How To Make and Use Hide Glue: "The Duct Tape of our Ancestors."

How To Make and Use Hide Glue: "The Duct Tape of our Ancestors."

Did you know that many of the most beautiful musical instruments, decorations, chairs, sturdy shelves, and even parts of ships and wagons were held together with glue? One of our ancestor's first great scientific triumphs was this deceptively strong potion made from the "gluey" collagen and protein found in leftover scraps of skin. Deceptively strong , normally if a seam does break it takes part of the wood or other material with it, and surprisingly durable . Hide glue is as simple as soaking, heating, and storing. In this manual, we focus on the concepts and adapting them to the field for heritage and survival skills or classrooms for science or literacy goals. The manual thoroughly covers how it was done, but it also shows how it can be done with simple start products that can be picked up at your local grocery or big box store. There is no need to hunt or otherwise collect skin to learn the concepts covered. As a bonus skill, the details and plans for one of our most popular gift chairs are included for your first batch of glue to be used on.