making hide glue

[Winchester]

Thinking of making my own hide glue rather than buying it but I don't have any cured hide. Would some fresh deer hide work? Also have heard the hooves can be used too? I do have a dehydrator if the hide needs to be dried if that would work.

[dmenzies1950]

All hide glue is, is protein separating from animal parts when heat is added. You probably could use a raw deer hide, but I'm not sure. I usually use bits of rawhide, sinew and yes hooves. I have even used rawhide doggie chew treats. They all contain animal protein. Make sure that you don't get the solution too hot, or you'll have an inferior result. I find 150 to 160 degrees will do the trick. By the way, you can use bones as well but some say the glue is not as good as using the parts that I already mentioned. Have fun! That's the name of the game when you are building bows.     
                                                                         Dale     

[JW_Halverson]

In a word, yes.

The finer you chop up the hide, the higher the yield in glue, so cut it up as fine as you can stand to spend time doing.  Put it all (except the hair and fat) in an ovenproof roasting pan with distilled water and set the temp on your oven as low as you can go, cover tightly, and let it simmer all night long.  If your local water source is low in dissolved minerals you can go with tap water. 

Strain out the solids, and continue in the oven with the lid off the roaster to evaporate water until you are satisfied with the thickness.  Runny syrup is what most people shoot for. 

[turtle]

JW's giving you the right info. I find it easier to use an electric crockpot instead of the oven.

[JW_Halverson]

My crockpot on it's lowest setting can creep up over boiling.  That's why I went to the oven method.  Lower temps generally make stronger glues, but I have also made rush job glue by boiling scraps on the stove top for about an hour.  The glue was still pretty strong. 

To make bone glue, you first have to dissolve the calcium from the collagen matrix, something you just can't do in a home kitchen setting.  Otherwise all you draw out is the very surface collagen and you'd need 200 lbs of bone to make enough glue to glue a snakeskin to a very short bow. 

Raw deer hide is rawhide.  Other than using sinew scraps (or in my case, whole deer leg sinews) rawhide makes the best glue. 

[Pappy]

How do you save it.I have heard to let it jell and cut in blocks like a pie,is that correct ?
   Pappy

[Winchester]

Thank you all for the info! I think I will use the oven method, if I use my wifes crockpot she will have MY hide lol. What is the best ratio of rawhide to water?
Pappy, this is only hear say as I've never made it but I think you freeze it to save it, cut into blocks to use as needed

[dmenzies1950]

Pappy, I found that if left in the gel state it will mold. I either dry it completely or freeze it. If dried it is easily reconstituted by adding water to it.
                            Dale

[Stoker]

 Mike Yancey do a article coupla months ago in PA on this. Very good peice
Thanks Leroy

[JW_Halverson]

If you are going to dry it, make all the effort you can to chop it finer and finer until you have grains as small as rice or smaller.  Even then, do NOT put it away completely closed up.  Mold needs very little moisture and the centers of these little grains can still hold moisture. 

I am a big fan of freezing it in small blocks about the size of ice cubes. 

[Pappy]

Thanks,I got plenty of scrap rawhide and sinew,may try making some and see how it turns out.
   Pappy

[Parnell]

Is there a quality difference in deer rawhide vs. say beef rawhide of the chew toys?
I know how picky some folks get over horn bows and such with having fish bladders and all. 
Does dog chew rawhide make good glue?

[dmenzies1950]

Parnell,  I have used rawhide from elk and deer as well as cow rawhide and have never noticed a difference in the performance. I have used chew toys when I haven't had anything else and have good results with those as well.   Dale

[osage outlaw]

Pappy, after I cut my gelled glue up in tiny pieces I put it in front of a fan for several days.  Once it looked like they were dry as a bone, I let them set out in the open for a couple of weeks in my shop to make sure there wasn't any moisture left in them at all.  I store them in a small jar.  I can't tell you what kind of jar 

[iowabow]

I poured mine out over a sheet and let dry. Be careful of humidity if bacteria starts to grow it will all turn to water. I have a book called hude glue and it said that the cakes would be place out on nets to dry. I just made mine real thin so it would dry real fast.