10-17-2005, 09:17 AM
Hi guys interesting discussion you have going, From the research i have conducted i have concluded that the greeks and Romans did not have waterproof glues like the ones that we do today, not until around the thrid century anyway. And as discussed above that was by the addition of lime to hide or casien glues.
The Glues that they did use were Hide, casien, fish (which are all variations of protein glues) pitch from pine trees (used more a a water sealing angent for ships by the Romans and Gum Arabic (tree gum) mainly used in the near east (its the glue that was used to hold mummies bandages together in Egypt.
Much of my evidence for no waterproof glues is circumstatial so feel free to argue if you want,
Composite Bows had to be kept in special containers and had to be 'dried out' in order not explode when fired.
Why did the Greeks and Romans make such elaborate waterproof covers for their shields?
A non waterproof or heatproof (hide) glue is central to the story of Iccarus
There appears to be no glue used in the construction of ancient greek ships. which would have made the process a whole lot easier.
The other thing that makes hide and casein glues impractical is that they so readily attacked by micro-orginisms. this means that they are good to use in conjection with wood (it has its own antibiotic properties) where the join would not be exposed to the air. This would not work however in open weave linen garments that would be exposed to the air.
I could go on but i will leave you with this for now,
Thanks for the reference Dan i will talk to you soon, just finishing off the last 5 university units for my BA/BT, have to produce 13 000 words in four weeks ( 1 week and 4000 words to go!)
Jason Hoffman
The Glues that they did use were Hide, casien, fish (which are all variations of protein glues) pitch from pine trees (used more a a water sealing angent for ships by the Romans and Gum Arabic (tree gum) mainly used in the near east (its the glue that was used to hold mummies bandages together in Egypt.
Much of my evidence for no waterproof glues is circumstatial so feel free to argue if you want,
Composite Bows had to be kept in special containers and had to be 'dried out' in order not explode when fired.
Why did the Greeks and Romans make such elaborate waterproof covers for their shields?
A non waterproof or heatproof (hide) glue is central to the story of Iccarus
There appears to be no glue used in the construction of ancient greek ships. which would have made the process a whole lot easier.
The other thing that makes hide and casein glues impractical is that they so readily attacked by micro-orginisms. this means that they are good to use in conjection with wood (it has its own antibiotic properties) where the join would not be exposed to the air. This would not work however in open weave linen garments that would be exposed to the air.
I could go on but i will leave you with this for now,
Thanks for the reference Dan i will talk to you soon, just finishing off the last 5 university units for my BA/BT, have to produce 13 000 words in four weeks ( 1 week and 4000 words to go!)
Jason Hoffman
"History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again." Maya Angelou
