Hide Glue Baby Bottle Warmer

[Tarhead]

I stumbled on this "Parent's Choice" Baby bottle Warmer in a Craigslist ad for $5. It works great and I got to meet the cutest set of twin little boy toddlers I think I've ever seen! That alone was worth a lot more than the bottle warmer.

Anyway here's what I understood from Greg's Paolini's posting about this on Knots (Finewoodworking.com's forum):

The warmer has a 400 watt element in it and you put ~1/8 cup of water in it. I had an old ~6oz jar with a lid which fit in it perfectly but a small jelly jar or a small plastic squeeze bottle should work fine. You could also use a Rival Hot Pot Express with the control on the front but it's about twice as big and I don't think I'll need more than 4 oz of hide glue at any one time.

The small jar fits perfectly in the warmer but you only have to have ~1/8cup of water in the warmer or it will overflow (DAMHIKT:embarrassed:

I got the water jacket too hot on the high setting (~160) so I backed it down to #2 and this should work fine.

This will be my first experience with hide glue. I have a Ukelele from the 1930s needing some repair and the original hide glue has suffered too many freeze/cook cycles in the attic where it was stored for who knows how long. Its back separated from the sides.

 

[Mike Davis]

My son's Ukelele has the same ailment but from rough handling I believe. He took it to Philmont and somewhere in the mountains the back came off. I'll look at it when he gets back but he may not want it repaired. I think he wants to retire that one.

Anybody know a great deal on a Martin or other good quality Ukelele?

 

[mshel]

Just for informational purposes:

http://www.bjorn.net/

This guy is supposed to be one of the foremost experts on hide glue. I buy mine from him and have never had any problems. He will also answer any questions you might have concerning gram strength and which one you would need for the particular project you are working on.

Mike

 

[Tarhead]

Mike Davis:
If you need a few pieces of kerfling I have some extra I can send. Putting a back on without it is tough. I think Martin and "deal" are mutally exclusive terms anymore. My daughter just got a "Deal" on a store demo HD28-V. They threw in a free pack of strings:roll:

Mike Shelley:
Thanks for that link! Man...a world's leading expert right in my backyard! Who would have thunk it? I just got a big can (probably a lifetime supply) from my Hartville Tool shopping spree.

 

[Rob]

So when would you use hide glue over something like titebond or other woodworking glues?

 

[mshel]

So when would you use hide glue over something like titebond or other woodworking glues?

Doing veneering
Building period pieces
Has better gap filling properties

or just about anything else, except outside furniture.

Plus, if you happen to get some squeeze out that doesn't get totally cleaned up, hide glue will not interfere with your finish. In other words, you won't see the white marks show up like you would if you used yellow glue.

Just a few reasons why

Mike

 

[Tarhead]

Benefits:
It's easily reversible and re-activateable. Not sure this is a word but you can loosen a joint with heat/steam, adjust and let it re-harden which is important with stringed instruments needing frequent repair/adjustments, inlay, etc.

Open time is longer than most modern glues (except for slow epoxy).

Lasts indefinetly in the freezer after you make it but you can only re-heat it a few times before the protein links start to fall apart. Just don't mistake the hide glue ice cubes for chicken stock ice cubes.
Oh...It makes a good emergency protein source if you're desperate.:rotflm: