Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-09-18
Glue.

The process of manufacturing glue is
as follows: The clippings and refuse
materials are first placed in lime pit.
and, when sufficiently stepped, they are
immersed i'm water, well-washed, rinsed
and placed on hurdles to dry. After
wards they are boiled to the consistence
of thick jelly, which is passed, while
hot, through osier baskets, or bags and
nets made of rope, to separate the
grosser particles of dirt from it, and al
lowed to stand some time to purify
further. When the remaining iTpuri-
ties have settled to the bottom it is
melted ard boiled a second time, and
when thick enough it is drawn off into
a vessel and maintained at a tempera-
ture which will keep it liquid. This
gives further time for the deposition of
solid impurities. and for Qualification
by the addition of such chemicals as the
manufacturers may prefer. The glue
is then run off into wooden coolers,
about six feet long, one foot broad, and
two feet deep. Here it becomes firm
jelly, which is cut out by a spade into
square cakes. each cake being depOsi-
ted in a sort of wooden box, open in
several Sits or divisions to the back.
The glue is cut into slices by passing
brass wire, attached to kind of bow,
along the slits. These slices are placed
upon nets, the marks of which are seen
on the dry glue, and stretched in wood
en- frames, removed to the open air,
placed in piles, with proper intervals
for the admission of air, each pile being
rooted in as protection from the wea-
ther. When the glue is about three
quarters dry it is removed into lofts
where in the course of some weeks, the
hardening is completed. The cakes are
finally dried of in stove at an eleva-
ted temperature, which, when they are
once solid, only serves to harden and
improve their quality. Good glue
should contain no specks, but be trans
parent and clear when held up to the
light. The best glue swells without
melting when immersed in cold water,
and It resumes its former size on dry
ing. Shreds or parings of vellum and
parchment make an almost cOlorless
glue; old gloves, rabbit skins and the
like, are frequently employed in this
manufacture. The method of sOftening
glue for use is to break it into small
pieces, soak from twelve to twenty hours |
in cold water, then set lit over a fire and |
gradually false its temperature until it |
is all dissolved, taking care to stir it |
frequently while melting. Prepared in |
this way il cools down into stiff jelly, !
which requires only a little warming to
fit it for use. Amber cOlOred glue is |
that most esteemed by cabinet makers.
Glue must not be used in freezing tenn
perature. Fresh glue dries much more |
quickly than that which has been once
or twice melted. Dry glue STEPPED in
cold water absorbs different quantities
of water, according to the quality of |
the glue, while the proportion of water |
so absorbed may be used as a test of the |
quality of the glue. From careful ex-
periments with dry glue immersed for |
hours in water, at tenn |
perature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and |
thereby transformed into a jelly, it was
found that the finest ordinary glue, or
that made from white bones, absOrbs
twelve times its weight of water in
t'venty-four hours; from dark
bones, the glue absorbs nine times its
weight of water, while the ordinary
glue, made from animal refuse absorbs |
but three to five times its own weight of
water.