# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Making Stuff >  Natural glue

## Rokas

Does anyone of you knows how to make glue in woods from natural materials? It would be good if those glue would be quite strong and water-resistant if it's possible.. I would be very grateful if someone could tell me this recipe..

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## trax

You can work pine and spruce sap into a strong, water-resistant adhesive. Heat it up and spread it around, I've used it to patch a canoe leak and native people used it for sealing lodges and sealing birchbark canoes way back when.

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## crashdive123

I've used heated pine sap to repair a tarp.  Worked fairly well.

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## LadyTrapper

Hmmmhmmmmm.... I could maybe us this on the kids blow up water toys and floaties as the patches NEVER work.Thanks guys!

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## crashdive123

> Hmmmhmmmmm.... I could maybe us this on the kids blow up water toys and floaties as the patches NEVER work.Thanks guys!


Be careful applying heated sap to a vinyl floatie - might melt it.

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## michbowguy

pine resin, pine pitch,fish skin glues,fish bladder glues, birch gum glue...what would you like to know??

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## wareagle69

hmmm that makes me think i wonder if i heated up /melted my rosin from my bullriding gear that would work eh i have white and black rosin well there ya go a project for this weekend.

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## crashdive123

> pine resin, pine pitch,fish skin glues,fish bladder glues, birch gum glue...what would you like to know??


Don't be bashful - let er rip.

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## wareagle69

him and fvr are gonna git along sunm good

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## crashdive123

Was thinking the same thing.  


I wonder why nobody has mentioned horses on this thread? :EEK!:

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## wareagle69

easy now mister the wife reads this over my shoulder.

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## crashdive123

Ahhh.  That's why.

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## Rokas

If glue made from pine sap could seal opening in the bottom of birch bark cup? won't it crumble after using it for a while?

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## crashdive123

Rokas - there are a lot of "recipies" for making adhexives with pine sap and other natural materials.  A common name for the ones made with pine sap is pine pitch resin.  Here's an instructional video where he uses pine sap, charcoal, and dried horse dung.  Some will use animal fat or just dried grass in place of the poo (may make it more appealing depending on the application).  In addition to adhesives, mixtures similar to this have been used to waterproof wooden structures (boats, cabins) as well.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4RgB...eature=related

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## Gray Wolf

Adhesives

    Natural adhesives have been known to be in existence since ancient Egypt. Egyptian carvings dating back 3,300 years depict the gluing of a thin piece of veneer (a thin layer of fine wood used in covering the surface of cheaper wood or in making plywood) to what appears to be a plank of sycamore. Flour paste was used to bond together papyrus fibers that were then used as fabrics. Beeswax, tree pitches (a dark sticky substance made from trees) and bitumen (a natural substance that contains hydrocarbons. i.e. coal) were used as protective coatings and adhesives. Egg whites were used to bind manuscripts at one time and wooden objects were bonded with glues made from fish, horn, and cheese. During the 18th century, the technology of animal and fish glues advanced. In the 19th century rubber and nitrocellulose based cements were introduced.

    Adhesive materials are made up of polymers. Polymers are huge molecules, or macromolecules, that are formed by the linking of thousands of simpler molecules known as monomers. When a polymer is formed the chemical reaction that takes place is called polymerization. Polymerization and adhesive bond formation take place at the same time creating the means to keep surfaces together.

    It has recently been discovered that the oldest known adhesive in the world is a glue that dates back to around 8,200 years ago.

Early Hunting and Gathering Tools

   An assortment of prehistoric tools provides evidence of the hunting and gathering methods of early peoples. Slabs of bark were often used to gather nuts and berries and functioned as crude dishes or bowls (top left). Reproductions of fishing tackle and arrows believed to have been used around 8000 BC are displayed on the lower left. Recovered tools for digging and cutting (right) are shown with recreated wooden handles. The heads of the adzes are made from flint, as is the fire-starter shown below them.

   Carbon-14 dating indicates that these Neolithic people who didn't even make pottery may have been using glue thousands of years before the Egyptians. Arie Nissenbaum is a geochemist from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. He recently analyzed some material found inside a Nahal Hemar cave, in a dry region southwest of the Dead Sea. The material that Arie Nessenbaum analyzed was first believed to be asphalt because of its color and the site's proximity to the largest asphalt deposits in Israel. In fact, the material was found to be a collagen, a fibrous protein taken from animal skin, cartilage, bone and sinew. This is still the main ingredient in some types of glue.

The people who would have made the glue lived around the time of the agricultural revolution and fossils of wild ibex and goats have been found in the region. "By Stone Age standards, these people had mastered at least one type of advanced technology. At this early period, humans had already become familiar with the use of collagen as an adhesive material." (Arie Nissenbaum, Science News, Nov 1). About 4,000 years ago, Egyptians used gelatinous collagen to glue together wooden furniture. At least 1,500 years ago some North American Indian groups used collagen adhesives to make archery bows. Even further back in evolutionary history evidence has been found that indicates glue-like materials were being used to attach handles to tools 36,000 years ago.

    Two stones dating back to at least 36,000 years ago have traces of a sticky black substance that was once used to attach them to a handle. In a chemical analyses the glue-like material was identified as bitumen (defined above). "These new data suggest that Stone Age people had greater technical ability than previously thought, as they were able to use different materials to produce tools," said Eric Boeda of the University of Paris. The location of the site is in the Syrian Desert known as Umm el Tlel. The chemical consistency of the bitumen indicates that it was heated and applied to the implements as a glue.

    A Northwestern North American culture called the Yakutat Tlingit made a waterproof paste out of burned clam shells, salmon eggs, seal brains or seal blood and fishskins. They often used this for caulking boxes. A nice passage from a book entitled Under Mount Saint Elias: the history and culture of the Yakutat Tlingit by Frederica de Laguna describes the following process;

    "They make a nice glue out of fish skin. My uncle used to make it. They used dried fish, tear the meat off. Scrape the outside off, throw the scales away. Heat the skin up in warm water. It gets nice and soft. Then put it between two pieces of wood and tie them together, and it holds them when it gets dry. My uncle used salmon skin. Native glue is fishskin. Boil it till the water gets away and it gets sticky. They use it to glue things together, long time ago. They used the skin of any kind of fish, either sockey or silver is best. They give more juice."

    Others believed that halibut skin was the best to use for glue because whenever you touch those skins they were always very "gooey."

    Natural adhesives are primarily of animal or vegetable origin. Animal glues are prepared from mammalian collagen, the primary protein of skin, bone and muscle. When treated with hot water the collagen slowly becomes soluble and the end result is either gelatin or glue. By dissolving a protein from milk in an alkaline solvent one can make casein glue. Casein glues were often used to glue together wood. Today it is used to improve the adhering characteristics of paints and coatings.

    Serum albumen, a component in blood obtainable from either fresh animal blood or dried soluble blood powder was also used as a glue when added with alkali. Today glue products made from blood are used in the plywood industry. Corn, wheat, potatoes or rice contain starch and dextrin that are considered vegetable adhesives. Starch and dextrin extracts are soluble in water and are obtainable from plant sources all over the world. Today they are used in corrugated board, packaging and as a wallpaper adhesive. Gums are another adhesive that can be extracted from trees. Usually it is extracted from a tree that has been wounded. Agar is a colloid from marine plants that can be extracted by hot water and then purified by freezing it. Algin is obtainable from seaweed.

Author: Andrea Delarosa

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## michbowguy

pine resin;
collect dried up and or sticky "globs" of sap,probably will have bugs,bark etc. in it...
put it in a taller soup can..non plastic lined and take a small finish nail and make a bunch of small holes in bottom...
now place that can in a bigger cofee can...sort of a double boiler effect...
then place over heat source.
OUTSIDE. AS FLARE UPS HAPPEN ALL THE TIME!
fumes are super flamable.

heat up till you hear cracklin and poppin.
smoke will rise from the larger can and the smaller can...
this is good,keep face out of smoke!
take a stick and press firmly on top of pine resin clump in smaller can, to push the resin out the small holes..
keep doing this until you think that most of pitch is melted.
take pliers and slowly remove larger can off the heat source.
remove smaller can and let drain the resin drips..
now let the small can sit upside down so the heated "ball of junk is now a "super firestarter" do not throw away..even if you do not use as fire starter , you will want to throw this ball of "pine junk" on your nite fire to keep bugs away! 

take large can back to heat source and heat til boil.
take off heat source.let cool.heat up to a boil. cool down again.
you are now "tempering the resin"
while it is cooling for the last time keep mixing the batch with a small twig,sharpened at the end that is in the pitch...[i will get at this later!]
mix until it starts to get thick and gooey..now you work fast!
scrape up as much as possible on the sharpened end of stick and it should have the consistency of a thick taffy...remember its still HOT!
i usually lick my opposite hand to work the "goob" into a more consstant "goob" elongated down the stick,and i make sure the sharpend side of stick pokes thru...

when you make a "resin stick" with this and put it in the sun or hot possibles bag or whatever, it WONT TURN STICKY. it will stay hard [and brittle]
if your pitch resin stick gets "sticky"...retemper once more,and twist it back onto stick.

when you use it...LIGHT THE SHARPENED END OF STICK!!!!
now you have a "slow match" of sorts and with one hand controll the amount of flame the end of resin gets and you can direct the flow with one hand, while holding the arrow point,kinfe handle,etc you are working on!!!!

ok..now some uses for resin.

i like it as a instant bandaid, as you melt it on a cut and its natural antibiotic properties help greatly and the sap stops the bleeding,and stays on even when submerged in water!
i use it to "set" flint heads in the notch so they spin true as it dries fast and brittle and this gives me a stable platform to wrap with sinew and finish off with a pine "pitch", a more flexible concoction i will get at next!

im done typin for now!
ill let you know how to make pine pitch tomorrow or so...if yer interested.

jamie

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## michbowguy

ifn ya want to get primal you can use two mussel shells as boilers one with holes one not, heat up two rocks and create a river of sap falling into a mussel shell or bark plate...but cans work good too!

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## crashdive123

Good stuff Michbowguy - thanks.

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## Rick

So, michbow, if I'm walking along and find a nice ooze of pine tar on a tree can I collect that and use it in my fire at night to keep insects at bay? Do you know what is in the pine resin that bugs dislike? Finally, is there a particular species of pine that works better than others? I love learning stuff.

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## michbowguy

rick,
im no scientist.
and the elders who taught me werent even high school educated.

im guessing the same substance that makes turpintine..."turpine"
is derived from the pine,white,yellow,scotch,all pines..

and that when its heated,the smoke that bellows is SO FLAMABLE..i believe that this is a natural by-product of turpine biend boiled...

but this is ONLY A GUESS.....BUT I DO KNOW IT WORKS!

i should do a little write up about the pine and its uses.
if you dont even want to mess with glues and stuff, at least grab pine cones and throw them in your pack!

this is life giving stuff man.
you remove the pine nuts and boil them for some good eats...

the nuts if too bitter chomp them up into "peanutbutter" and smear on triggers of traps for bait!

you throw the cones on big fires, just one at a time and the no seums go away!

and when they start to come back..throw a couple more on.

on your smoldering coals during the night or in a soup or bean can make a small fire with a pine cone only and start it on fire....it will burn fast at first but get it to a glowing hot coal, and keep it close by your head and the mosquitoes wont come near..just throw a couple on during the night,one at a time and you will finaly get some good rest.

the needles are great to chew on and prevent scurvy.

the broth from pine needle tea is very good,and also is good soup base for red squill,and wabbit.

list goes on and on.

got ta love the pines man. got ta.
jamie

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## Rick

I'm an advocate of the pine tea and I enjoy chewing some of the needles. Just didn't know about the skeeter smoker. That's a must do on the list. I use DEET but don't particularly like adding the chemicals to the skin. I've also used pine cones as fire starters but had never considered them for insects. Thanks!!

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## Rokas

How do you gather pine sap? do you cut trees or pick dripping sap from tree  split or something like that? And what would be the most economic way for me and tree to gather sap?(I need to make as smallest hole or split as possible, but to gather sap quite quickly... I'm not talking about survival situation where's every hour counts, but I don't want to wait few weeks or so to gather a tin of sap... I don't want to harm trees without any reason...)

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## trax

read michbowguy's response, it's on the money. Michbowguy....the inside bark can be made into a tea which prevents scurvy as well, pine trees are apparently a good source of vitamin C (?) I'm like you, I never got an "education" from anyone except my elders about these things so I don't have any sources to  quote.

You can also, if you have a big pot, boil pine sticks on a slow boil and skim the sap as it rises, but that gets messy.

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## Rokas

Trax, I heard that pine needles has more vitamin C than lemon... I think it's true because they are small, but has that sour taste... It's not very  strong, because bitter overcome that taste...

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## FVR

Don't ya just love them pine trees?

Help with the fire and bugs, makes a good glue, makes a good cup of tea, scrape off the cambium and not only is it full of vit. c, but it makes your breath nice and fresh.  

Pine needles make good bedding, and keeps the bugs out.  Now, I find out you can use it for antiseptic on minor injuries.

I have a tree just a ooozing sap in the back yard.  May have to just collect some and make some pitch.

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## Rick

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine

Scroll down to Food Uses. 

Now it's official. Hey, if it's on the net it has to be true, right?

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## Rokas

Not on April 1  :Big Grin:

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## phennommennonn

> Does anyone of you knows how to make glue in woods from natural materials? It would be good if those glue would be quite strong and water-resistant if it's possible.. I would be very grateful if someone could tell me this recipe..


i have this saved - not been tested but looks good



*How to Make Your Own Glue* 

*Basic Flour Paste*
Blend whole wheat flour with cold water to make a liquid paste (about the consistency of pancake batter). Beat until the mixture is free of lumps, and then gently heat until boiling, while constantly stirring. Allow to cool before using. Store in an air-tight container. If the paste hardens, soften by mixing in small amounts of warm water as needed. 

*Wallpaper / Papier Mache Paste* 
1 1/2 cups white flour 
1/2 cup sugar 
1 tbsp alum 
1 cup cold water 
2 cups boiling water 
Combine flour and sugar. Slowly add cold water and beat/mix out any lumps. Put mixture in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the boiling water, and stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a boil. When stiff, remove from heat and add alum. Store in air-tight container. Should keep several weeks. If the paste hardens, soften by mixing in small amounts of warm water as needed. 

*Basic Waterproof Glue*
6 tbsp water 
2 packets unflavored gelatin (1/2 oz.) 
2 tbsp white vinegar 
2 tsp glycerine 
Bring water to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in gelatin until it is dissolved. Add vinegar and glycerin and stir well. Let the mixture cool slightly and pour into a jar and seal tightly. To Use: This glue is best applied while warm. Apply to surfaces using a brush. Glue will gel after a few days. To re-use, warm by placing the jar in a pan of hot water. Good for binding leather to leather, fabrics to cardboard, paper to paper. 

*Waterproof Glass Glue* 
2 tbsp cold water 
2 packets unflavored gelatin (1/2 oz.) 
3 tbsp skim milk 
Oil of cloves (optional preservative) 
Dissolve gelatin in cold water in a bowl. Bring milk to a boil and then stir into softened gelatin. Add a few drops of oil of cloves if glue is to be kept for more than a day. To Use: While the glue is still warm, brush a thin layer on the objects to be glued. Store in an air-tight container. This glue will also gel when cooled, soften to use by placing the jar in warm water. Good for adhering glass to glass, can be used for adhering glass to other objects when in it's gelled state. 

*Gum Arabic Glue/Cement*
Use these glues to mend broken china, dishes and crockery. 
Recipe 1: Mix 3 tbsp gum arabic with 1 tbsp glycerin and 1/2 tsp water. Store in air-tight container. Will keep about 1 year. To Use: Apply a thin coat of the glue to each surface and fit the pieces together. Hold firmly until the glue dries - this could take an hour or so. Let the piece dry thoroughly (24 hours) before washing or using. 

Recipe 2: Mix just enough water to gum arabic to dissolve it, then add plaster of Paris, enough to produce a stiff paste. You can add pigment to this glue to match the color of your china if desired, or paint the surface when the cement has dried. 

*Extra Hardening Papier Mache Paste*
1/2 cup wheat flour 
1/4 cup powdered resin glue 
1/2 cup warm water 
1 1/2 cups hot water 
4 drops oil of cinnamon 
Mix flour and resin glue together in a saucepan. Add 1/2 cup warm water and mix to a paste. Add hot water, stirring vigorously to prevent lumps. Cook mixture over a low heat, stirring constantly, until it's thick, and clear. Add oil of cinnamon. Store in tightly covered jar. Will keep for a few days. 
Liquid Cement
Mix 1 gallon of waterglass with 2 quarts of water. Heat and gradually add 1 pound of shellac, stirring until completely dissolved. Use on cardboard, wood, crocker, glass, etc.

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## crashdive123

Ok, so here's the question about paper mache.  We all know that you mix four and water and you get glue.

When you add a little sugar you get cake batter.........what happened to the glue?

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## nell67

Um,crash,the glue is what makes it stick to your hips  :EEK!:  :EEK!:  :EEK!:

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## crashdive123

So thaaaaaaat's my problem ----- glue.

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## nell67

Mine too  :EEK!:

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## phennommennonn

> Mine too


dunno the answer but when we were kids we used to eat the elmers glue in kindergarden

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## warman87

what is the difference between pine pitch and resin?

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## crashdive123

> what is the difference between pine pitch and resin?


In the discussion that we've been having, they are the same thing.  The sap, or pitch is heated to the point where it starts to melt.  The end product is what is being called pine resin.  All three terms - sap, pitch, and resin are used interchangeably.

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## Rick

Michbowguy - I tried your pine cone trick on the fire this past week-end. Seemed to work pretty well. We had a problem with flies, mostly. I had a nice campfire going and dropped a couple of pine cones on the edge and let them smolder. The flies disappeared immediately, which was really cool. We were in a small pine forest so finding cones was pretty easy. I just kept the coals going with pine cones and didn't have a problem with bugs at all. Thanks!!

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## michbowguy

pitch,
is made from hardwood coaldust,pine sap,and binding material,,dung,from herbivour , dry drass sinew pieces , sawdust.

resin,
renderd down and filtered pine sap that has been through some sort of cleaning or filtering process,and end result will be hard-glassy-and brittle.

pine mastic,
pine sap,sone sort of a thinner like hardwood ash and water pre mix (lye) and a heavy binder material,dry grass,animal hair,long thin pcs of bark shavings all mixed together into a thick tar like black sticky paste.
used for waterproofing,making primitive torches, flaming arrows etc.
cool stuff eh?

loves the pines i do!
jamie

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## Rick

So that's where those flaming arrows have been coming from. Now I know.

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## michbowguy

hahaha.
now,now guys.
tar even in the middle ages was made from boiled down birch sap.
good stuff.
jamie

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## MontanaDolphin

> pine resin, pine pitch,fish skin glues,fish bladder glues, birch gum glue...what would you like to know??


michbowguy:
I know this is an old topic, but I just came across it today. Could you be so kind as to elaborate on how to make the fish skin glue? Thank you!

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## Rick

That's probably not going to happen since he hasn't logged on in 4 years.

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## gryffynklm

Bowguy...

Great information. I used to be quality control for an adhesive manufacturer. A little bee's wax will minimize cracking over time. Depending on the purpose of the pine pitch adhesive, different fillers can be used. Here is a link for brewers pitch. It describes fillers for different purposes. It is very similar to what Bowguy describes. The pressure sensitive hotmelt adhesives I worked with were made from resins for sticky adhesion stickiness and waxes with plastic modifiers for pliability. The more wax you add it becomes more pliable. The drawback is the wax reduces its melt point and the aggressive ness of the adhesion. I don't have ratios to recommend but remember you can always add more wax, removing it once mixed in is not an option lol. THere are quite a few articles. 

Sounds like Bow guy has some good experince.       

Decent link with images.
http://www.primitiveways.com/pine_pitch_stick.html

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## gryffynklm

I didn't see montanadolphin's post so ignore my previous. 

In regard to fish glues or other hyde or bone glue. Basically the glue is a collagen protein based adhesive. The skin and bones are boiled to remove the soluble collagen and proteins. Fish glue is an ancient water proof adhesive. I did some searching to find a link that was user friendly (Old School). Modern industry processes have a tendency to be caustic. 

E how Fish glue, not bad article though the second sentence in #4 is unnecessary and only confuses things. 

http://www.ehow.com/how_4793957_glue-fish-scales.html

Even better.

http://autonopedia.org/crafts_and_te...Fish_Glue.html

all hide adhesives have a tendency to spoil. The hyde glue I worked with used formaldehyde as a preservative.

Hydrogen Peroxide will do a good job of extending the storage life of hyde glues with little to no effect on the adhesive. The closest practical measure I can calculate is .75 teaspoon or 3.7 ml. to one quart, a full teaspoon should work. The scale down from 1 gal didn't round out nice. The addition of hydrogen peroxide should be done after the adhesive is boiled down to a medium syrup consistency and cooled. If its too thick after its cooled you can thin it with distilled water. The viscosity is entirely dependent on the intended use.

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## MontanaDolphin

> That's probably not going to happen since he hasn't logged on in 4 years.


Well I can hope...lol. Anyone else willing to chime in on how to make it, feel free  :Smile: . I googled it and cannot find any good information on how to make it. I see it used a lot on forums, along with hide glue, pitch glue, etc...but tutorials on how to make it seem to be non-existent.

Edit: Thanks Karl. I posted without seeing your post.

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## slasher

lol my frinf just made me join unwillingly no effince how do i unsuscride

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## crashdive123

> lol my frinf just made me join unwillingly no effince how do i unsuscride


Let me help you with a few things.
1.  Stop listening to your friends.
2.  If you don't want to post here, don't log on.
3.  Since you have posted from a school computer I would suggest either staying there a bit longer, or if you have been there for a while - ask for your money back.

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## Rick

Edukation is a wunderfil thing. I'm pretty confident that Australian schools do far better than the example above demonstrates.

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## crashdive123

I read the deleted message, but I couldn't help myself. :Blush:

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## Rick

Yeah. I decided I came off too harsh on a newby so I deleted. (shrug).

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## BENESSE

> Yeah. I decided a came off too harsh on a newby so I deleted. (shrug).


Makes me wonder what else you lost in that canoe accident. :Innocent:

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## ResearchMaster

*Bump* Is this thread still active? Well. If it is, I just wanted to ask a few things. It's for my research paper. 

Hmm. since you guys are talking about glues, I wanted to ask what the most feasible natural glue to use?
In which I'll have easier access to and it can be produced in bulk? 

And also, one that can be used as wound dressing (for medical glue actually).  :Smile: 

I don't know if this is the right place to ask but you guys seem really experienced about everyday stuff so yeah. Please help me out. xD

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## Zelda6zelda

You can make a water resistant glue by mashing up dandelion stems with a rock or a stick. It is not that strong but was able to glue many leaves together when I was testing it out. It takes a while to dry, so I recommend leaving it a well-covered area for at least two hours or so. Keep it completely dry while drying though, or else it will fall off. I had made a staff for my friend using it and it rained very badly that night and glue had came off because it had not finished drying, so remember to keep it dry while the glue is wet.

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## hunter63

Hunter63 saying Hey and Welcome.
There is an intro section at:
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...-Introductions

Have not heard of dandelion glue......and why glue leaves together?

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