On loose hammer heads, I prefer to use 50/50 hide glue (cold) and distilled water. I have on occasions used the same mix with a couple drops of acetic acid in it. I haven't really seen a difference between the two. This is, of course, if the hammers are glued on with hide glue to begin with. And, of course, there are those who would advocate, (the dreaded), CA glue, which I loathe, hate and despise. However, if you are dealing with some other glue type on the original hammer job, then CA is probably the only thing that will do the trick. Lastly, If there are a bunch, (say more than 30%), then the best thing is remove the hammers and reglue them with a high quality Hide Glue, (hot). Regards, Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)
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