I finally understood why my old glue pot was a problem at the guild meet in Boston.

I was showing a new person how to do a simple repair, and my hide glue kept setting up too fast in the cold room. An older binder saw me struggling and said, 'Kid, that stuff is like a moody cat, it needs a warm lap.' She showed me her setup with a cheap electric mug warmer under the pot, which keeps it at the perfect thin consistency for hours. Do you all have a simple trick to keep your glue workable during long sessions?

2 comments

2 Comments

brown.susan4d ago

Moody cat" is a perfect way to put it... I just use a seedling heat mat from the garden store. It's bigger than a mug warmer so you can fit a couple pots or tools on it, and they're made to hold a steady, safe temperature for hours.

cole_mitchell574d ago

My old pottery teacher in Austin swore by those seedling mats. She kept one under her glaze buckets in the winter to stop them from getting too thick. I tried it with a small slip container last year and it totally stopped that weird skin from forming on top. Do the mats you use have a built in thermostat or do you just plug them in?