Hey all, Kale here. The other day when Chris asked me to document our Piggly No Wiggly glue-making process, I may have taken the task a little too seriously. I have no regrets.
After receiving interest from readers about how our Piggly No Wiggly glue is made, we decided to share our operation. The video above documents our glue procedure from beginning to end, with some words from Chris about how it came to be.
But wait, there’s more. Per y’alls suggestions, a “bundle and save” option has been added to our online store – meaning, the more you buy, the more you save. One 8 oz. bottle of Piggly No Wiggly is $16, two is $29 and three is $42. There’s a drop-down option on the store’s landing page where you choose your number of bottles.
It’s a little thank you from us for the continued support and a reminder that, yes, we do read your comments.
Recently we started making our own animal-based glue called “Piggly No Wiggly.” It’s made from three ingredients: food-grade gelatin, uniodized table salt and tap water.
The glue is great for furniture. It has an open time of about 18-20 minutes (depending on the temperature and humidity in your shop). That extra time is nice for complex assemblies. The glue is reversible, like hide glue. It dries clear, which is great when using light-colored woods. It has little smell. And if you store it correctly it will last indefinitely. (Complete instructions can be downloaded at the bottom of the product description.)
Megan and I make several batches a week now as we are gearing up this project. You can buy a bottle of ours for $16. Or you can easily make your own using ingredients from your grocery store and a slow cooker (such as a Crock Pot).
The whole process takes about 15 minutes of active time during two days.
When experimenting, we measure by weight. Eventually we convert that to volume for speed.
Piggly No Wiggly
4 parts gelatin, such as Knox
4 parts hot water from the tap
1 part uniodized table salt (the regular fine-ground stuff)
We make the glue in pretty big batches in vats. But a great way to make it at home is to mix it and cook it in a squeeze bottle for ketchup or mustard.
Start by pouring hot tap water into your bottle. Then add the gelatin and salt. Stir it up. Then close the lid and shake the mixture vigorously. Let it sit for 30 minutes, which is plenty of time for the finely ground gelatin to absorb the water.
The glue after mixing and shaking.
Now heat the bottle in a slow cooker, glue pot or a double boiler. The heat should be about 140° to 150° F. Don’t let it get much hotter or the glue will lose its strength. Cook the glue for two hours. Shake the bottle a couple times during the process.
At the end of two hours, put the glue in your fridge overnight.
The next day, heat the glue the same way as detailed above for two hours. Your glue is done.
The glue being cooked in our glue pot.
At room temperature, it will be a bit like Jell-O. Heat it in a warm water bath (or in your glue pot or slow cooker) before using it. If it’s too thick for your liking, add a little water. If it’s too thin, cook it a little longer.
Store the glue in the fridge, and it will last and last and last.
I know you have questions. Here are some answers. Gelatin has been used to make glue for many years and is basically a form of refined collagen (aka hide glue). It is plenty strong – a good joint will demonstrate wood failure and not glue failure. The gelatin we use is 250 bloom strength, which is the same as most general-use hide glues.
This glue is the result of about a 100 different batches of glue that used different ingredients – everything from vinegar to glycerin to urea.
Will iodized salt work? Yes, we haven’t noticed any difference. Can you use distilled water? Sure. How long should I clamp my joints? Read the instructions here for a complete discussion.
Why the funny name? Well, it’s funny. And the glue is made from pigs.
Oh, one more thing: Your pets will love to eat the squeeze out (Wally!!!!).
One of the many batches of glue I’ve been cooking during the last year.
I’m in the middle of refining a recipe for a liquid hide glue that uses food-grade gelatin as the base product and is essentially clear. If all goes to plan, we should start selling the glue by the end of the year.
Our working name for the stuff is “Death Grip Glue,” which is a bit goth for my taste (even though I came up with the name). So we decided to hold a contest among our readers to see if there’s a better name floating out there.
Here are the qualities of the new glue, which might help spur an idea for a name:
It is essentially clear liquid hide glue with no discernable smell
It is reversible, like other protein-based glues
It is made from three ingredients: gelatin, salt and water
Its shelf life is indefinite as long as it is treated properly
It is made from hides and connective tissue of pigs and cows
It is made in Covington, Kentucky, one batch at a time
Like other protein glues, hardened squeeze-out can be cleaned up with a little hot water
Here are the rules of the contest: One entry per person, please. Give us your one best idea. The winner will receive the very first bottle of glue off the line, all signed by us here at Lost Art Press. Plus a $200 gift certificate to our store.
How to enter: Post your single best idea in the comments. If you don’t include your email in the comment field, we won’t be able to find you and give you the prize. So please include your name and email in the appropriate fields (only we can see your email address).
This contest runs until midnight on July 3. The winner will be determined by us, using no objective criteria except that we love it.
One of the other suggestions for a replacement for the beloved Hold Heet glue pot is to use a coffee mug warmer, such as this one. I chose this particular model because it has two heat settings that are ideal for heating glue (122°F and 140°F), plus it has a timer and an automatic shutoff.
I’ve used it a few times, but the limitation of this kind of glue heater was obvious from the start: It’s too small to heat more than a little bit of glue. If you work on small projects and need only a few ounces of glue at a time, a mug warmer is ideal. But I had trouble heating enough glue for a chair class and had to break out the Hold Heet.
Honestly, it’s a lot to expect from a $20 appliance that is supposed to keep 8 ounces of coffee warm. It just doesn’t put out enough heat to warm a water bath and a plastic glue bottle. (You can’t put the glue bottle directly on the warmer; it will melt.)
One possible option would be to store your glue in a steel container, which could go directly on the appliance. I tried using a large ceramic vessel but couldn’t get the water above 100° F. The thing likes to heat metal.
So the best option was a steel vessel filled with water and a glue bottle inside.
So, bottom line: It’s great for people who need enough glue for a few crackers. But if you need enough for a big piece of casework, look elsewhere.
You may have read a few weeks ago about what happens when Chris gets bored with watching me teach. And what happens a day later when people share “advice” after said experiments. As far as I know, the bugs have not yet eaten what is now Roy Underhill’s Dutch tool chest. (And frankly, I’m a little offended that some of y’all think my dovetail joints aren’t tight enough to keep the bugs out….)
I didn’t bring the chest home, but we did bring home the test joint Chris made with Gummy Bear Glue. On Tuesday, I tried reversing the gummy glue using the same strategies one uses to reverse hide glue; both are gelatin, after all.
But first, I hit the snot out of it…again. We first tried to reverse the joint using nothing but force (a big hammer) the day after Chris glued the two pieces together. It didn’t work then, either. But you see can above that this time, the lump hammer produced the start of a split. Under extreme force, the wood is failing before the gummy glue. Just as it does with hide glue, PVA and other wood-appropriate mastics after they’ve fully cured.
I cut the test joint into three pieces before testing the gummy glue reversal with hot water, alcohol and a chisel.
I boiled water, then as quickly as possible sucked it into a syringe with an 18-gauge needle and inserted hot water into the joint on all sides. After letting it sit for a few minutes, I was able to pop the joint apart with a sharp hammer blow. Just as I’ve done numerous times to hide glue joints treated with hot water.
As you can see, it’s an almost dead-clear reversal – no wood failure in the joint (that teensy bit of failure visible at the top of the above picture is where the split was starting from the untreated hammer blow).
Next I tried inserting 190-proof grain alcohol into the joint. This crystalizes hide glue – and it did the same here. I waited two minutes or so before smacking the joint, and you can see below that the split isn’t quite as clear as with the water, with a few thin areas of wood failure visible (again, the obvious failure at the edge is the result of before-treatment beating).
Then, I used a wide chisel to try to cleanly split the joint without water or alcohol. Same as with any wood glue, there is obvious wood failure – if not as much as I’ve seen with traditional hide glue.
Is two weeks enough set-up time – and in winter, where it’s too cold for the bugs – for a proper test of the gummy glue? Maybe not. But clearly, it has some holding power. Regardless, I am 100-percent certain that Roy’s Dutch tool chest will not fall apart; have you seen the number of nails I use on those things?*
– Fitz
* Maybe you haven’t…but soon, very soon, you’ll be able to refer to a book on the subject. Just trying to head that question off at the pass…
