Hide Glue! - Primitive Adhesive from the 1700's

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[matthewellisor]

Bones, cartilage, beaks and hooves work well for a carpenter's glue, sometimes as a composite material if thickened with very fine, talc-like sawdust.

[TheSaneHatter]

An obscure (to most) fact regarding hide glue: within the surprisingly devoted and well-developed subculture of primitive bow- and arrow-making, hide glue is invariably considered THE material for making bows backed with sinew, rawhide, snakeskin, and many other traditional materials. It is also warned that hide glue invariably STINKS like all hell, so you'd better make it outside, in containers that you don't need anymore!

[lokitakahashi]

Finally someone did this. as a person in interest in old books and leather wrapped items, adhesives of old are a subject not explored a lot unfortunately.

[J.A.Smith]

Now this the kind of videos in talking about! Not only doi care historically about this as a living historian but I'm also a hand tool woodworker! Love it just friggin love it!

[mega-lomart]

Rabbit skin glue is great for priming a canvas or oil painting.

[paulherman]

I've used hide glue to repair a musical instrument. Was recommended it by a luthier. So, it's still made and used.

[BigHenFor]

Hide glue is still in use today, especially by antique restorers. Wood By Wright did a series of comparitive tests with modern synthetic glues, and homemade and commercial hide glues held their own, even outperforming certain modern glues in certain applications.

[pmichael]

Have watched cabinetmakers and restorers use hide glue on many videos but it's great to see the process from the beginning. Thank you!

[itatane]

Always an interesting thing to see the things we take for granted today (adhesives) and how they were made in days gone by. There are still people who use Hide Glue, especially antique furniture restoration. (Thomas Johnson Antique Furniture Restoration in Gorham, Maine comes to mind.) I first learned about the process for making hide glue from a presentation done by Roland Warzecha about how Norse shields were made.

[riffhurricane]

"Adding small beer to strengthen the glue...." :- Obviously just an excuse for an afternoon bevvie in the workshop.

[myrlstone]

Hide glue was and still is an excellent glue for fine woodworking . It’s one shortcoming is the lack of water resistance. Not sure when fine veneer work first appeared but certainly by the 18th century. Lack of water resistance was no problem as fine furniture would not be left out in the weather. Protected from water it was used in the early days of wooden aircraft construction before resorcinol glue came on the scene.

[apippin]

As a child i watched my mom take a grain of cooked rice to seal an envelope she placed to mail her sister

[jasonhammond]

I have a cast iron pot with a smaller inner pot that was enamilized that acted as a double boiler for hide glue. Water in the outer pot keeps the glue and water from scorching. If scorched then glue is no good.
They would take the glue squeezed out from the joints and put it back into the glue pot to reconstitute. Great thing about hide glue is it's reversible. So old antique furniture can have some heat applied to the joints, softening up the glue and disassemble it for repairs.

[BoggWeasel]

Used heated "horse glue" in my woodwork class back in the 1960s, did a great job once you got the timing down. Tended to crystalize if it cooled down too much.

[tristanl.]

Wow! That's so fascinating to see the predecessor to the modern glue we have today! Funny to think that glue used in classrooms around the world developed from this!

[rosemcguinn]

Wonderful hands-on tutorial! You guys are all so knowledgeable. Well done, Brandon!
BTW, in classical oil painting, a basecoat of a particular kind of gesso that was made from rabbit skin glue + white marble dust and a few other things (I forget the rest of the ingredients) was often used. This method is still taught in some schools. Now, because of clever, multifaceted Brandon, I guess I have a bit better idea as to how that would work.
Very cool!

[dr.froghopper]

I’ve heard of glue being made from rabbit skin using this process. It was also used for book binding and anyplace a really fine glue was required.

[faheyplayer]

As an informed modern woodworker who chooses to use only hand tools and the techniques (of the West) that were perfected by the 18th century, I can attest that hide glue is still considered to be a very desirable adhesive of choice.

[roisinohagan]

Reminded me of art college in the 70s. I'd make my own stretchers from wood and trim with quarter beading. Then stretch canvas over it - I remember getting free scraps of canvas from a local sail maker's workshop. And then I'd make the rabbit skin size, though not from scratch - from small bags of dried 'crystalline' size which smelled awful! Made up the size with water over heat and painted it warm onto the canvas. When it dried the canvas was as tight as a drum. Perfect to paint upon.
Really enjoyed this vid, tfs and thanks for bringing back memories!

[adama]

Try this glue yourself by getting some unflavored gelatin. The recipes I found also use glycerin and 1/4 of the liquid being vinegar to act as a preservative.