Wooden plane tote repair glue

[Rich Purdum]

I'm ready to re-glue the tote on the Germain plane I posted about in this thread (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?154659-First-wooden-hand-plane). It was clearly originally done with hide glue which I plan to clean up (carefully) with a heat gun. I'd like to use hide glue rather than epoxy (don't ask me why) but can't justify getting set up with all the hide glue stuff as I have no immediate plans for another project which would require it's use.

I've read as much as I can find about liquid hide glue and it seems that if I heated it before re-gluing it will bond with any residual bits of the original glue. Does anyone have any thoughts about this before I head down to get a small bottle of Titebond Hide Glue?

Here is the disassembled tool in case anyone is interested:

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss75/RichPurdum/Miscellaneous%20old%20tools/th_CRW_6319_JFR.jpg (http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss75/RichPurdum/Miscellaneous%20old%20tools/CRW_6319_JFR.jpg)

[Patrick Tipton]

First, it doesn't look like there is enough residual glue to hold that handle. Yes, the glue will work (again) if you heat it, but you need to add more glue to make the joint hold. I have never used Titebond Hide glue, so I have no idea whether it would work with the original stuff.

It really doesn't take much in the way of extra equipment to use hide glue. I know they make fancy glue pots etc, but all you need is a small burner and a saucepan. Fill the saucepan with water and put your hide glue in a small container - I use a 1/2 pint mason jar. Make sure the water in the saucepan is lower than the height of your glue container. Stick the glue container in the water with the water hot, but not boiling. The glue will get liquid and then you can use it. I would heat the existing joint and clean it before I put the new glue on.

The beauty of hide glue is that the joint is completely repairable, unlike epoxy or even carpenters glue, which don't provide a very good gluing surface the second time around.

Good luck.

Patrick

[Andrae Covington]

As Patrick Tipton said it doesn't look like there is much of the original glue left, but if you heat it up and maybe add a little moisture it may tack up again. I'm not sure how well liquid hide glue will bond to the reactivated old glue, but with so little there, it may not matter, it will stick to the wood. Once cured, liquid hide glue is also reversible with heat and moisture.

Patrick Edwards' Old Brown Glue is hide glue with urea added. The Titebond version has some other chemicals. According to the MSDS it includes ammonium thiocyanate, dicyandiamide, and polyalkylene glycol. Dicyandiamide is used as a curing agent, polyalkylene glycol is a lubricant. Not sure about the ammonium thiocyanate.

[Johnny Kleso]

I was thinking it was old and maybe hide glue but I was not sure what types of glue they used on hand planes back then..

No matter what glue you use I'd remove all the old glue you can..