# liquid hide glue ok for dining room table top?



## trsnider (Nov 23, 2012)

I'm gluing up a 1.25×36"x8' maple table top by myself. Is/will liquid hide glue be ok to use? I like it because of the longer open time. It will be glued up in 2 sections and then the section put together to save my nerves. I suppose I could use titebond if I'm feelin lucky & it goes smoothly (but they rarely do). 

I doubt if it would ever get enough liquid on it to delaminate but there's lots of grandkids.


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## Unknowncraftsman (Jun 23, 2013)

No I wouldn't use titebond liquid hide glue. Old brown glue yes but not for your first time a table top is a important glue up.
I would like to suggest you make a test piece with titebond hide glue. Use some scraps of the maple let it sit day or two and see if you can break the bond with your hands . I wager you will.
Good Luck


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

I agree with Aj. OBG is much better than Titebond LHG. Warm the OBG to make it a free flowing liquid, apply with a brush (round ones are best) and assemble as you would with PVA. It will be fine.
If you'd like to see a fairly complex glue up with OBG, check this one out.
https://www.lumberjocks.com/shipwright/blog/132118


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> I would like to suggest you make a test piece with titebond hide glue.
> 
> - Aj2


I have a better idea. Take any Titebond LHG you have and toss it in the garbage.


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

Titebond 3 has a good enough open time.


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## DrTebi (Jun 16, 2009)

No love for Titebond Liquid Hide Glue? That is strange. I have glued up about 20 projects with it, and never had any glue failure.

I wonder how easily joints really come apart when they get wet. For a table top I agree it may be a risk. But saying it's a crappy glue and throwing it in the trash, no way.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

On the topic of hide glue failing because it gets a little water on it.
….. don't worry about it.
Joinery needs to be soaked, preferably with hot water at length to get it to release. It will release and it is a great advantage of the glue but spilling a little water on a table top is seriously a non issue.

Patrick Edwards, maybe the foremost expert on hide glue on this side of the ocean says if you don't take your furniture in the bath tub with you, it will be fine.


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## Unknowncraftsman (Jun 23, 2013)

> No love for Titebond Liquid Hide Glue? That is strange. I have glued up about 20 projects with it, and never had any glue failure.
> 
> I wonder how easily joints really come apart when they get wet. For a table top I agree it may be a risk. But saying it s a crappy glue and throwing it in the trash, no way.
> 
> - DrTebi


Make up a test piece break it and see where it fails. I did my due diligence hoping for a glue in the summer. All the test broke at the glue very easily.
I met Patrick at a woodworking show in Pasadena. I found his glue to be superior it does costs more then pva glue and it doesn't last forever. But that's ok with me. 
The pros outweigh the cons by far.
Good Luck with your Franklin glue


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

Never one to follow the pack, this is my go-to liquid protein glue. It's less expensive than OBG, has a faster tack and equivalent open time. I've also never had a batch go bad on me (I still keep it in the fridge though).


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## Unknowncraftsman (Jun 23, 2013)

I have heard about that glue from a friend. Do you advise I should try it I don't want to create a pack.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> I have heard about that glue from a friend. Do you advise I should try it I don't want to create a pack.
> 
> - Aj2


We could form a club. Members Only!

But yeah give it a try. I've been using it for a few years and like it. It has all of the good features of hide glue with the added benefits I mentioned above.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Fish glue is fine. It's more flexible than hide or bone glues and was used in the old days for glueing materials with different expansion rates like metals, bone, and tortoise shell. In these cases it is less likely to fail due to the forces of expansion. 
You've almost certainly used it before. Remember the glass bottles of glue in garde one at school?
(Maybe I'm dating myself)


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> You've almost certainly used it before. Remember the glass bottles of glue in garde one at school?
> (Maybe I'm dating myself)
> 
> - shipwright


LePage Mucilage.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Yup, fish glue.


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## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

What problems have you guys had with Titebond LHG? I've used it for various things, including panel glue ups, and never had a problem with it. If anything it is a little easier to use at room temperature than the LBG and is not as likely to need to be warmed to re-liquify (de-gel) except maybe in the winter. OGB does have better stick when you need a rub joint. TB LHG also seems to have a longer shelf life without refrigeration than OGB and is quite a bit cheaper as well.

I like fish glue when when using lighter colored wood where a darker glue joint might be visible. Smell definitely takes me back to grade school in the 60s. Anyone who has licked an old envelope from back then will recognized the flavor too.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Personal preference I guess, and I do a lot of rub joints. I prefer the gel at room temperature and the ability to have a range of viscosities based on how much you warm it.
That and I know and respect the source.


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## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

I like OBG for the same reasons but sometimes I like the fact that the TB LHG can just sit on the shelf and be usable without warming it a bit so I am more likely to use it for small or quick glue ups. I usually have both on hand.

BTW, for anyone who has not tried hide glue, one benefit of using it for a large or complicated glue up is that if something does go wrong or it takes longer than than expected and you have to back up and try again, you do not have to completely remove any glue that dried before proceeding. Unlike PVA, hide glue will bond to dried hide glue so you can squirt more glue into a spot and it will still bond just fine. With PVA, any glue that dries too much during your assembly may have to be scraped or sanded completely off before you can proceed or try again. If the hide glue did dry and there is a thick glob, you can use a wet 3M pad to remove excess and the water reactivates what you don't remove. Clean up of the squeeze out can be done the same way and it does not block finishes like PVA does.


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## DrTebi (Jun 16, 2009)

> I like OBG for the same reasons but sometimes I like the fact that the TB LHG can just sit on the shelf and be usable without warming it a bit so I am more likely to use it for small or quick glue ups. I usually have both on hand.
> 
> BTW, for anyone who has not tried hide glue, one benefit of using it for a large or complicated glue up is that if something does go wrong or it takes longer than than expected and you have to back up and try again, you do not have to completely remove any glue that dried before proceeding. Unlike PVA, hide glue will bond to dried hide glue so you can squirt more glue into a spot and it will still bond just fine. With PVA, any glue that dries too much during your assembly may have to be scraped or sanded completely off before you can proceed or try again. If the hide glue did dry and there is a thick glob, you can use a wet 3M pad to remove excess and the water reactivates what you don t remove. Clean up of the squeeze out can be done the same way and it does not block finishes like PVA does.
> 
> - Lazyman


Interesting information!
You say "LHG does not block finishes", what exactly does that mean? I do realize now that I haven't had any glue show through any of my LHG projects… but didn't know it might be because of this? Do you actually say that e.g. linseed oil will happily flow "through" the glue and under any smudges?


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## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

> What problems have you guys had with Titebond LHG? I ve used it for various things, including panel glue ups, and never had a problem with it. If anything it is a little easier to use at room temperature than the LBG and is not as likely to need to be warmed to re-liquify (de-gel) except maybe in the winter. OGB does have better stick when
> - Lazyman


I haven't had any problems with it either. I started using it after seeing Richard Maguire using it on all of his projects. If its good enough for him its good enough for me lol.


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## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

No, finishes will not flow through or under. You still have to remove any glue and get a clean surface. So I suppose it would be more accurate to say it is less likely to block finishes. I guess what that means is that you can completely remove any glue from the surface without it leaving residue in the grain? Not sure how or why exactly. I don't know how many times I thought I had all the PVA glue squeeze out removed only to find that the glue soaked into the grain (or something?) and repels any stain or finish applied where the glue was, even after scraping and sanding it. That has not happened to me with hide glue. In fact with hammer veneering using hot hide glue, you literally spread the hide glue on both the top and bottom surface of the veneer. After it dries, you clean the glue off the surface with water (I use a 3m pad to speed the process) followed by a little light scraping and sanding as needed. If you tried to do that PVA, or just about any other glue for that matter, the finish would be a disaster.


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## DrTebi (Jun 16, 2009)

OK, that makes a lot more sense.

I clean up all glue joints just after clamping with a damp rag, never had an issue. If I did find some left-over glue later, I use spit… I read about that trick somewhere. There are some "qualities" to your spit (even if that sounds awful…) that make it very suitable to clean up little LHG glue smears here and there… well, that's what was being said and it works.


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## JackDuren (Oct 10, 2015)

We have used hide glue on many large tops without a problem. Just follow the directions..


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