questions about hide glue

[Bob Schmidt]

I am new to using hide glue and have a couple of questions.
Is there a way of telling you did not exceed the set time and get an inferior joint?
How long should you allow for clamp time?
Can it be thinned with a bit of water if it gets too thick in the pot?

Thanks for any help.

[violinvic]

Warm both sides of the joint before applying glue. Dry run your clamping procedure until you are confident. If the glue starts to get too thick, just add a little water to get the consistency you like. As you get used to hide glue, you will like it. Clamp it overnight if you are not in a hurry.

[Marty Jacobson]

Adding water is something you do after several hours in the pot, if not many hours. Temperature is more important. Think like you would when using hot glue - get it to the right proportions, get it hot, then use it quickly. If it's to the correct temperature and too thick, you can add water. Adding water when it's too cold may help make it thinner, but it will also make it much weaker.

[tom.gibson]

You can tell that you haven't exceeded the open time of the glue if liquid glue squeezes from the joint when you clamp it. If the glue looks or feels 'jellied' while you're gluing up, then you were too slow and need to wipe off the glue and redo it.

[HoGo]

Here is something worth reading...
PS: is your pot covered? If your pot has no lid the water will evaporate quite fast. I heat just small batches for immediate use and the glue will thicken considerably in few minutes after the job without lid. It's not easy to judge correct dilution of glue just by viscosity unles you have large batch of granules and use it for long time and test it for optimal water to glue ratio first.

[Marty Jacobson]

To HoGo's point, what I do is make up batches of hide glue, maybe 12 ounces by volume, and split that up into small squeeze bottles. I freeze the squeeze bottles, then put them in a water bath to heat them when needed. Convenient to use, and always fresh, always to the right proportions.

[pops1]

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but I was taught to mix the glue, heat it, let it cool back to gel, then heat it a second time before using it.

[Bob Schmidt]

Thanks for ll of the good information. I was glueing an X brace on a rosewood back and was suspicious of the joint since the glue seemed thick and I did not get much squeeze out. I suspect the glue was not hot enough and I did not warm the pieces above room temperature. It turns out that the dished mold I was using in the go-bar clamp was not dished to 12" as I thought so the braces did not glue all the way across. I was able to remove the brace completely so the glue did not hold well. I have to dish the mold to match the braces and try again.
I have split the batch I mixed up initially into smaller jars, but I really like the squeeze bottle idea. I was not keeping the glue jar covered so that probably also contributed to the thickening.
There is clearly a learning curve to this stuff, but I do like the way it works. I was able to get a good seem joint with it.