dog chew glue (sticky topic)

[dragonman]

has anybody out there had good results making glue from rawhide dog chews, does anyone know if this is natural un-adulterated rawhide? I've already posted some glue question, so I'm sorry to bother folks, but I've made this glue and I'm insecure about using it for some reason.Its my first sinew backing and I've put so many hours into this bow I dont want to mess it up, the glue did gel up like its supposed to ,but didn/t feel  very sticky

[jamie]

shouldnt be a problem . even if it was smoked it wouldnt bother the final product. i rock boiled glue sveral times and it was loaded with ash from the fire. think it made it stronger . peace

[eaglewing]

I have made glue from rawhide dog chews before and i didn't have any problems.  Yes the rawhide in dog chews is natural rawhide sometimes they add a flavoring to the chew to make it more tasty for the dogs but other then that it should be real rawhide.  The flavored dog chews should be easy to tell apart form the regular ones.  My first bow was a sinew baked hickory with the sinew glued on with glue made form rawhide dog chews.   

[dragonman]

thanks , I will test  it out first but sounds like it will probably be ok

[wakosama]

Maybe easier... TBB has a chart showing 'Knox gelatin" which is basically hide glue with a very high strength rating.  Probably higher than homemade glue because it's more refined.  Just an observation.

[Marc St Louis]

I bought some Dog chews many years ago to use as backing strips and found out something interesting about them.  When I soaked them in water and opened them up there were some gelatin remnants inside.  This lead me to believe that they had already been processed for gelatin with the leftovers sold as Dog chews

[Coo-wah-chobee]

Maybe easier... TBB has a chart showing 'Knox gelatin" which is basically hide glue with a very high strength rating.  Probably higher than homemade glue because it's more refined.  Just an observation.

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[wakosama]

OK, still it rated high on their test chart.  Thanks for the tip on protein chain length... as far as refined, wouldn't that make it more consistently reliable than the dog chew?

[Coo-wah-chobee]

........Dog chews are hide so they are more reliable as far as strength. Now what kinna hide is another story. Refined ( as defined by the FDA means has few impurities and is safe fer human consumption ) and strength are two different things. Its rated high on the charts in TBB because I suspect they tested a weaker strength hide glue that was commercially available. Also, the tests were done in the early nineties as I remember, a long time ago and ifn I remember correctly knox was made out of either hawg hide er bone then, you could never be sure. Knox is an ok glue ifn thats what ya want but hide including dog chew is superior. Fer example you never see horn sinew bows ( by craftsmen ) that will use anything but the best hide glue thats available er homemade. Makin' the best hide glue is also another story................bob

[dragonman]

thanks guys, and you're right Marc, Thats a distinct possibility, if they can make more money, they will do it!!! as for Knox, you can't buy it over here. There may be an equivalent but I dont know. And  as for buying it , there are a few suppliers here, but I rang them and the all sell only the 80 grade which is the lowest dilution i believe and they also use a bone/hide mix. I want to back a fairly extreme  static recurve experiment, so I want the best, the only thing i can do is experiment with diferent glues and hides

[jamie]

see if you can get fish air bladders . i did a batch with some carp bladders and it was excellent

[dragonman]

Good idea, I heard they make the strongest natural glue there is, probably expensive and difficult to find though I bet?