Glues that dry clear

[Greg Martin]

Im looking for a wood glue that will dry clear. I mostly use tite bond origanal or west systems on furniture or cabinets,but id like to change to a wood glue that dries clear.ive seen guys on you tube using white glues,but dont know what they were.
Franklin has a transluncent glue but dont know if the glue is a hobby glue or a suitable luthier glue.anyone???

[Bob Gramann]

Although a drop if hot hide glue looks a little brown, a glue line of HHG is invisible.

[Alan Carruth]

I guess the question is, why? Most wood glues that are water based will make an unobtrusive or invisible glue line even in light woods if the joint is properly made. Glues that don't shrink, like CA or epoxy, will leave a very prominent glue line even though they do dry clear. Some water based white glues do dry clear, but may have properties that make them less than desirable in many applications. Elmer's old fashioned school glue, for example, tends to be very prone to failure in high humidity, and also will creep under a sustained load. A bit more information about what you're planning on doing will help in making recommendations.

[Greg Martin]

Im looking for a glue that will dry pretty clear,on quality professional projects . Ive been a woodworker for over 35 years now and still have the quest for a wood glue that will dry clear. Funny in the marine business,we used weldwood plastic resin glue for teak and mahogany,because it was waterproof but also dried lighter than resorsonal glue or urea resin glues.
I use hot hide on braces and linings but gotta tell ya the smell makes me want to puke,just cant imagine using it all the time ,maybe there just isnt one. The quest continues.
For guitar necks i use west systems, my pieces are flat ,joints are perfect so no problem there. My main issue is on light spruce tops and maple backs for archtops. Tops and back joints on acoustics come out perfect and epoxy joints are also no problem.
But it goes behond guitars, it goes to any furniture project,solid or veneers. Id just like a glue to dry clear.

[Bob Gramann]

I use the 192g HHG from LMI and haven't noticed any odor from that. The Behlen 315g that HHG that I use for bridges has some odor. My HHG (192g) joints on spruce, both acoustic flatops and carved violin or mandolin tops, are invisible. The same is true with the one carved (so far incomplete) maple back I have done.

I will have to investigate the Weldwood plastic resin glue for marine use--I was disappointed when resorcinol disappeared from the market. I don't do much work where the joints need to be immersed, but when I had to make gunnels or a canoe paddle (I'm a whitewater boater), resorcinol was my glue of choice.

[Alan Carruth]

I use HHG for archtop plate center joins, and get almost invisible glue lines with rubbed joints.

I don't find the odor of HHG objectionable when it's fresh. It's not so nice after it's sat around for a while, but you shouldn't use it when it's not fresh anyway.

The clearest traditional wood glue is made from sturgeon swim bladders. You just soak a piece of the membrane in cold water until it has taken it all up, and heat it. There will be some insoluble stuff that you fish out. The glue is almost water clear, and is said to be stronger than the usual hide glue, and more heat resistant. They mix it with plaster to make gesso for gilding: the plaster ends up white, and doesn't give a dark cast to the finished product. There are two main objections to sturgeon glue. My old Kremer catalog lists hide glue at $8.00/100 grams, and sturgeon glue at ten times that price. The other problem with it is that it stinks. It smells like the under side of the dock on a summer afternoon after the party boat has come back. I put in a couple of cloves which helped mask the smell when I mixed a batch up.

Another possibility would be gelatin. You can get Knox's unflavored gelatin at most stores, and Kremer sells gelatin in sheets or powder. It I said to be a high gram strength glue.

[Paul Breen]

Im looking for a glue that will dry pretty clear,on quality professional projects . Ive been a woodworker for over 35 years now and still have the quest for a wood glue that will dry clear. Funny in the marine business,we used weldwood plastic resin glue for teak and mahogany,because it was waterproof but also dried lighter than resorsonal glue or urea resin glues.
I use hot hide on braces and linings but gotta tell ya the smell makes me want to puke,just cant imagine using it all the time ,maybe there just isnt one. The quest continues.
For guitar necks i use west systems, my pieces are flat ,joints are perfect so no problem there. My main issue is on light spruce tops and maple backs for archtops. Tops and back joints on acoustics come out perfect and epoxy joints are also no problem.
But it goes behond guitars, it goes to any furniture project,solid or veneers. Id just like a glue to dry clear.

This quote taken from the Dap website.

"Weldwood® Plastic Resin Glue is a powdered, ureaformaldehyde wood glue activated by mixing with water. Forms a bond stronger than the wood itself. "

This is the same stuff Gibson used to assemble many instruments in the 50's and 60's. It looks like a Red or Yellowish foam when cured. It is a completely non-reversible adhesive that has no place in instrument fabrication or repair.

I have used the hide glue from both LMI and Stewart MacDonalds. Neither has much of any smell when used fresh. I make batches and freeze the unused portions. The stuff keeps for a long time when frozen . It's cheap, so I will discard after a few months and start over with a fresh batch. The dry crystals keep fresh in a sealed container, maybe indefinitely but it's too cheap to bother with testing the limits. Liquid hide glue is too iffy for instrument work. It has Urea added to keep it liquid at room temperature and will go bad quickly. I would recommend against it's use on instruments.

[Greg Martin]

Yea your right Paul ,plastic resin glue isnt for acoustic guitars. Although it would be just fine for neck ups or solid body guitar glue ups. We used it all the time for bent lam tiller handles.mahogany and maple.But
I havent used plastic resin glue for ten plus years since i left socal and the boat industry, And aqmd far behind.
it was the glue of choice for marine applications.it wasnt to bad to mix with warm water.but rush it or use cold water and it acted like nestles quick done backwards. We bought it in 50 lb card board barrels.
Ill try some fresh HHG from LMI and ill mix smaller batches than i had before,if it dont turn my stomach it might solve the problem. Great info here thanks guys.

[David King]

Urethane glue used to be available as a water white glue back in the early days when it came is small blue tubes (1970's). The amber color of the current version is very transparent, in fact I used it as a finish once and it was quite nice looking. It's only the foam that's opaque.

[Todd Stock]

192g high clarity hide glue is made from pig skins and has no real odor. Regular 192g, 256g, and 315g have a definite odor, but I've never found it objectionable unless the glue pot cooks dry...

LMI White was a good glue for drying clear, but no longer in production. Titebond adds dye to their glue which - along with a whole host of other reasons - makes the stuff less than color-free when dry. Gorilla White dries clear in normal glue lines, but I find it has the same objectionable handling qualities as other AR/PVA. Fish works well and shows almost as little color as high clarity hide in glue lines or end-grain butt joints.

[Barry Daniels]

If your hide glue stinks then you are not using the right stuff. It should only smell like mild beef or chicken stock like you use to make soup.

[Arnt Rian]

The hide glue I buy is labelled "odorless", perhaps indicating that other (older?) types of hide glue have, or used to have, a type of unpleasant odor. It sure stinks if it gets old in the glue pot though, but normal fresh hide glue isn't bad. Its amber colored, but if you can see the hide glue line after its cured, its a sign that the joint was not prepared correctly.

[Clay Schaeffer]

"Ill try some fresh HHG from LMI and ill mix smaller batches than i had before,if it dont turn my stomach it might solve the problem. Great info here thanks guys."

I use the high clarity stuff and it has little to no noticeable odor when fresh. I put the flakes and water in small squeeze bottles with fine tipped spouts and heat it in a small crock pot, so the only time It is open to the air is during application. My wife gets the (2 oz?) bottles from Jo Ann fabrics (6 for $3 on sale).

[Steve Sawyer]

I put the flakes and water in small squeeze bottles with fine tipped spouts and heat it in a small crock pot, so the only time It is open to the air is during application

Clay - that's brilliant. I tried that today, having a kitchen chair that needed repairing. Used a 4-oz bottle that I had from McMaster-Carr. Very convenient for those who only use HHG occasionally.

BTW, here is my "glue pot". Cheap & runs at the perfect temp. I usually put a mason jar in the water bath. The washers are just to keep the bottle from floating off the bottom.

[Steven Smith]

Several of us use 1 oz plastic bottles with a small bolt inside to hold the bottoms down. In my case the bolt is stainless. I believe this was first suggested by Mario Proulx. I have also use a small crock pot for about 7 years now, cheap and effective.

Something I do to get the hide glue ready to use more quickly since I keep the plastic bottles of glue refrigerated between uses. I have a small (cheap) microwave in the shop. I heat the water for the crock pot to about 160 degrees F then add it and the refrigerated plastic bottle of glue to the crock pot. The glue is ready to go in a few minutes.

[Steve Sawyer]

Good suggestion on the bolt, Steven! I've started keeping my hide glue in the freezer, so I might try placing it directly in the microwave for 15 or 30 seconds before putting it in the hot water.

[Steven Smith]

That will probably be ok as long as you don't have the bolt in there!

[Steve Sawyer]

That will probably be ok as long as you don't have the bolt in there!

Actually, the bolt shouldn't cause a problem. It will reflect the microwaves, and because it's not a loop it won't set up a current and make sparks. The only time metal objects cause a problem in microwaves is when they form a circuit (like a gilt border on the edge of a bowl or a twist-tie that has metal-to-metal where it's twisted) or when the metal shields the stuff being heated (like trying to microwave something in one of those aluminum pans, or a plate of leftovers covered with aluminum foil! )

If you forget and put a jar with a metal lid on it in the microwave, you'll note that the lid doesn't get hot. If the lid is tight you might make a mess when the heated stuff inside turns to steam and pops the top off, but the microwaves don't heat the metal.

[Bryan Bear]

Frank Ford had a piece his site showing that he warms his refrigerated HHG in the microwave (or so I remembered). I tried it ONCE. My glue was not in there very long at all and I had a mess of burnt foamy glue. I went back and looked, Frank heats water in the microwave and adds the refrigerated clue cup to it.

[Steven Smith]

That will probably be ok as long as you don't have the bolt in there!

Actually, the bolt shouldn't cause a problem. It will reflect the microwaves, and because it's not a loop it won't set up a current and make sparks. The only time metal objects cause a problem in microwaves is when they form a circuit (like a gilt border on the edge of a bowl or a twist-tie that has metal-to-metal where it's twisted) or when the metal shields the stuff being heated (like trying to microwave something in one of those aluminum pans, or a plate of leftovers covered with aluminum foil! )

If you forget and put a jar with a metal lid on it in the microwave, you'll note that the lid doesn't get hot. If the lid is tight you might make a mess when the heated stuff inside turns to steam and pops the top off, but the microwaves don't heat the metal.

Learn something every day - thanks Steve.