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I read somewhere that you should superglue things together on glass since CA doesn't stick to glass. I don't find that to be true

I have some wooden buildings to assemble and want to reinforce the insides with stripwood and CA instead of wood glue since i painted both sides to help prevent warping.

What can i put under the walls that the CA won't stick to if it bleeds thru?  It's a nice thought that I use some kind of applicator that puts a minuscule drop of glue down but I don't. I've tried using a pin or toothpick and even those little detail brushes from Microbrush.

thanks

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I would use a plastic film product like a ziploc bag.  Usually plastic products that feel kind of oily on the surface might work well also.  Something that has a plastic surface similar to tupperware.   I use a ziploc bag to mix two part epoxy.  After the unused epoxy hardens, I just bend the plastic and peel off the epoxy.  CA is different from epoxy,  but that might work for you.  

A teflon coated surface is another possibility.

Last edited by aussteve

 It's a nice thought that I use some kind of applicator that puts a minuscule drop of glue down but I don't. I've tried using a pin or toothpick and even those little detail brushes from Microbrush.

Try using a modified sewing needle.

Take a sewing needle. and grind away the eye end until just the top of the eye is open. Then you have a "U" shaped channel at the end that will hold glue or whatever. There are an assortment of needle sizes, each having its own sized eye.

As an aside, I thought superglue was CA glue.

It will stick to glass if you are excessive in amounts of CA being used, but a scalpel blade or single blade razor will pop it loose.  Been working on glass for decades...

Will not stick to polypropylene or polyethylene (transiently), Delrin, Teflon (of most sorts...), and probably other polymeric surfaces; you can always just use that old stand-by - waxed paper.

mwb posted:

It will stick to glass if you are excessive in amounts of CA being used, but a scalpel blade or single blade razor will pop it loose.  Been working on glass for decades...

Will not stick to polypropylene or polyethylene (transiently), Delrin, Teflon (of most sorts...), and probably other polymeric surfaces; you can always just use that old stand-by - waxed paper.

Seems I'm always excessive with it even though I know better. Gotta put that BIG drop on every inch

dobermann posted:
mwb posted:

It will stick to glass if you are excessive in amounts of CA being used, but a scalpel blade or single blade razor will pop it loose.  Been working on glass for decades...

Will not stick to polypropylene or polyethylene (transiently), Delrin, Teflon (of most sorts...), and probably other polymeric surfaces; you can always just use that old stand-by - waxed paper.

Seems I'm always excessive with it even though I know better. Gotta put that BIG drop on every inch

It is good that you know better - more CA does not make it work better.

Tin foil with the non-stick coating on one side?

The brass strips for the corner brackets in a Ye Ole Huff n Puff woodside kit wouldn't take Super glue (Gorilla green gel, & Duco liquid) no matter what I did. Sanding, acetone, lacquer thinner, enamel thinner, spirits; nothing.

  And CA is a good example of why you should use a full word somewhere preceding initials like that. I just figured out last year that CA was the chemical initials for super glue/ krazy glue. We always called Contact Adhesive CA, and that preceded the television marketing introduction of Krazy Glue that made those products known to all. ...Superglue was the upstart competion in foil tubes. I liked Krazy glue because the package's base was also an upright stand for the plastic cylinder shaped tube. Those were pre gel, which is "new" but I think Superglue had the first gels I saw.

CA was developed by Kodak specifically to glue glass lenses together. I believe it was called Eastman 510. Some early uses were to hold thin parts onto grinding tables when grinding thin materials. What I find it doesn't stick to are the parts that I want to hold together. It's especially annoying when gluing photo-etched detail parts. While it's supposed to hold to metal, if the metal is too smooth or metallurgically unclean, it lets go too often. And the more you try to re-glue it, the worse it gets. Sticking it to old CA is very weak so you eventually have to remove all the old glue and start over.

Trainman2001 posted:

CA was developed by Kodak specifically to glue glass lenses together. I believe it was called Eastman 510. 

Not quite. Alpha Cyanoacrylates were originally patented by Goodrich in the 40's looking for an adhesive for plastic gun sights.  It was rejected and dropped since it literally stuck to everything - Eastman Kodak picked it up in the early 50's and sold as Eastman 910.  Sold it to Loctite in the 60's......

For a time, these adhesives were also abbreviated as ACC, but that shifted to CA.

Sticking it to old CA is very weak so you eventually have to remove all the old glue and start over.

Indeed; gluing glue to glue tends to be a waste of glue, and time.

Most problems associated with the use of CA tend to fall into the categories of failure to use it properly (ID-10-t user errors), use on poor surfaces, on poorly prepared surfaces.  Oddly enough those categories tend to apply to most adhesives.....and people,

CA also tends to deteriorate and fail due to poor storage; a refrigerated desiccator would be best were users to remember to fully equilibrate that to ambient temps before opening the CA every use to avoid the inclusion of moisture which catalyzes and accelerates the setting of CA. 

The material has a very good capillary action.  It depends on porous material to enhance it's strength.  The more it (CA, (CyanoAcrylate)) (sucks-into) a material the better it bonds.  Paints tend to inhibit CA's ability. There are at least three different thicknesses/viscosities of CA.  Thin set has the best penetrating ability.  Thick/or slow set, may be the least.  Bonds tend to be brittle/little flexibility, may be a reason you see variations, like Gorilla Glue, that morf a CA bond with other types of adhesives.   IMO.  Mike CT.

There are precautions, Avoid skin and eye contact, are the most noted.  Some cases a trip to the emergency room is in order to un-glue eye lids or the like.  Be careful with this stuff.

 

Last edited by Mike CT
Mike CT posted:

The material has a very good capillary action.  It depends on porous material to enhance it's strength.  The more it (CA, (CyanoAcrylate)) (sucks-into) a material the better it bonds.

Yes & no - some limited porosity helps  ---  using the routine CA's to adhere anything long-term to end grain of wood is a waste of time.  There are specialty formulations that will work.

Paints tend to inhibit CA's ability.

Gluing stuff to paint tends to lead to a low probability of success

There are at least three different thicknesses/viscosities of CA. 

Actually, there's a huge variety, but only a few handfuls are readily available from hobby shops and hardware stores.

There are precautions, Avoid skin and eye contact, are the most noted.  Some cases a trip to the emergency room is in order to un-glue eye lids or the like.  Be careful with this stuff.

 

Indeed!!!  People commonly get some on their fingers and then rub their eyes, etc.

Also, do not discount the inhalation hazard.

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