Gum Tragacanth

[Freddo]

Besides a Tandy store, can anyone recommend a place where I can buy Gum Tragacanth?

Will a hardware, craftstore, or drug store carry it?

Fred

[Randy Cornelius]

I think it is limited to the leather industry so I would think that leather suppliers would be the only place to get it. I know that Weaver Leather handles it. Other non-Tandy places would be Hidecrafters, Springfield Leather, Siegles ect.

Randy

[bruce johnson]

Fred,

Gum Trag is used in quite a few things. Compounding pharmacies use it as a suspending agent for medications. Cake decoraters add it to frosting to stiffen up decorations. There are probably other cooking uses as well. I have heard that it is used in some art projects as a paint additiive to give more body to some paints. It isn probably also used in some other applications as well. I think most of the other uses other than leather deal with it as a powder. I have seen it at a baking supply store and at an art supply store as a powder. I can't remember the pricing. I have no idea how much to mix. On one of the forums a guy mixed some up, and had to keep adding water until he got it thin enough to use. By that time he had something like a gallon made up. Within a short time he was growing the next generation of mold. I would suspect the commercial premixed leather stuff has a mold inhibitor maybe.

[esantoro]

Valerie Michael in her wonderful book suggests diluted paper gum, which I'd like to find.

Ed

[tonyc1]

Years ago, in "The Harness Shop News", there were instructions Re. mixing Gum Trag. and what to add to it to prevent mold occurring. I've always bought it from my local pharmacy and it isn't cheap but it goes a long way.

Tony.

[HARVEY]

Have you checked professional shoe supply stores?

Harvey

[Billy P]

Hey everyone, first I want to wish everybody on here a Very Happy New Year. Down here, here in the south where I live, we'll be having fried Hog Jowls, Black Eyed Peas with sausage and such cooked together, Collards and Craklin Cornbread, both baked and fried. I'm looking forward to that already. Now a question of my own about the Gum Trag how do you thin it down? I've got some and I use it a lot on edges, but mine is getting thick and needs some thinning down. Bye for now and thanks for any replies on this. Billy P

[esantoro]

Hey everyone, first I want to wish everybody on here a Very Happy New Year. Down here, here in the south where I live, we'll be having fried Hog Jowls, Black Eyed Peas with sausage and such cooked together, Collards and Craklin Cornbread, both baked and fried. I'm looking forward to that already. Now a question of my own about the Gum Trag how do you thin it down? I've got some and I use it a lot on edges, but mine is getting thick and needs some thinning down. Bye for now and thanks for any replies on this. Billy P

Is it possible to thin simply with water? I've also got some pretty thick gum trag.

ed

[singteck]

The best place to buy gum tragacanth is a pro bakery supplier. They come in powder form and you need to mix it with water. About one table spoon full with about 500ml of water. You can put more or less depending on the thickness that you want. It is best to mix in some "dettol" because that would prevent the gum from going bad. Do not try to mix the powder into the water when you first add it. They will not mix. Just give the container a shake and leave it over night. The powder will soke up the water and turn into a paste. Add water to get the consistency that you want.

singteck

[ShirleyT]

It grows mold pretty quickly once mixed.

You can also try "mucilage" aka "paper" glue. That's the stuff you used in grade school with the funny rubber top. Mentioned earlier in the thread, I trained with Valerie Michael in the U.K. "Gloy" gum is what she uses in her shop in Tetbury. I think it a brand available only there. (I brought back several tubes.) I dilute with distilled water 1:1 and add a few drops of tea tree oil to retard mold growth. And it smells good too.