liquid hide glue is no good?

[Mario Kessels]

After a reaction in another topic i would like to hear your opinion about liquid hide glue since i started using it recently and really like it but i think some others think very different about this.
I would already like to add that if its really not good what is the technical explanation/ cause of it?

[Matt Cushman]

Liquid hide glue has always worked very well for me. Just be sure it is a fresh bottle. I have used it to attach fiber binding and purfling. I also glue in frets with it. If you mix a little liquid hide glue with hot hide glue you can extend the open time of your hot hide glue a lot. If you don't know if it is fresh just test it. Put a smear on a piece of glass it should dry fast and get brittle if it is fresh.

[Barry Daniels]

On my first guitar I used a new bottle of liquid hide glue to attach the fingerboard to the neck. I let it dry overnight, took off the clamps and the fingerboard slid off the neck revealing puddles of wet glue. I threw the glue away and haven't bought any since.

[Mario Kessels]

Whaha...not really up to specs then Barry

[Barry Daniels]

Some folks appear to have good results with it but some don't. Seems a bit risky to me.

[Paul Breen]

The bottled liquid hide glue is unreliable, why even take a chance on using it for a glue joint that you hope will be both strong and enduring? Some claim no issues while others have had complete disappointments. Matt mentions a couple of successes but neither examples require the strength you need for center seams, linings, top/ back attachment, crack repair or other critical wood to wood joinery.

Hot hide glue is not difficult to prepare or to use. I think most folks entertaining it's use are intimidated by the open time limitations. The trick to open time is keeping your work warmed up to over 95 degrees. An Infra Red lamp works really well for heating and maintaining temperature and is how I typically keep my work warmed up. A small hot room would be ideal for hide glue work and I have done this before too. A thinner mix, more watery also helps. If the glue is too thick, the wood it is applied to will suck the water out of it too fast. I always prime both surfaces first with hot hide glue to let it start soaking in before a second application of glue just prior to clamping. This greatly reduces water getting sucked out of the hide glue too quickly during clamp up. Urea can be added in small amounts to hot hide glue to extend open time, about 5% or less. Urea can be purchased at a garden center. I experimented briefly with the stuff early on but got away from it when I learned better how to use the glue and keep my work heated up. I'm pretty sure Urea is the component in liquid hide glue but in an amount that prevents it from gelling at room temperature. Too much Urea adversely affects hide glue properties, I would recommend against it's use.

[Mark Swanson]

My experience with it has also been bad, I agree with Barry and Paul.

[Matt Cushman]

I just thought I would add to what I said before. I use hot hide glue for almost every joint on my mandos and guitars. The liquid glue is good for frets as it adheres to metal better than HHG. I like using hot hide glue. For me it is the easiest glue to use for most building tasks. I don't use the bottle stuff for anything critical. I have glued on fiber binding with it in the past with no problems so far ( 16 years ) . Under a finish it is protected from moisture so it is unlikely to fail. The only advantage it has is long open time and it is ready to use straight from the bottle and it sticks to metal.

[Chuck Tweedy]

If you want long open time, but with the benefits of hot hide glue, use Norlan fish glue. It is very reliable, has very similar properties to HHG (reversibility, hard cure, natural color, etc.), and has very long open time.

[Michael Lewis]

Oh, just learn to use hot hide glue! Keep your parts warm.

[Mario Kessels]

i hear what you are saying Michael. It sounds like I am the only one here that thinks it's a hassle to use.
I like to have glue available immediately when I need it, apart from the time I have when I am actually glueing things. So for me it's a bit of a hassle before and during the application. I really tried to get used to it but if there is other glues with the same props and without the drawbacks i like those more for sure.

For now I will keep using the LHG for fretjobs because too many of you had bad experiences with this and if there is anything that really bothers me its a client coming back because a joint didnt hold.
So NO for liquid hide glue in most applications unfortunately.

[Steven Smith]

I also used to hate waiting for hide glue to heat up. My solution was buy a cheap microwave for the shop. Now I just put 500 ml of water in the microwave for 3 minutes and then dump the hot water and my 1 oz bottle of cold hide glue in my little crock type glue pot. Total is less than 10 minutes for the glue to be ready. I'm usually prepping, scraping or something so glue is usually ready before I need it.