Hide Glue

[P Josey]

I am cooking up some Behlen Master hide glue from Stewmac. The directions say add equal weights of glue and water. I'm wandering if others have tried other mixtures, say 1 part glue to 1.5 parts water, for different and perhaps better results or longer setup times. This is the first time I've used hide glue and I'm looking for ways to stack the cards in my favour. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Paul Josey

[Chris Baird]

I've used the same glue and I go about 1.5-2 water for glue. The 1:1 ratio is too thick and will gel too fast. I don't get too anal about the measurements these days I just guess on my ratios and try to error on the thick side then add water later to get it how I want it.

[WoodyMcKenzie]

You can add urea to hide glue to keep it liquid and lengthen set time. This weakens it some, but that may not be bad. Hide glue is quite strong. If the glue is already stronger than the wood, then the wood fails before the joint does. When I glue on a violin top, I use a thinner mix of glue. Of course, that joint is meant to be undone if needed. Check out this site for hide glue that has been treated:

http://home.pacbell.net/ebeniste/gluepage.htm

Woody

[John Jesseph]

I just got a bottle of Pat's glue- I have suggested it a lot but never used it, so I thought I would give it a try. I talked to him on the phone about it, he insists it is as good as hot hide glue. However, the Frets site says that urea tends increase the chance of creep. I will use the Old Brown Glue for most things like gluing in linings, peghead overlay, etc, and use hot hide glue for the plates and neck joint.