One for the carpenters

This was a powdered water mix glue found on the shelf in the school woodwork shop around 1960. A group of us lower 6th. were filling in time pending exam retakes. I had taken a lot of care dovetail jointing an Oak frame for a display cabinet and was mortified to find the joints stained purple. I suppose the timber drawn from the school stock may not have been properly seasoned but it planed ok:-( Maybe mixed in a metal container. Long while ago!

If it *was* a glue, it sounds like Cascamite...

Unusual for that to stain purple, unless you had some high tannin oak, in which case any water based glue would likely have done the same.

The school pot of hoof and hide may not have been available.

Yes, people still use that...don't they. The original 'hot glue'

It is actually a reasonable glue.

One of the main attractions (other than for heritage restoration work) is that it is reversible. So if you expect there will be a need to dismantle something in future, you can soften the glue with a hot damp cloth or steam. (so you can also clean up dried glue in the same way)

I used it when replacing the cane back on some chairs where the rattan cane is glued into a rebate, pinched under a section of reed.