Anyone experienced in making hide glue?

[Blood Trail]

On my path to becoming 100% primitive, I'd figured that I need something other than gorilla glue to affix my arrowheads to my shafts (gorilla glue is amazing stuff and works great, btw).

So I looked into making hide And pitch glue. Which one is best?

Anyway, I bought a bag of dog chews and cut them up in smaller chucks. Should of cut then smaller but whatever.

After a couple of hours at a slow boil, it thicken up nicely. I put it in a container to cool and it gel up like jello. I read that I have to let t dry out.

Did I do this right? Who can I make the strongest glue I can out of this stuff?

[txtimetravler]

I don't know but good luck on your journey.

[Shane]

I've used it in guitar and mandolin construction and repair. You can use gelatin from the grocery story, but the pellets you can get that are made specifically for glueing wood are better. You need a double boiler. I use a small electric Hot Shot water boiler, but a pot on the stove or on a gas grill outside would work too. You just need to be able to control the temp. I cut the hook off of a coat hanger and bent the rest of it into a rack that sits across the boiler and holds a small plastic cup in the water. Put the hide glue pellets in the cup and heat the water. Get the hide glue to 140 degrees and hold it there (use a thermometer). That's the best temp to work it. Don't over cook it. You can dip a paint brush in the glue and apply it to both pieces of wood you're glueing together. Work fast. Heat the wood with a blow dryer or heat gun before glueing, and that will keep the glue workable a little longer.

Here's a good place to get the glue: http://www.lmii.com/index.php?option...=225&Itemid=49

If you have glue left in your cup, just let it cool and keep it in the fridge. Heat it up again when you need to glue something else. It'll keep for several weeks or months. I usually throw it out after a month or so. New fresh glue is good, and it's not expensive.