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'Never looked back'
It started with one book on hand tools from Lost Art Press and I’ve never looked back
– Dan Crow
'Enjoy learning'
I own the books, have bought the tools, and taken classes at LAP and never thought I'd enjoy learning about the lost art of woodworking so much!
– Peter Fravel
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The tools, while not inexpensive, are high quality and worth the price.
– Tom Jones
Check Out The Woodworker’s Book Club
Recently, Owen Madden started a book club, and he wants you to join. A professional cabinetmaker from upstate New York, Madden works as shop foreman at Rowan Woodwork. “At our shop, we have a monthly meetup, and ..."
‘Cut & Dried’ & Assessing Wood Moisture Content
In 2021, I decided I ought to update “Cut & Dried,” and the third reprint of it at the end of 2024 was a good opportunity to do so. For a long time I had been aware of two ways to determine wood moisture ...
A Video Tour of the Work at our HQ
We spent the last couple months of 2024 working hard on our building at 407 Madison Ave., an old woodworking tool factory that we are restoring as our fulfillment center, retail store and editorial offices. ...
Bringing ‘The Woodworker’ Books Back
This week I’ve signed off on a new press run of our four-volume set of “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years.” We ran out of stock last year, and reprinting the books became prohibitively expensive (thanks ...
Karvsnitt – A Folk Tradition of Patterns
Cutting patterns is a natural part of working wood with hand tools. For centuries, patterns and symbols have decorated simple tools and utensils. During long winter nights in front of the fire, symbolic patterns ...
Piggly No Wiggly Glue
Note: We now offer a discount if you order more than one bottle.
Piggly No Wiggly Glue is a gelatin-based adhesive that offers all of the advantages of animal-based glues: it is reversible, non-toxic, endlessly reparable and is as strong as any glue must be.
The glue comes in 8 ounce bottles.
Unlike other animal-based glues, though, this glue dries clear (which is ideal when gluing light-colored woods) and has virtually no smell, unless it is mistreated or abused.
Piggly No Wiggly Glue is made in our Covington workshop from three ingredients: food-grade gelatin, water and salt. Our formula has a Bloom strength of 250 and creates a glue that needs to be heated before use until it is liquefied (we recommend using a Crock Pot, glue pot or baby bottle warmer). And it has an open time of 15-18 minutes, a much longer open time than modern yellow glues. This long open time allows you to relax during complex assemblies.
As with all water-based glues, the working time and clamping time are affected by your shop’s environment. The temperature and humidity will change the glue’s open time and the clamping time.
For a typical workshop at 72° F with a relative humidity of 30-50 percent, you can expect our glue to stay tacky (or “open”) for about 18 minutes. We recommend you leave the project in clamps for an hour or two (or overnight, if you can).
A lower temperature can reduce your open time. And high humidity can increase clamping time.
Your best indicator is to leave some squeeze-out to monitor. If the squeeze-out is tacky or soft, leave the clamps on. If it is hard, remove the clamps. Squeeze-out is easily removed, even when fully dried, with hot water.
The shelf life of the glue is indefinite as long as it is stored correctly. We put ours in the fridge at night (especially in warm, wet weather). At the very least, you should prevent the glue from freezing and store it in a cool, dark place.
Piggly No Wiggly Glue is completely non-toxic (dogs find it delectable). It also is reversible. If you need to disassemble a joint, wrap it in a moist towel and use a heat gun to soften and plasticize the glue. Once you have disassembled a joint, you do not need to remove the glue. Adding a fresh coat of glue will reactivate the dried glue and allow you to make a strong joint.
Made in the USA from domestic ingredients.
You can download an instruction sheet here.