Order swim bladder glue

STURGEONS SWIM BLADDER GLUE

This glue comes in granules or tablets: it contains no addition and is carefully filtrated.

It is the most flexible and resistant animal glue ever.

It can be miexd with other dry animal glues.

The swim bladders used for its making exculsivement come from siberian sturgeons (Acipenser Baerii) grown in fish farms.

TRADITIONAL USES

Recommanded for restoring old wooden furnitures, cabinet making or string instrument making this also the ideal glue for archers and bow makers.


Essential element of turkish or asian compound bows (Mongols, Chinese, Japanese) its extreme strength allows it to stand the extraordinary strong constraints of such bows, often VERY powerfull, but it is itsflexibility that makes it superior to any modern glue.


Indeed, no other known glue can maintain the horn and wood parts or these bows together in a powerfull and long lasting way.


Here Denis Betoulle arms one of his turkish bow replica (still to be finished). Exclusively glued with swim bladder glue, this compact model has a thrust of 65 pounds !

PREPARING THE GLUE

Pour the desired quantity of dehydrated granules or tablets in a pan (without any rust spots that could stain the glue).

Pour cold water and let the glue rehydrate itself in a cool place ( more or less 3 hours for granules and 24 hours for tablets).

Once the glue is rehydrated, remove the remaining water.

Gently heat it up in a double boiler ("bain marie") at about 40/45 degrees centigrades (104/113 farenheit): when touched, it shouldn't burn your finger. If the glue is heated too much it looses its mechanical qualities.

Correctly prepared, it shuld be syrup-like.

Is it too liquid ? Let it thicken in a double boiler.

If it becomes too thick, pour cool water in it but never, NEVER POUR COLD WATER in the glue !

USING THE GLUE

The parts to be glues should be clean, dust-free and can be scratched for a better result.

Spread the swim bladder glue on both parts with a pencil and firmly maintain them in a vice.

The parts to be glued can be slightly heated so that the glue keeps fluid longer. The room temperature should be above 20 degrees Celsius.

Allow the parts to dry for a minimum of 24 hours (wood on wood or horn on wood).

Allow several months for sinews to dry on the back of a bow...

Unused prepared glue can be kept in a fresh place for about 3 days.

To keep unused prepared glue longer, put it in a dish, cut it into square pieces and once it has dried, put in it the freezer.

You may even dehydrate the glue again by attaching the square pieces onto a string and letting them dry ina cool and ventilated area.

You may remove fresh glue with cool water. Dried glue can be talken away by sanding.

PRECAUTION OF USE

This swim bladder glue is a natural, additive free product that means that every time you heat it, it looses part of its efficiency.


It should ideally be heated only once, so be aware to prepare the axact amount needed so as not to spoil it.

If the glue stays to liquid, doesn't dry or start to get smelly, it isn't usable anymore.

Avoid mixing old glue with freshly prepared one.

When correctly dehydrated, this glue can be kept for several years in a dry place...


Order swim bladder glue