Old Brown Glue Self-Bonding Liquid Hide Glue, 5oz

Gerstner sells their own hide glue, but it's about three times the price of the smaller Old Brown Glue bottle. I figured the smaller bottle would do what I needed, and it did, though barely.This glue does require heating or it's almost too thick to squeeze out of the bottle. I warmed a couple cups of water and put in the whole bottle, which worked OK, though I think next time I'd empty the bottle into an open-top container and warm that to make it easier to quickly dip a brush and spread the glue before it starts to cool. (I've read since that baby-bottle warmers work well for the purpose.) Love the fact that you can reposition the glue with a bit of heat and moisture. I used a damp rag and small clothes iron to make a couple adjustments to my work.

old fashioned, but still reliable. holds well, but can apply a heat gun and redo the joins. lots of set up time. store in refrigerator to prolong shelf life. heat in water bath -do not plan to use microwave

So valuable! All the benefits of hide glue with few of the difficulties...this is easy to warm up, easy to remove, and its reversibility makes it that much more valuable. I also like the comparative naturalness of it. I keep my bottle in the refrigerator, to extend its life. Then, rather than warming the whole bottle in hot water, I just warm what I need for a given glue-up in a washed yogurt cup sitting in a mug of hot water. This is how I learned to do it from the great Peter Galbert. Thank you, Old Brown Glue!

I wanted to make knives without resin epoxy- this worked wonders! It’s fun to use as well, knowing that it is a traditional glue. It doesn’t let go when set, either.For traditional crafts, I highly recommend this glue.Cleans up easily with soap and water!

The Old Brown glue works. Reassembled a Danish modern rosewood chair flawlessly with heated (~140 F) glue. Considering that there were twelve, joints that, by their nature, have to be assembled simultaneously and swiftly clamped, the working time was adequate. Cleanup with water was effortless perhaps because the finished surfaces had been lightly waxed. The results are very good.A feature of Old Brown glue is that the expiration date is stamped on the container in the gap left when the label was wrapped around the container. This user missed it which is why he had to edit this review.The big advantage to a soluble glue (like hide glue or Old Brown glue) is that it seems like no glued joint lasts forever -- not the robust Titebond, white glue, epoxy (a fools errand, indeed) and the whole spectrum of gorilla products. When it comes time to open the item up and re-glue it you'll benefit most from a soluble hide glue or Old Brown. A syringe and alcohol (first check if the finish will tolerate your alcohol and stay away from "rubbing alcohol" which may contain oils) or water applied carefully to the joint will eventually weaken the hide glue and ultimately (could take days of regular reapplication) free the joint. [A dead blow mallet and a light touch is handy when opening joints.]The alternative is hours picking out dowels or, heaven forbid, making a fresh double tenon.Even though Old Brown works as it should and is undeniably handy., this user is likely to go back to cooking hide glue so it's "fresh" at each use -- no use going through the sheer terror of a complex glue up & clamping only to discover that the packaged glue had expired...

This glue is excellent. It is easy to use, it becomes liquid in an instant when the bottle is put in warm water. It allows enough time to adjust as you glue and it holds very well. I used it on an antique chair and I feel good to know that it can be taken apart again, if need be. Thank you

After reading many reviews and tests of Liquid vs. Crystal Hide glues, I decided to try this stuff out. My primary concern was strength, but having seen many antiques ruined by repairs with PVA glues (which will eventually fail and are difficult to remove), I was concerned with repairability. Hide glue is famous for this. On the cabinet I purchased this for, the original glue was hide, but prior repairs were done with modern PVA type glue which of course failed over time and took hours to remove. This glue is plenty strong, and can be easily repaired in another 50 years. Heat it up to ~80°F and it's ready to use. As it cools, you can feel when it starts to bite. Definitely recommend for any project that you intend to last another hundred years.

Was able to heat and use right away - was easy to use after talking to a woodworker and he recommended it

Great for digging yourself out of a hole - used mine for my double bass seams when a luthier was not available - holds great, easily removed when needed (heat/hot water).Very simple to heat up and use - follow the instructions closely and you won't have a problem!