sturgeon bladder glue

[superdav95]

Ive made some natural glue posts before but figured with the new kickstart of the forum i might as well post pics and short vid of my recent batch of sturgeon bladder glue.  These bladders come to me raw and whole from a russian sturgeon fish farm in new brunswick.  as seen in the pics I scrape the inner membrane with a spoon and cook it over a very low heat in water about half and half.  I keep temp to below 60 degrees.  this ensures good strong clear glue.  This glue if done properly is a premium glue for bows.  I normally reserve it for my hornbows.  The outer membrane of the bladder can also be very strong glue.  I will render this down much the same way but for much longer.  about 2 days.  I skim off the fat as it cooks down.  It is cut into smaller pieces to help it render down better.  I will use this 2nd run glue for a mix with my home made sinew glue which will give me a little more working time and enhanced strength.  Once i pour it off and strain it through a cheese cloth it’s ready to gel up and set.  I use shallow pans and then cut it up into cubes to then dry under a fan.  you can see the clear light color of this glue. 


Here’s a short video

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Es1p5HJ5G7nh4URF8

[Selfbowman]

Dave I respect the hard work and authenticity of what your doing but I just don’t have the patience. My hats off to you though brother.

[bjrogg]

Dave I respect the hard work and authenticity of what your doing but I just don’t have the patience. My hats off to you though brother.

I keep telling myself I’m going to do this, but it doesn’t seem to happen.

I tip my hat to you sir.

Bjrogg

[superdav95]

Thanks guys.  It’s labour intensive but worth it. 

[Muskyman]

Just curious if that glue is stronger than hide glue and is it waterproof?
Was just looking at your thread and thought I’d ask. Looks like pretty cool and I really like the process of making glues the old fashion way. One of many reasons I like this site is she many things I learn just browsing around and reading other people’s threads.

[superdav95]

Ya mike it’s stronger and more water resistant.  Put another way it’s more resistant to moisture absorption then regular hide glue.  There are different grade of hide glue too so it depends on the strength you get.  It varies a bit.  I normally use the 192 strength for sinew application.  I have tried the 256 strength too but it gels super fast so what I’ve done is mix this with my sturgeon glue and had very good results with it.  The sturgeon stuff is likely more in line with the 256 strength hide glue but with much slower gel time.  I’ve found its gel time is about double which is great for those complex projects that require little more time to do.  The other way around this is to have a radiant heat source aimed at your work to keep it from gelling too fast.  I use straight sturgeon glue on my horn glue up as it give me a good amount of time and superior strength.  It’s hard to get so when I get it I reserve it for special projects only.   This being said I have done hide glue horn glue ups just fine with the 192 stuff but I would hear cracking noise upon first bracing the bow.  It scare the hell out of me but all was good.  I do not hear these noises with the sturgeon glue.  Not sure why exactly but maybe it is more flexible too.  Cannot confirm this is indeed the case but it would seem to be the case for me and what I’ve observed.   It’s a pristine glue for sure but not entirely necessary for sinew applications in my opinion. 

[WhistlingBadger]

Looks great, Dave.  I'm still at the Knox gelatine stage of my hide glue journey.     I have a whole tub of elk/bison sinew scraps that I plan to cook down one of these days, just so I know how to do it.  Fish bladder glue is definitely several levels up.