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I was recently reading about traditional Japanese joinery, and came across a reference to rice glue. It appears that this is a very strong type of glue that can be made by hand with household materials. That got my interest, and I’d love to experiment with it. However, I could not find any information on actually making this kind of glue.
Any ideas or opinions? Does anyone have experience using, or making, rice glue?
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You can make rice glue using rice starch and water. I know it is used for gluing rice paper to wooden frameworks of folding screens, not sure of its structural strength.
Stephen
*Matthew, FWW had a brief article on making and using rice glue a few years ago. I believe it was for gluing the felt into jewelry boxes. You should be able to find it using the search key. It was the only woodworking article I ever read which indicated that you could eat the leftovers. GP
*Envelopes and stamps didn't come pre-glued when my father was growing up in China. To seal a letter he would take some grains of cooked rice and smear them along the flap. The softer and moister the rice, the easier it was to apply. Starch adhesives are still used today--check the ingredients on a box of wallpaper sizing. Chances are, it's made from wheat. Starch is convenient because it can be dissolved when you want to remove the wallpaper.You can cook rice in a lot of water until it falls apart. If you put it on a brush, it's rice glue; if you serve it in a bowl, it's "congee" or rice gruel. Or, soak raw rice and water in the refrigerator for several days, pulverize in a blender, and cook. Put a little into a pot and cook, stirring constantly, until it turns sticky. Pour some more into greased pie tin and steam it until firm. Roll it up and call it rice noodle.
*Where were you reading about Japanese joinery?
*Matthew,Here's my two yen worth as I live and work in Japan. Rice glue is traditionally used for putting the paper onto the wood frames of shoji and fusuma (the window shades and room dividers in a Japanese house). It is also used for putting up wallpaper, as mentioned above (although new construction these days uses a different blend of stuff). And, I have also heard of it being used for gluing the two halves of a japanese sword scabbard together. It is not a very strong bonding agent for wood to wood. But it is excellent for paper to wood.the rev
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