iLuthier

Hide glue is made from animal hides and consists of small flakes which are soaked in cold water for an hour and then heated and applied with a brush. You should always mix the glue and water by weight and not by volume. The ratio is one part of hide glue to two parts of water. If you find the mixture slightly too think then the consistency can always be adjusted by adding a bit more water. Do not mix up too much of the glue at a time and keep the leftover glue in the refrigerator when not in use. Hide glue is non-toxic so it won’t harm your food.

Hide glue must never be brought to the boil at all. It is important to heat the mixture in a water-bath or in a baby-bottle warmer to a maximum temperature of 65ºC (150ºF). The glue will give a very strong joint and sets very quickly, but you do need to leave it to dry for 24 hours before working on the joined pieces again. Hide glue joints have been around for centuries and some of the joints made with this type of glue are still as strong as ever.

It’s also important to note that the brush for applying hide glue should not contain any metal parts at all. Special hide glue brushes are made for this purpose. Parts are best glued up at normal room temperature. If it is too cold the hide glue will start to gel.

One great advantage of using hide glue is that joints made with this type of glue can easily be disassembled again by reheating. If an undone joint is to be reglued, the remaining pieces of glue don’t have to be removed as the newly-applied hot glue will combine with it. Also hide glue has a bit more grip than PVA glue so that fewer additional clamps are needed to keep the pieces in place.

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