Lovely legs and other joys of hide glue

[RobNichols]

Perhaps a little unusual, but I thought I'd post my thoughts on a purchase I made a couple of months ago. Namely a 500ML Wax Warmer Heater Melting Machine Single Pot. It cost me £21.74 on ebay. I can't find the exact model but there are plenty of similar Wax heaters and I'm sure they all behave similarly.

I use it to heat hide glue and it works a treat. The pot into which the glue is made comes out of the base so that it can be taken to the work, and on occasion I've even put it in the fridge for overnight storage of glue while working on a larger project.

I set the temperature at 60 which seems to work a treat.

I'm really enjoying using this traditional glue. I like that it is a little stickier than PVA so holding things together as you assemble is easier than I've found with PVA. I also like how quickly it sets (once it has cooled).

It is now my preferred wood gluing solution. I'll still use PVA if I just need a quick bit of glue on a small job, or superglue for all those little jobs that superglue is so good for. But for assembly I'm just loving using hide glue.

And there's also the benefit of smooth legs!

Oh and I got the idea from this video

 

[nosuchhounds]

Im looking to delve into Hide/Animal glue. Found a couple of warming glue pots on ebay but they look a little small and not a lot cheaper than this one

 

[RobNichols]

Having used mine a few times, I wouldn't worry too much about size. A little goes a long way. I find I'm more likely to make up too much than too little. Also once it's warm, it doesn't take long to make up another batch. Mine's a 500ml, but I expect a 300ml would be fine.

I've had another look on ebay, and most of the ones like mine are about £35. If you don't want to pay that much, there are a lot of cheaper ones. I think having a good temperature control would be at the top of my list of features to have. Having a removable pot is useful too, but not essential. I also like having a descreet on/off switch, but again not essential.

 

[profchris]

For years I've been using an old baby bottle warmer - turned to max it's just the right temperature. Cost me something like £2 in a charity shop.

It'll only heat around a cup full of glue, but I rarely need more than a tablespoonful.