Glued Linen Armour- a simple test

[Matt Lukes]

Surprise yes, but not skepticism Scott- I don't doubt that you got the results you say, it's just that I can't so easily rationalize them with my own or, indeed, with what I know about the use of and molecular nature of collagen-based adhesives. It must simply be a case of something not being quite clear- your conditions differed from mine somewhere, something wasn't quite what it seemed for one of us or some such situation. That's why I want to try again and I can report my exact conditions and see if you spot where yours differ.

Bovine and rabbit hide glue are suggested to differ in some respects- I've read the reason rabbit glue has been traditionally used to 'size' artists' canvases is because it contracts more as it dries leading to a stiffer canvas, although I can't immediatly see why there should be any obvious difference in how hygroscopic either is- in fact, it's suggested rabbit glue's hygroscopic nature is the cause of cracking on so many old paintings. The collagen and elastin molecules themselves don't seem to differ among different mammals- perhaps some variance in proportions exists, but again that seems unlikely to affect the water-absorbancy.

But the fact that drying returned a natural glue object back to its original state is really no surprise- nothing changes molecularly save the water content, so it should be the same. And PVA changes as it dries initially- it can't be re-solubilized- so getting wet subsequently means it's just wet, like ceramic or concrete can get wet and dry without being affected.

And we can agree at least on one aspect- my experience with using hide glue is the same with respect to layered linen being stiff yet flexible.