Hi Everyone,
So being the relative newbie I am, every day I am in the shop brings on a new learning experience, and the more I am learning, the more I want to learn, and last weekend I was over at a friends (who is a bit of my mentor who is helping me learn more about hand tool woodworking), another fellow was there who is a violin maker and a brief discussion of hide glue came up. My woodworking friend doesn't use it himself, but the Luthier does. I didn't have enough time as I had to head out, but the subject stayed in my brain...
Now from my research online, it sounds like the major benefits of using hide glue are strength, durability and reversibility, while the downsides are short open time and the obvious requirements of needing things such as a glue pot etc to mix it in as well as the effort to make it vs just squeezing Titebond from a bottle.
In regards to strength, how much stronger is it than using something like Titebond III? Is the difference going to give you any real world benefit in the production of normal household furniture (things such as drawers, chests, tables etc)? From my understanding, if you are building furniture that you want to last generations, it is probably the best way to go, but is the normal glues that much worse? I can see being reversible as a good thing for things like drawer repair etc...
For the downsides, how long does one have to work with it once applied? Online I find lots of comments about how if the glue gels before the piece is bonded, you will need to start again, but I can't seem to find out what sort of real time that is? Obviously there will be some variations depending on temperature etc, but can it be reasonably quantified? As for the production of hide glue, is there a learning curve? Is it really that much of a pain or is it pretty simple and not overly time consuming? Some people seem to produce a bit of it and freeze the leftovers in ice cube trays to just reheat the next time they need it...
Anyways, I would love to hear some real world experience from people who use it in furniture building. The idea of it is appealing to me in the sense of doing things in the "old timey" way, but is the reality all it is cracked up to be? If anyone is willing to put their thoughts down, it would be greatly appreciated!
Bob