Electric glue pot alternatives ?

[Mike Givney]

Was wondering if anyone has an alternative to the rather expensive electric glue pots used to heat hide glue. I will only be using it occasionally and for small glue ups so, keeping a pot cooking isn't necessary. Thanks.

[John Coloccia]

http://www.xrestore.com/Pages/HideGlue.htm

[Mike Givney]

John, Fantastic thread ! Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks very much.

[David Keller NC]

Mike - One aspect of using hot hide glue is that while the standard package of acid brushes from the big-box stores is certainly workable, it's worth getting some better brushes if you use hide glue for a furniture project that requires fairly large glue surfaces. Tools for Working Wood sells some excellent ones - search for "glue brush" on their site. These brushes are highly cleanable, and last a reallly long time. One other worthwhile purchase if you're going to be using hide glue on fairly large surfaces is an electric heat gun. The heat gun allows you to warm up the two surfaces to be glued and allows a much longer open time.

[Casey Gooding]

When I did musical instrument repair, we used to mix up glue in small glass containers that we kept in the refrigerator. When we needed glue, we would place the container on one of those small warming plates intended for keeping coffee cups warm. Worked great for small batches.

[John Tallyn]

John, great link, thanks for sharing, as someone new to using hide glue this just saved me money and trouble

[John Coloccia]

Just for giggles, this is the glue pot I'm currently using. It's absolutely the perfect size and configuration for instrument work...and by extension, for anything that requires small batches.

http://www.musicaravan.com/gluepot

[Jon van der Linden]

That little hot plate/coffee warmer that is used in John's link is about all you need. It's only when you really need perfection that temperature control becomes important - controlling the exact temperature range means you can get the glue to its optimum temperature range (there are a lot of different types of hide glue i.e fish, rabbit, etc. with their own temp ranges), if you overshoot the temperature range, the glue breaks down and loses strength. The old glue pots were simple cast iron double boilers. The heavy iron would retain the heat.

That said, I have known people that do excellent work who use a regular pan heated on the stove. When doing something like that you risk destroying the glue, but when you have to make do it can be done. Of course a proper heavy double boiler would be better, and an electric double boiler with temperature control would be ideal.

[george wilson]

Many folks just use a crock pot,but you DO NEED to use a thermometer. As said,if you get the glue a bit too hot,it will ruin the glue. The protein gets cooked. You can glue on gold leaf (in bookbinding),with an uncooked egg white,but fry that egg,and you will not get it to stick. The maximum temperature must not exceed about 130º F.(for ordinary wood glue). I also have kept hide glue in the fridge,then put the whole bottle with glue in it into hot water inside my glue pot. The glue will last 3-4 days in the fridge,then begins to stink and rot.

[glenn bradley]

I found potpourri pots (mini crock pot) at Big Lots for a few dollars. Bought 3 and kept the one that stayed at the temp I was after.

[Glen Johnson]

Another tip for using the frozen hide glue is to use the microwave to quickly heat up small quantities. Just be careful not to overheat the glue.

[David Keller NC]

Just for giggles, this is the glue pot I'm currently using. It's absolutely the perfect size and configuration for instrument work...and by extension, for anything that requires small batches.

http://www.musicaravan.com/gluepot

Cool! I had no idea that anyone was making new gluepots of the traditional design. I searched forever before I found an antique copper one, and it was pricey....

[Robert LaPlaca]

I have been using the Rival 'Hot Pot Express', IIRC it was about $15 at Walmart. The lowest setting generally does the trick for my unit.. The trick is to let the units temperature stabilize for 15-20 minutes before the glass baby jar of hide goes in. The tip about the meat thermometer, is a must have also.. Cause you really don't know when 140-150 degree's is going to be on your pot.. The whole setup will set you back about $20-25

[george wilson]

I have a real electric glue pot,but they are pretty expensive. Used to be about $90.00 years ago(unless Asian now). If a Big Lots cheap pot works,good enough. just put a decent thermometer in it to not go over 130º.

[George Neill]

I have had a couple of the Hold Heet glue pots, but the best 'glue' pot I've ever had is one of these wax pots (http://cgi.ebay.com/THE-MELTING-POT-La-Grande-Wax-Warmer-Model-LP9000_W0QQitemZ200594504355QQcategoryZ82565QQcmdZ ViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC %26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFIC S%252BUFI%26otn%3D10%26pmod%3D190509133290%26ps%3D 63%26clkid%3D8388336140253909125). I used a cheap ($8 off eBay too) digital meat thermometer to initially check the temperature dial increments and then marked the sweet spot with a felt pen.

The inner pot is removable and spare pots are available, so you can keep one for straight glue and another with additives in it etc. The tight fitting lid ensures the glue heats up rapidly and moisture loss is kept to a minimum. I keep a wooden handled glue brush in the pot permanently, even with the lid on. There's a wiping bar across the centre of the pot, but I replaced it with a thick elastic band which I stretch across the folding handle and when it becomes gunged up with glue, I rip it off and replace it with another one.

[Mike Givney]

I appreciate all the ideas and actually had a coffee cup warmer in a closet. I set it up and let it heat a jar of water for an hour. Checked it with my infra thermometer...126 degrees So, it should be good. Thanks again for the tips.

Mike

[Tony Wilkins]

Going to resurrect this thread to ask a question: If I were to use one of those coffee cup warmers, how careful do you have to be not to cook the glue? I know Winton suggested a baby bottle warmer in a thread recently, same question on that one I guess.

[Winton Applegate]

coffee cup warmers

Nah dude, nah.

I have one that won't get hot enough (the new ones are wimpy). I had an old one from twenty years ago that worked well for coffee but it might even get too hot. It died and I ordered a new one = the wimpy one.

A dial with a thermostat that goes on and off to maintain the temp seems key and if the swing is too wide from off to on it might create problems.

Baby bottle warmer is tops.

[John Coloccia]

If you're going to cheap out on a glue pot, don't mess around. For the price of a couple of Martinis, just get the Rival Hot Pot Express and follow the instructions I linked to on the second post in this thread. I added some marbles to the bottom of mine because I had to heat some plastic as well. I don't use it anymore. I have a couple of very nice glue pots now, but the Hot Pot Express worked surprisingly well.

When you click on it, notice the "frequently bought together" section. I get the feeling that no one actually uses this thing for anything other than home made glue pots.

http://www.amazon.com/Rival-4071-WN-32-Ounce-Express-White/dp/B00006IUXU

[Graham Haydon]

I have one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tommee-Tippee-Closer-Nature-Electric/dp/B001LQ0GSI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395570643&sr=8-1&keywords=tommy+tippee+bottle+warmer#productDetails in the wake of two young ones in the family. I have kept it to try it out, I don't see a reason why it would not work.........

[Tony Wilkins]

So many options. Some things look like they've declined in quality looking at the reviews.

[McKay Sleight]

I purchased a baby bottle warmer that is more accurate than the crock pot that I had. I went to the depot and purchased a copper end cap. You can buy different sizes of caps depending on the size of job that you are going to do. I keep the full caps in the freezer until needed. The thermometer shows a very accurate temp.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Tried a variety of ways, but none beat my electric "Hold Heat" glue pot. About $120 or so and worth it!

[John Coloccia]

Tried a variety of ways, but none beat my electric "Hold Heat" glue pot. About $120 or so and worth it!Exactly. That's the best out there right now. I love mine.

[Tony Wilkins]

Exactly. That's the best out there right now. I love mine.

That's what I've been struggling with in the back of my mind. Most of these alternatives have a 'works great but' caveat. The only one that seems not to is perhaps the baby bottle warmer. I'm just trying to evaluate the value to me of it.

[Tony Zaffuto]

If I would have just pulled the trigger on the "Hold Heat" at the beginning, I would have already paid for better than half of it and not wasted time/money with playing with other methods. I would have also saved assembly time. Mine is the aluminum pot model.

[Michael Ray Smith]

That tip on using ice cube trays is a great one. I've stored larger quantities in the freezer and re-used them, but I've always wondered about the process of repeatedly reheating it. Wrapping up small piecesl and thawing out just the amount you need is a great idea, and using the ice cube trays looks a lot easier than cutting up a larger chunk into small pieces.