History of Hide Glue
Nearly 4,000 years ago, the Egyptians were
using hide glue for their furniture adhesive. This is proven by
hairs found in Pharaoh's tombs and by stone carvings depicting
the process of gluing different woods. Hide glue is still in use
today for wood gluing and over the years much has been written
about the manufacture and use of hide glue for hundreds of other
adhesive applications. With the evolution of synthetic (ready to
use) adhesives, hide glue has taken a lesser role in industry but
has maintained a major role in repair and restoration of antique
furniture, reproduction of period furniture, restoration,
production and repair of musical instruments as well as numerous
other applications.
Most of the hide glue literature was
written from the mid 1800's to the mid 1900's, and unfortunately
much of this literature has been lost or abandoned.