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<DIV>Hot hide glue is made from refined animal by-products such as ground bones
and cow hide. It is similar to the material dog rawhide bones are made of
only much more refined. When hot and ready hide glue takes on a
distinctive smell very similar to rawhide bones. It
is non-toxic, easily digestible, and my dogs think it's a great snack when
I give them the dried left over glue from the bottom of the pot the next
day. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it, yum yum.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Hide glue is an excellent wood glue and is the old standby that wood
workers have been using for hundreds of years. It is strong, can be sanded
without clogging the paper, and is an absolute must for rebuilding vintage
player pianos. Since it must be applied hot it requires relatively fast
work. This is not a particularly difficult task if all the parts to be
assembled are ready to go. It hardens as it cools and therefore the parts
can be gently worked with in about an hour or so and have full strength in
about 24 hours. Liquid hide glue is available in well stocked wood working
stores and may occasionally be found in hardware stores. It has urea added
to allow it to be used cold. Cold hide glue is also excellent and strong
but it takes longer to dry and has a shelf life. Some claim cold hide glue
is not as strong but I know someone personally who uses it regularly to glue in
soundboards and I haven't seen one fail yet. Pianotek sells refined urea
that you can mix with your own hide glue to increase the work time as it
cools. Small amounts can be added until you achieve the proper proportion
that you need although I would not add any more than necessary. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>One of the biggest advantages of hide glue is that it dries
"glass-hard". In other words it has no flexibility or softness to it when
fully cured. Other glues such as yellow wood glue do not truly become
hard. Even old yellow glue is soft enough to dent with a screw driver or
sometimes even a thumb nail. The advantage of hide glue drying so hard is
that it is an ideal glue for vibration energy sensitive applications. Any
glue that has any degree of softness will absorb vibrative energy and likewise
robbing the piano of power. This makes hide glue perfect for gluing
hammers, ribs, bridges, soundboards, and other such critical vibration
components.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Hot glue sticks from craft stores are a completely different
product, They are fully synthetic and always flexible cold. It
is designed for low-stress applications and does not have a lot of
strength. Two pieces of wood held together with this type of glue can be
easily pulled apart and it is certainly not trustworthy for applications in
pianos where components must be expected to stay together for 50 or more
years. Bottom line, it has no practical place in piano work.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Rob Goodale, RPT</DIV>
<DIV>Las Vegas, NV</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Reblitz: Glue pots vs glue
sticks</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Greetings, </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Reading Reblitz"s book, he mentions heated
glue pots! Wow! To carry such a monstrostity in your car trunk! I was
wondering if craft glue sticks are the same thing; Are they? Also, what
is <EM><STRONG>aliphatic</STRONG></EM> glue?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks </DIV>
<DIV>Julia Gottshall</DIV>
<DIV>REading, PA</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>