cleaning out hide glue from dowel holes

[whit richardson]

Anyone have a good technique for cleaning out old hide glue from dowel holes?

I'm fixing and old three footed round table and the feet were assembled using dowels and hide glue. I have just about everything cleaned up and ready to reglue but haven't been able to clean out the old dowel holes completely. thanks for any help.

[Jim Koepke]

Trying out the search function disclosed a few of the threads that have come before. As usual, Bob Smalser has it covered here:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=21822&highlight=repair+glue

There is also a shorter thread on the use of steam or heat on hide glue:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=65729

jim

[Stephen Shepherd]

You don't really need to clean out the old hide glue. You can just introduce more hot hide glue and the old glue will reconstitute and form a good bond.

If you are using liquid hide glue for the repair, then put some hot water in the dowel hole before applying glue to all surfaces.

Then clamp together until the glue dries.

Stephen

[harry strasil]

My Old Mentor used strips of rags soaked in boiling water, then picked up with old needle nose pliers and then more or less wrung out a lot of the water while winding around the pliers, then pushed in the hole and turned around in the hole, this removed excess and rejuvinated the glue that was left, so the new glue would bond with the old. FWIW

[whit richardson]

Both of these sound like good options. For now I'm using liquid hide glue but see I'll probably need a good pot and the flakes soon. Learning more each time I work on the family heirlooms and all of them pre-date modern glues.

thanks for the help.

[Bob Glenn]

Both of these sound like good options. For now I'm using liquid hide glue but see I'll probably need a good pot and the flakes soon. Learning more each time I work on the family heirlooms and all of them pre-date modern glues.

thanks for the help.

Instead of spending big bucks on a glue pot, go to Walmart and buy a small crock pot. I got mine for 4 bucks. Took it home filled with water on the low setting and a candy thermometer showed 145 degrees, perfect. Next I cut a circle out of an old license plate to fit the top with the cover removed. I cut a hole in the license plate the same diameter as a plastic disposable drinking glass. Now you have a disposable glue container that sits in a water bath at 145 degrees. Works like a champ!

[Derby Matthews]

I grind the point off a one size smaller diameter old Spadebore and use it with my 18V drill as a rotary scraper to clean out dowel holes. I know this isn't Neander, that requires A Sloyd knife for glue removal from the dowel ends and holes. Prepare for SKFC (Sloyd Knife Forearm Cramping Syndrome - Advil helps here). If you wet the wood, let it dry a good long time before applying more of any type of glue or you'll be sorry. DAYS of time. Yes.... DAYS. Water seriously interferes with penetration of all waterbased glues and prevents that of other types of resin, even hide glue. I've cut apart cast off legs of breaker pieces just to observe the effects of this, and found that the moisture content (checked with a moisture meter against an identical leg not watered) stays prohibitively high - 15-20 % - for as long as 72 hours after soaking a joint to get it apart. I suppose that finished chair legs can't breathe very easily. This is why I do mechanical glue removal whenever possible. Every molecule of moisture occupying the wood fibers is one less molecule of space for whatever adhesive one chooses, and who knows what unwanted chemical reaction or repulsion occurs with a water-incompatible glue.

As to regluing, Bob's test didn't include hide glue, but in my experience it's the easiest glue to remove and redo, and is favored by snooty museum directors and self-styled highbrow customers alike - so is good practice in general in my line of work. It's been mentioned above, but you don't need a glue pot. Titebond makes a perfectly good cold hide glue. I use it frequently. I also use a glue pot, there are times when one needs every and all Glue under the sun. I have all the adhesives shown in Bob's test and they all have their place, though HG produces a good solid furniture grade joint that if not seriously abused or weathered will last a long time. HG is also easy to fix when it does eventually fail. Ever tried to get apart a piece glued with epoxy and suffering from partial joint failure? :eek:

Many new cuss words have been thought up enduring this procedure.

I use veneer pieces coated on both surfaces to build up oversized holes. Works like a charm, and often eliminates the need to pump out a full single dose of West System when I've only got a couple ovaled-out holes.

Yeah, I'm cheeeeeap!

I forgot to mention above that really old, seriously crystalized hide glue is far better removed as much as possible. There was something written up on this a long time back and I cant remember where, but I've found over the years that joints "rejuvenated" rather than being cleaned and reglued don't last near as long.

[Steve Dallas]

Anyone have a good technique for cleaning out old hide glue from dowel holes?

I'm fixing and old three footed round table and the feet were assembled using dowels and hide glue. I have just about everything cleaned up and ready to reglue but haven't been able to clean out the old dowel holes completely. thanks for any help.

Just reglue it with hot glue - the old will amalgamate with the new.

Edit: Oops, I see Steven already chimed in.