Monday, March 26, 2012

Old Brown Glue at Rockler

Two weeks ago we received another order from Lee Valley in Canada for a shipment of Old Brown Glue. At the same time, we received confirmation that Rockler, in America, will proceed with distribution of our product. This is great news for us. We were involved in discussions with Rockler for several weeks, processing papers and going through the requirements for insurance, shipping, billing, MSDS data sheets, and all the other details that were required.

However, when they approved their first order the same week as the new order from Lee Valley came in, I had to go into overtime cooking. I bought another 150 lbs of protein glue, more urea and some new double boilers and went to work.

Mixing, cooking, bottling, labeling, packing, shipping, and all the little details which are required to complete such a large order took me several days. But by the end of the week, there were two shipments, neatly boxed and secured to pallets, properly labeled and ready for the pick up. What a nice feeling of satisfaction.

I am pleased that such a large segment of woodworkers have tried protein glue and take a great deal of satisfaction in knowing that my formulation of traditional hide glue is a part of so many important projects. If you haven't tried it yet, what are you waiting for?

Get it here.



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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 26, 2012 at 5:27 PM

    waiting for it to show up at my local Rockler store. In fact when I was there today I almost put my hands on a bottle of regular hide glue but what stopped me was thinking about your old brown glue.

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  2. W. Patrick EdwardsMarch 27, 2012 at 8:13 AM

    Comments like this give me the encouragement to push on. When times are difficult, words of support are the most important ingredient to happiness. Everyone is searching for their purpose in life. I found mine years ago and I am very fortunate. Thank you.

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  3. JenniferMarch 29, 2012 at 11:35 AM

    I just found your blog looking for information on how to restore boulle furniture. I wasn't sure if you checked old comments so I thought I would just comment on a new post.

    We have a Louis XV style boulle marquetry table/jardiniere. Been in the family for some time and we're trying to determine if it's better to sell as is, or restore it. From your article it seems the cost to restore is going to exceed the value. Much of the brass inlay is missing, or separated and curled.

    Thoughts?

    And by the way, I'm stunned, just floored by the intricacy of the work you do.

    ReplyDelete
  4. W. Patrick EdwardsMarch 29, 2012 at 12:18 PM

    I will respond here briefly and also to your email more fully.

    Boulle surface restoration, which involves tortoise shell and brass can be expensive. However, replacing missing brass elements is much cheaper than the shell, as the shell material is protected and I have limited legal supplies left.

    The basic problem with selling damaged Boulle items "as is" is that few cities have conservators who can properly do the work. Having restoration work done poorly will make the value worse, as it will need to be redone later.

    You will have better luck in larger cities, like New York or San Francisco, where there is probably the proper workshop to do the job.

    In my opinion, in order to maximize the selling price, it is essential to have proper restoration completed, so the polish can be applied, and the brass cleaned.

    ReplyDelete