Hafting with Hide Glue and Sinew

[your_comforting_company]

I made a flint "pocketknife" from a flake. Not beautiful or a work of art, but I was really wanting to try some hafting. The stick is Liriodendron tulipfera (yellow poplar, or tulip poplar), I don't know what kind of jasper the blade is. I used a small strip of sinew, twisted singly and wrapped around and around, then glued in place using hide glue.
First order of business was to get the glue reconstituted. I made a quick "tallow lamp" from two drink cans and used a piece of true tinder fungus for the wick.
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break up and add the dehydrated glue to a little bit of water in the top of the stove.
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use a stick to add a drop at a time to the sinew and to fill in the crevices where the stone meets wood.
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let it set for a few hours to dry out and not be sticky anymore, and you're done! If the glue is too sticky, add a few drops of water. If it's not sticky enough, let it "cook" until it gets thicker again.

[preachtheWORD]

You da man, as usual! Could you post your hide glue recipe? Or if you have posted it before, could you post a link? Thanks!

[your_comforting_company]

hide glue.. get you a $1 bag of doggie treat rawhide, and a crock pot.. don't worry, you can still use the crock pot later. soak the rawhide till it's pliable enough to cut into little squares, about the size of your pinky nail (or smaller if you can get it). Add the rawhide to the pot, with just enough water to cover, then that much more water. depending on how much you wanted to make the recipe is variable, and really you are just cooking the gelatin out of the collagen, straining it and evaporating the water back off for it to thicken.
put the crock pot on whatever is just simmering, and let it ride for several hours, stirring it occasionally.
The longer and hotter it cooks, the darker brown, and weaker the glue will be. I'm not sure the point of drop-off, but my stuff is really brown, as you can see, but sticks your fingers together really well.
anyhow, while it's still liquid pour through an old window screen, or scoop out as much of the leftover rawhide as you can, pour the liquid glue on something flat and shallow for it to dry, and leave it alone for a week or so.. somewhere cool, and drafty so it doesn't mold or get funky.
basically you are making "jello-jerky".. just dehydrating the "glue" that makes the rawhide stiff and translucent.
*likewise you could mix up some eggs, soak the rawhide, and stretch it soft, somewhat like buckskin*
anyhow.. if you need to use it, you add a little water, a little glue, a little heat, and use it like you would any other.. but it is water soluble!
No recipe to follow really.. just skin, water, heat, and evaporation. Supposedly higher heat and longer cooking makes it weaker, as would any other contamination like brains or smoke (formaldehyde), but my glue is from smoked braintan scraps and it works fine for what I've used it for. you won't know what you've got till it cools and thickens.