Hello again:  I thought I would put in my two cents to the hot
hide glue discussion.  In my opinion, there is no magical "right"
temperature or "right" viscosity.  If you use a double boiler, or
just a jar of glue in a pot of water, the correct temperature is
_not_ when the water is boiling.  The water must be hot, but not
this hot.

My own test is to stick my index finger into the water, up to the
first joint.  The temperature should be as hot as I can stand it
for only a second.  I would not want to keep my finger in the water
longer than that.  On the other hand, if I have to pull my finger
out immediately and say "Ouch" then it is too hot.

Also, there is no "right" viscosity.  As you use the glue, the water
is rapidly evaporating from the glue jar, and the glue gets thicker
and thicker.  I simply mix in a small amount of the hot water that
surrounds the jar, and keep using it until I feel it is too thick
again.  It really is as simple as that.

By the way, here is a tip that I discovered: One disadvantage of hot
hide glue is that when you suddenly need it, you have to put the jar
in hot water and wait several minutes until the glue jelly melts back
into a liquid.  If you keep a small quantity of hot glue in a baby food
jar, you can put it in a small bowl of water, and then microwave it.

_Do not walk away._  Test the glue every 15 seconds.  The microwaves
heat up the entire mass of glue, along with the water surrounding the
jar, and this is much, much faster than waiting for the hot water to
heat the jar, which heats the glue next to the jar's glass wall, which
then slowly heats up the rest of the glue.  You can easily get hot glue
within 30 seconds of starting the process.

Randolph Herr