Using Hide glue for neck dovetail joint and headstock v-joint

[Yair Fine]

Hello,

on my current build (martin double o)
I am going to use hide glue for the first time on the neck assembly to the body (dovetail) and on the v-joint headstock.

I read thoroughly Frank Ford's article about hide glues
http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Data/Materials/hideglue.html
and I have couple of questions:

1. for a dove tail joint, is the 192 gram strength recommended , or shall I use a stronger one (like 256 gram strength)
2. In the article Frank explains how he keeps little chunks of glue in a big jar on the refrigerator. He heats up the little chunks when needed. The question is how does he keeps the chunks together in a jar separately? Aren’t those chunks have a jelly texture? How do I prevent those chunks to attach one to another?
Thanks
Yair

[Mike Kolb]

I think Frank pre-makes the portions (glue & water) into little cups, like the plastic cups that chinese restaurants serve soy sauce portions in. Those portions are kept IN the refrigerator, not on it. He's also mentioned buying, at one time, a lifetime supply of the 192-gram strength.... so my guess is that he uses that strength for everything, neck joints included.

[Yair Fine]

Mike,

Thanks for correcting my bad English.
I understood he uses the small cups as a container for the glue chunks.
but my question regarding the chunk was how does he keep them together in a big jar IN refrigerator?
I quote " I keep a big jar of these little chunks in the refrigerator, about enough for 3 weeks' work. When it's time to use some hide glue"

Thanks
Yair

[Bob Webster]

I do a very similar thing with my hide glue. I make up a batch in my glue pot and then pour the hot glue into a Glad disposeable container. I let it gel and thten put it in the fridge. At that point it turns quite solid enough to slice up into chunks. It's a very stiff jelly and doesn't then go sticking irreversibly to other chunks in the container. Give it a shot. You'll see.

Bob