Thursday, April 2, 2020

Cooking Oatmeal or Cooking Glue


You Cannot Make Marquetry Without Hot Glue



At this age, I get up ever day at 5:00 am and hit the ground running.  I believe the first 4 hours of the day are the most important.  There are no distractions, it is so quiet you can hear the birds sing, and you get to see the dawn break.

After my shower the first thing I do is make coffee and oatmeal.  Then I watch the darkness change into light, as my kitchen window faces east and I can see the earliest light appear as I wash the dishes.

Making oatmeal has become a ritual over the past few years.  Organic oatmeal with flax, berries, bananas, and just a touch of brown sugar is all I need to fuel the body for the important things I need to do.  The coffee helps.  Did you know that caffeine has a high that lasts 24 hours?  No wonder I seem to need it to start the day.

When I arrive at work the first job is to check the glue pot.  Making the hot hide glue is exactly the same as making oatmeal, but without the berries.

Traditional Hide Glue Cakes


Today I am posting the second part of the Fine Woodworking video series about protein glues.  When I lecture on this topic, I always encourage my audience to not make this more complicated than it is.  Remember, protein glues have been used for 8,000 years and that is way before nuclear physics was even imagined.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to cook animal glue.

Water and Heat Chart


I think this video does a good job of making that point:Start Cooking Protein Glue Today!

Fish Glue

Rabbit Skin Glue
Hide Glue


Liquid Hide: Processed or Organic?

Ready to Work


Tomorrow, the video gets into the application of this glue to common woodworking problems.

2 comments:

Martin said...

If you are as particular about your oatmeal as your woodworking, I highly recommend Anson Mills. Their heirloom oatmeal (and grits) is absolutely superb.

Jeremy said...

I despised oatmeal growing up because the "improved" instant oatmeal packets were more like glue than food. In the last few years I discovered how amazing simple basic oatmeal really is. I'm sure this is another parallel to your metaphor, making marketing improvements where none really are needed.
As always, I appreciate the blog, good content as always.