RE: Glue Pot Improvements

>>If I am like most of us who are using hide glue for repairs, 
>>it seems  that we have this large pot capable of holding 
>>more glue than I would use  in weeks.  


Reed,

I just use a cheap cooker/ fryer with an accurate thermostat.  I fill it 
part way with water and put a jar in the water to hold the glue -- just
 a couple of ounces if I want. The combination of the thermostat and 
the water jacket keep the glue from ever overheating, and I can take 
the jar with me wherever I want, and throw it away when it gets too 
messy.  

The water is handy for thinning, although the glue doesn't thicken 
much because I keep the glass lid on the cooker when I'm not using 
it immediately.  The brush stays in the jar, too.  Actually, there's room 
enough for two jars, so I could alternate, and the whole rig is easy to 
transport around the shop.

Now if I could just find a way to heat the surfaces.  I had to re-veneer 
some real nice 30's pieces, this week, and the cold gave me fits.  
Tried heat lamps to no avail.  Finally gave up & used Old Yellow.

Michael R
KC


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I have a customer, a small, custom builder, who cooks up his hide glue 
a couple of times a year, and puts it up in polyethylene squeeze bottles.  
He keeps it in the refrigerator until he needs it, then puts a bottle in a 
crockpot full of water.  When he needs the glue, he takes it out of the 
water with tongs, puts on a glove, and squeezes it out as needed.  
No smell, no messy glue pot.

Alternatively, it could be kept in a suitable large mouth container, 
in the crock pot, so that you could use a brush to apply the glue. 

This seems a much more satisfactory,and elegant, solution to the problem.

I hope this is helpful.

Greg Williams

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Reed'
  
I don't know if this will help you or not but I will tell you what i do,I have one
of those small cup warmers that you plug in to a electrical out let,it looks 
like a trivit,with a small cup warmer in the middle I take some heated hide 
glue out of the pot and put some in a tin porcelain cup put the cup in the 
cup warmer and it keeps the glue warm as I use it.     

Bill Lucas.


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> The idea is to have a cast iron pot made that would fit the heater, but only
> hold a cup or two.  The extra mass would take a bit longer to heat up in the
> morning, but it would allow me to take the pot across the shop for longer
> times without the glue begining to cool.
> As I write this I began to wonder if the cast iron is a problem.
> Does anyone know of a foundry that would be able to cast a small run of
> these pots?


Reed,
    
I would be interested in participating in the purchase and could help with
turning the pattern if one is needed out of wood.  I presently use an old 
fashioned "glew pot" that I got from liberon/star.  I have to use it on a hot 
plate.  The water here has something in it that causes serious corrosion 
and has eaten through a few of these pots in past years.  Now I use distilled 
water.  I was able to patch holes in both inner and outer pots with 
"Alvin Lab Metal"  a metal repair paste available at most industrial suppliers 
and I think through Woodworker's Supply.

MartinO


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