pine pitch? I'd love to see you try your hand at it

Hi Have you been working with fish glue (colle poisson in French)? Is it the same kind of applications?

a warmer for baby milk bottles works great to keep it warm

So if I'm understanding, if I'm re-gluing a guitar pick guard, 192 would be fine but if I'm putting on a guitar bridge I'll want the 315. I was unclear how the strength of the liquid glues relates back to the granular grades. Are they for low, med, or high strength applications? Thank you! Great information.

Hi James, I was out in my shop (detached, lovely cold concrete floor) with my son and he was helping me apply hide glue once it was ready to a bunch of mortise and tenons etc for the work bench we're building. My shop (16x26) is "well ventilated" aka need to finish some blocking, spray foam etc so doesn't keep heat perfectly well but makes it warm enough that if we're using hand tools (99% of the time) we're plenty warm, however when we applied the glue, within 1-2 minutes it was solidifying and we could scrape it off. the air is probably cool, and we live in eastern Canada, and the bloom strength of the pearl hide glue from Lee Valley was probably, 156 Gram strength I believe. Is the bond of glue any good if it solidified that quickly? The tenons are pegged, and pegs are glued as well so may be hard to test it. but if it cools that quickly, do you know if it ruins the bond?

👌

Thx for great video. Question: how do you clean the remaining glue out of the pot when you are done? Thx

My great grandfather was a cabinet maker and boat maker in New Orleans in the 30's and 40's they said he use to make his own glue that was better then what you could by in the store and the only ingredient my grandfather can remember is saw dust,,,is this it with saw dust added or any help would be awesome

Hello. I don't have a wax melting pot. Is there any alternative aside from using the liquid titebond? Thank you so much!

How to purify hide glue? Do I have to keep it boiling hot the whole time I’m using it? Can I just keep it really wet, or can I just pour some boiling water over some granules with some sinew, mix it fast then apply sticky sinew to project fast? I don’t have a hot plate and shouldn’t melt glue in the kitchen. Is the Titebond liquid hide glue comparable in strength to any of the three solids? Does it have urea and is it weaker?

great information, does the wax heater get hot enough to melt the hide glue in a jar? i like to heat and keep the glue in a sealed jam jar and this heater looks like a jar would fit perfectly in it. thanks for the video!

Are you able to glue chip glass with the titebond glue??

I have used hide glue to hammer Pao Ferro veneer very successfully. I understand that either salt or urea can be added to 192 gram weight to increase the working time. If so, what is the "spec" for urea or salt and how much would be used for each gram of hide glue. thx.

How dose this hide glue compare to typical wood glue? strength, color, etc.

Do you have experience with (5%) acetic acid or formaldehyde or aluminium sulfate to make the glue stronger or harder or more moist resistant?

Just wondering where you got wax warmer as I could not find it and who is your hyde glue supplier

I use a dedicated small crock pot. It is great for veneer work. If the piece is left in a damp place the joints can loosen up.With the titebond product do not use it after the expiration date.

How strong is Titebond Hide glue compared to the 300+ bags of beads?

in germany we have bone glue as the cheapest an most common natural glue. it becomes hard as glas (or hard as a bone, as this is what it is made of). General hide glue being more flexible when dried out is only used where that flexibility is needed. and there is more special stuff like hare glue an even glue made out of fish and or parts of fish. in english an american videos it is allwayd all about hide glue. is there realy no glue made of bones or other stuff available?

If you can get your hands on it, get a small, say 2 oz. eyedropper bottle of Carbolic Acid. In the amount of glue that you are making two drops put in the glue when it is ready to use and it will preserve the remainder for months on end. It just sits there waiting for you to heat up again, add a little water and you are good to go. I have kept glue for six months in my glue pot with no deterioration at all. I bought my Carbolic Acid from a pharmacy in the early 1970's and I still have plenty left till I end up in th glue pot. If you were to add a little more glue and water to make up a larger batch just add a drop or two of Carbolic and keep on keeping on.

James, have you tried making liquid hide glue at home by adding salt or urea to your hide glue mixture?

Pros of Hide glue: Low cost dries quickly fills gaps sands easily does not affect wood for stain (as compared with PVA) it is a natural product able to be undone (with heat)

You said it goes bad if you leave it out, so what happens to your glued joint over time!?

Can u warm up the Titebond if u want to thin it or would that ruin it?

so which "gram strength" do you think Old Brown glue and the the Titebond are made from?

Was hiding till ya posted a vid

So a 192 for violins since they get opened for repair?

When working with hide glue you should avoid brushes with Metall. It can cause staining of the wood.

Using

What's clamping in the background?

glue

Great James...Will have to see if we can buy it in France and if the "bone" glue Peter mentioned exists here. Someone once told me that they used to make the glue out of chicken bones...AND now the glue wasn't as strong because the chickens were factory/battery hens...Heard that many years ago...cheers...rr in Normandy

Is this hide glue also called "pearl glue?"

You can make glue out of any body part.

You didn't mention it's main benefit, which is you can undo the joint with hot water.

Why don't you show its incredible shear /tensile strength ---try to pull glued blocks apart ?--(I' made my own -used it 60 yrs --NOT WATERPROOF --But very strong ! hopeless for parquet flooring-(rain )wet shoes etc

SV Seeker- shameless,but subtle .

Anyone out there use fish glue? It's supposed to have an even longer open time. I haven't tried it yet.

Interesting. Thats different in Germany. We don't have grades for the glue - we just make a difference beween the kind of glue. So we have bone glue, cow skin glue, boar glue, rabbit glue, fish glue and for the pros "salianski fish glue", a glue made out of the swim bladder of beluga sturgeons (is sticky down to a concentration of about 1% and is used to consolidate paintings and so on) ... fish glue normally comes in liquid and doesn't need to be headed. Its great to glue complicate things like chairs. The downside of it is, that is treated with conditioners to make it last longer in the liquid form. the boar glue is used mainly for leatherworks and is traded in a kind of paste. All the other glues are traded in pellets or pearls or so. Any of this glues could be thined with water to a concentration of about 5%... some even lower without getting low functional. They just don't fill gaps that much. for veneers for example I use 1:1 cow and rabbit in a concentration about 20%. Than you could rubb it on with a hammer - we have a special hammer with a wide fin. I heat up my glue in a cheap heater for baby milk... it has all you need. Water bath, temperature control... you get them for some bugs on a flea market. I use an old glas for the glue witch you could put into the fridge with a lid overnight or for a longer therm.

James, James, James! You're letting the side down. I've no problem with you using hide glue, but an electric doodad to heat it with is sacrilege. You should have installed a wood burning stove in the corner.

disappointed that you aren't using some type of solar heater for the "hyde" glue... (solatube up through the house shining down on the pot...def more your style...)

My impression was that the big difference between glues of various gram strength was speed of setting more than strength after cure. I like your videos, but it's not helpful that your intentional misspellings lead people not familiar with hide glue to think it's actually "Hyde" glue. Maybe include the Mr.?

Hi James, title has "Useing" Hide Glue" instead of "Using hide Glue." Oh well. . .

Can a vegetarian use hide glue?

could you use a microwave? seriously. Foodies insist on melting chocolate with a double boiler yet a microwave works better. Not for the manufacture of glue, but the warming and prepping

Sticky Subject.

What absolutely mystifies me is when someone is showing something to you/me, they shake it, wave it around, or point with hand blocking the view. Look, if you want me to see it, cradle in your hands, present a clear view, and stop moving it at least for a few seconds. Gheesh! Give us a break. You know what you're showing us. We don't. Learn to pause and quiet yourself briefly.