Question about work flow for hand tools

[James Waldron]

[snip] Next one will be full neander, for better or worse. Maybe epoxy. I don’t have to use hide glue to do the Neanderthal thing, right?

Archeologists have discovered that the Neanderthals discovered the epoxy mines in central Chad, before the desert engulfed the region. When the mines were lost, the use of epoxy was eliminated from Neanderthal society and culture and led to the gradual decline in the population that brought us to today's sad state. Sadly, even with the development of new and seemingly boundless epoxy mines, Neanderthals have never fully recovered their rich tradition of epoxy use and have left epoxy work largely to Homo Sapiens, as a crutch for their use of flat pack furniture and plastic surfaces.

There is a small and declining tribe of Neanderthals who do use epoxy a good bit. They are wooden boat builders. Their existence is threatened by the onslaught of fiberglass boat construction.

[John C Cox]

....Maybe epoxy. I don’t have to use hide glue to do the Neanderthal thing, right?

Oh my friend - it's worse than that... There are only 2 approved types of Neanderthal wood glue.. Hide glue and fish glue... But to be a "Proper" Neander - you have to MAKE your own hide and fish glue.



Actually - all kidding aside, Hide glue is fantastic stuff in that it is nearly infinitely repairable... One interesting thing about learning to use it is that ALL your joints will be better no matter what glue you use.. Joint prep, setup, clamping, and the like are critical with it - so it forces you to really hone in on the quality of your joint prep and minimizing glue open time... And that pays heavy dividends no matter what glue you use...

For example - with your loose tenon.. With Hide - you would have to glue shims to the tenon and re-fit it to get a good strong joint that won't wobble in a month.... But that would make for a better joint with every glue including wood glue and even epoxy....

[Todd Zucker]

I thought it was intended to "hide" mistakes, hence the name. At least if I use it I wouldn't need to look for an epoxy mine. That was hilarious.

[Brian Holcombe]

Hide glue is handy stuff, it lets the joint work together a little easier sometimes so for me I practically require myself to use hide glue in many circumstances. I do use Titebond III still on things like making up panels.

Big downside to liquid hide glue is that you have to wait a full day before you can take the clamps off, not the case for hot hide (as I understand) and Titebond III.