Thread: Australian Green Glue??

What wrong with good old fashioned hide glue.

Raw material natural bi-product

Environmentally friendly

Water soluble and non toxic.

Glues Well also.


Cheers


Steve

... plus the dogs will lick off any squeeze out saving you the cost of heating water up to wipe it away with. And, you can add flavourings/fruit to any surplus glue and eat it for desert!

Botecote epoxy. Australian made, very low VOC, minimal odour while mixing, no smell when cured. But even PVA is going to be stronger than the wood - really depends on what you will be gluing!

If you end up using something artificial like PVA, it might be of equal or greater importance to take care when disposing of excess and squeeze-out.

I am guilty of mixing more acrylic paints than I need for my wood carvings. Some are nasty, like the cadmium colors and the chromium oxide greens for examples. Flushed away with water, that is dispersed immediately in any waste water treatment facility which uses biodegradation. Then, in most instances, that drains into aquatic environments.

When acrylic paints dry, they polymerize into a sort of plastic which would take a very long time to erode. So, I have a double-wall plastic bag, 3/4 full of wood chips, shavings and sawdust from carvings. I pour the excess paint (5-20ml) in there and walk away. When it's a solid wad of chips and plastic/paint, then I'll toss it.

I say these things as our village is about to open Canada's first zero discharge waste water treatment complex. Ultimately, evaporation and transpiration by the plants in a constructed wetland will deal with the water part. Everything else stays there. There is no design discharge into the Fraser River at all.

I'd vote for hide glue, but i do have a bit of an issue with the term VOC (volatile organic compounds) which to me seems to be a fairly spurious catch all term. The scent of a flower or your favourite herb or the nose on your wine are all VOCs no?

I do however applaud (and share) your search for better, safer materials.

... hide glue

I really appreciate the helpful replies, thanks heaps. Time to experiment with some Hide Glue, any help full tips? Also is their an Australian manufacturer/supplier that anyone knows of?

Neil, Mr. U-Beaut, the owner of this forum sells animal glue. His adds are on the site somewhere. If you search for 'animal glue' you'll find all manner of info on the glue and means of heating it.