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View Full Version : Titebond liquid hide glue...... update



Dan Forman
01-07-2007, 6:19 AM
Thought I ought to follow up on my humble experiments. To refresh, I tried three different samples of Titebond liquid hide glue, one out of date by twabout 3 years, another small bottle which didn't have a date on it ,but has beebn sitting around for a good while, and lastly a new bottle purchased last week, which is good for another 8 months.

All tests were done on the same pieces of oak, glued in different locations, cured for 24 hours, then placed in a vise, and one surface whacked with a hammer until they separated. The results showed that there is good reason for the expiration dates. The older glue failed completely at the glueline, no wood fibers were torn from either piece. The second sample, with no expiration date fared only somewhat better, mostly failed at the glueline, but a few fibers were torn from the mating piece. The fresh sample showed no glue failure at all, but the wood itself fractured across the whole joint.

This says nothing about how well the glue ages when applied within the expiration date, but it certainly holds well in the short term.

Dan

Chris Barton
01-07-2007, 7:11 AM
Hi Dan,

Interesting experiment but, with predictable outcomes. Hide glue is mostly animal protein and proteins breakdown over time when stored. Your experiment should remind us all that our projects are no better than the least common denominator, in this case glue. Thanks!

Tim Malyszko
01-07-2007, 8:48 AM
This might sound like a stupid question, but is there an optimal environment to store glue in? Right now, it just sits in my non-heated, non-air conditioned shop.

Thanks.

Cliff Rohrabacher
01-07-2007, 12:17 PM
This might sound like a stupid question, but is there an optimal environment to store glue in? Right now, it just sits in my non-heated, non-air conditioned shop.

Thanks.

Read the label. There is an admonition against letting it freeze.
I had a gallon of titebond that cycled between frozen and thawed some unknowable number of times. It still worked but I didn't have enough faith in it to use it for anythig I cared about.