making sinew glue

[wally]

I normally buy hide glue in pearl form but I read that you can make glue from sinew rather than hide, which is easy and a little better
Do you cut sinew into small pieces?
Do you just boil it down in water til you get clear glue?
Is it worth the bother?

[Eric Garza]

I hope someone will offer some wisdom here.  I have about 5 pounds of sinew scraps left from last fall's back tendon harvest that I want to turn into sinew glue.  I've made hide glue before but it didn't come out as well as I would have liked, and I'd love for someone to offer the sort of guidance that would yield perfect sinew glue.  I might even offer some of it for trade if it comes out well, as I'll end up with a lot more than I can use.

[crooketarrow]

    The old guy and friend I knew my mentor I guess made it all the time. He'd even cut the sinew from shoulders for just this. He never both a thing. HE WAS HALF IROQURIES AND WAS TAUGHT TO BACK ALL BOWS AND HE DID. I've used his a few times he also said it was better than hide or fish glue. He did'nt do anything special to his. Made it just like hide glue. He did tell me to dice it up as fine as possable to start and bring it to a boil it real  slow and leave it simmer a good while but not to scorch it. This got it strong and conscent. Sorry I can't be more help but after a few bows I knew backing bows was'nt for me. Way to much unneeded work I like to keep it simple. The less can go wrong the better with Hunting bows is the way I see it.

[mikekeswick]

Hi Wally, i'll describe how I make it and the key points.
1 - cut it up nice and small.
2 - get a big pan with a decent lid, fill pan with scraps and add enough hot (not boiling ) water to cover the scraps + a few inches more.
3 - use around 6 - 8 nightlight type candles , you can get bigger than normal ones at most of the supermarkets now, to heat the pan. What you are aiming for is hot water but definately not boiling. There should be a lot of steam when you take the lid off.
4 - keep it at this temp for at least 6 hours, longer is better.
5 - when most of the scraps have disappeared use a t-shirt / muslin or something similar to strain out the bits.
6 - put the pan on the heat again this time with the lid off and allow the excess water to evapourate - the consistancy you are looking for is something like warm syrup!
7 - whilst it is reducing don't allow it to boil ( boiling weakens it considerably ) and skim off any white fatty looking stuff that gathers on the top.
8 - when it's thick enough pour it out onto a flat tray and allow to cool (fridge). When cool it will turn to a gel. Once gelled cut it up into thin strips and put somewhere with a good airflow to dry out or freeze. The greater the airflow the faster it will dry.
A good indicator of quality is it's ability to gel  and how transparent it is once dried.
Hope this helps.

[dragonman]

I have had good success with; 12 hours at 70 degrees, I think this is pretty standard, boiling will weaken it, and 6 hrs isnt long enough

Dave

[wally]

Thanks Mike, I have left answer to you on paleo planet.

Hi Wally, i'll describe how I make it and the key points.
1 - cut it up nice and small.
2 - get a big pan with a decent lid, fill pan with scraps and add enough hot (not boiling ) water to cover the scraps + a few inches more.
3 - use around 6 - 8 nightlight type candles , you can get bigger than normal ones at most of the supermarkets now, to heat the pan. What you are aiming for is hot water but definately not boiling. There should be a lot of steam when you take the lid off.
4 - keep it at this temp for at least 6 hours, longer is better.
5 - when most of the scraps have disappeared use a t-shirt / muslin or something similar to strain out the bits.
6 - put the pan on the heat again this time with the lid off and allow the excess water to evapourate - the consistancy you are looking for is something like warm syrup!
7 - whilst it is reducing don't allow it to boil ( boiling weakens it considerably ) and skim off any white fatty looking stuff that gathers on the top.
8 - when it's thick enough pour it out onto a flat tray and allow to cool (fridge). When cool it will turn to a gel. Once gelled cut it up into thin strips and put somewhere with a good airflow to dry out or freeze. The greater the airflow the faster it will dry.
A good indicator of quality is it's ability to gel  and how transparent it is once dried.
Hope this helps.

[Keenan]

I have made allot of sinew glue. Very easy. I save all the casings ans smaller pieces and just through them in an old crock pot. About two or three handfulls of scraps and fill 1/2 -3/4 full of water in the pot, Put the lid on and cook on high Overnight or until reduced down to 1/4 of the pot.   Strain use what you need and freeze the rest until your next time using. Repeat.

[JW_Halverson]

A lot of crock pots will bring it to a boil. 

My technique is to dice it as fine as you can get, use distilled water (I'm assuming any minerals in the water aren't helping, and water is the solvent anyway), cover the sinew with water, place it in a covered pan in the oven and set the oven at the lowest temp you can get for about 12 hours.  Check regularly and stir. Add more distilled water if it cooks off, but keep it covered!  Drain off the liquid and return it to the oven with the lid off to cook it down to whatever consistency you want. 

[Eric Garza]

I just finished my first batch of sinew glue.  I used the extra sinew from my back sinew collecting effort last fall (I saved it and froze it in vacuum packages).  I put a package of the un-used sinew pieces into hot water and warmed it on the stove until it started to steam but didn't let it boil or even bubble.  I kept it at about this temperature for about 6 hours covered, then another 6 hours un-covered to reduce the volume of water down.  After 12 hours I poured the liquid through two moistened wash clothes set inside a colander.  I don't have pics to show at this instant, but the resulting glue gelled really fast, is virtually transparent and has a potent stickiness to it, so I'm tempted to call my first attempt a success.  When I'm done turning all of my excess sinew into glue I'm guessing I'll have at least a pound of sinew glue, so if anyone wants some we can probably arrange a trade.

[toomanyknots]

Hey guys, the only glue I have ever made is sinew glue. But I don't strain it like you guys, I wait until it is at the stage a little before all the siinew is about to dissolve, when it is all big N clumpy but you can mush the chunks to goo with your fingers, and I throw the whole thing in the blender for a couple seconds, then back into the pot at a simmer. So I end up using ever little bit of sinew. ... In your guys opinion, is this a bad or good practice? Typically I end up with good strong glue... Also, I remember reading in Tbb that you can use a little lye to cause all the fat to rise to the top (and turn to soap I guess, ). Is there any other way you guys know of who to make sure your sinew is free from fat and grease?

[Eric Garza]

The fat rose to the top in mine, I saw the little bubbles of fat.  I just skimmed it off until I didn't see anymore.  I lost some of the sinew glue that way, but not much.

[toomanyknots]

ALrighty, ill try that next time. Thank ya eric!

[JW_Halverson]

The fat rose to the top in mine, I saw the little bubbles of fat.  I just skimmed it off until I didn't see anymore.  I lost some of the sinew glue that way, but not much.

Sure, you lost some glue.  So what?  Had you left the fat in you would have lost strength.  You made the best choice possible, the same one most of us would have made. 

Sounds like you got some good-n-sticky stuff, no sense wishing you good luck when you got good materials!  Enjoy it!

TooManyKnots:

Never thought of blending the snot outa it when the sinew was getting cooked out.  At the very least it would have to liberate more of the glue-ey stuff because you increased the surface area by chopping it so fine.  I gotta try this.  But I will still strain thru a fine mesh just to see what was left behind.  Man, I love the stuff I learn on this forum!