Hot Stuff (on the cheap)
Hide glue is one of my favorite furniture glues but I often hear people remark that it would be fun to try hot hide glue, but the cost of buying a glue pot was prohibitive
Dec 19, 2016
A couple of years ago I was giving seminars on hide glue, one of my favorite furniture glues. After the seminars I often heard people remark that it would be fun to try hot hide glue, but the cost of buying a glue pot was prohibitive. A Hold-Heet glue pot (the benchmark) sells for about $130 and finding a used one is pretty rare.
I decided to do a little research and see if I could find an alternative. I was looking for something that would heat to at least 150° and preferably a bit higher, hold a wide-mouth pint jar, heat quickly, and sell for cheap. I remember reading about folks using baby-bottle warmers, but most have automatic heat control with temperatures that were way below what I needed. After a couple of hours searching every tag line I could think of, I stumbled across a wax warmer that has an adjustable temperature setting and actually has what looks exactly like the glue bucket and lid that my Hold-Heet glue pot has. Bingo! The wax warmer is for cosmetic wax, so you can remove unwanted hair at the same time—or not.
The warmers typically sell for around $30 but be sure you buy one with an adjustable temperature setting. Here is an example of what you might find. You will probably find that specific models sell out pretty quickly. I think the sellers buy a unit of heaters and when those are gone, they may buy a batch of slightly different ones from a different source.
Hide glue is reasonably fussy about temperatures. Too hot and you start to destroy the collagen bonds, too cool and it simply isn’t any fun to work with. I like to heat my glue to 145°.
The first thing I do when I get one of these wax warmers is to fill the pot with water, turn the knob to a setting about two-thirds of the way to maximum (some actually have temperature settings, usually in Celsius), put a meat thermometer in the pot and let the water come to a stabilized temperature, then bump it up a bit at a time until I get a stable 145° reading. I mark the face of the warmer to match the indicator on the knob. Turn off the warmer and let it cool completely, then turn it back on and see where the temperature stabilizes. I’ve purchased several of these and have found they heat very consistently. Once I have the temperature marked I can trust that putting the knob at that setting will give me 145°.
So, no more waffling over experimenting with hide glue. And remember the only difference between hide glue and edible gelatin (there’s always room for … ) is that hide glue is typically made from bovine hide while gelatin is made from pig skin and of course is a bit more refined. Bon Appetit!
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Comments
I use a lidded jam jar in a baby bottle warmer (15$)
Damien, does the baby bottle warmer have an adjustable temp control? What temp can it hold? And yes, I also use a jar to make my glue in, it makes it easy to cap and put in the fridge when I'm done for the day. Glue left at room temp for days can become a very interesting science project!
There are mini crock pots of a similar size for less than $15 that work similarly.
Interestingly, this item is $26 (US) on Amazon.com, but the same item is $110 (Cdn) on Amazon.ca. I know the Canadian dollar is low compared to the American, but not that low! Nice work Amazon.
I also use a hot water bath in a baby bottle warmer to keep my HHG hot. ($5 from a thrift store or Craigslist) It's an older "Parent's Choice" model with a variable thermostat.
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showphoto.php?photo=49269&title=bottle-warmer-002&cat=1720
A baby food jar fits but I mainly use small plastic squeeze bottles from the pharmacy. They're much more precise and faster to use with a trimmed acid brush. The heating is very stable and I can return the squeeze bottles to the fridge or freezer between projects. It's not as romantic as a Hold-Heet and I can't do Brazilian waxes :') but it fits what I do just fine.
The only baby bottle warmers I have found are off/on. Plus, they shut off after a while--so as to not cook the milk
I bought a mini crock pot and am experimenting w it now, had to put variable rheostat on it, as no infinite adjustment.
Docragan I just looked at the Philips bottle warmers and they have adjustable temps like mine and a hold feature. If I were starting out new I would get a Hot Pot type cooker. What type of rheostat are you using? I'm researching sous vide cooking and that may be a solution.
what about the glue pot and warmer from lee valley ? not too big but ok for the job
I too use a wax heater, but I make the glue direct in the wax container, rather than in a separate jam jar. I only make up very small quantities at a time, so that I am not wasting masses of glue, when I decide to start a fresh brew.
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