The more I use CA the more I like Sigment

HARK! Wisdom from the Sonoran Desert!

Explains many modeling problems!

I agree! The more I build the less CA I use. As mentioned it's great for tacking things however, it can be messy and I find the CA joints to be brittle.

I guess to each his own. It does work just not as well as cement and Epoxy.

Ron

Ron, all of my club members use CA for the most part. I have a few rubber freeflight builders in the mix and they don't use CA at all. It's always Titebond or Ambroid. Since Ambroid is becoming harder to find Sig-Ment seems to be the alternative. I truly like Sig-Bond or regular Titebond aliphatic glues. These however aren't going to work well with certain laser cut parts as they will quickly turn the wood into a banana due to the water in the glue. The laser cut kits were really designed to be jigged up and then the joints glued. I think the bottom line is no matter how you look at it, there just isn't one type of glue to use. Ken

ahrma_581 wrote:

Believe the stuff was developed to bond closely fitting, smooth surfaces. Which doesn't sound much like balsa wood.

''

It was accidently discovered while trying to make clear gun sites during WW2. Been around for a long time.

ahrma_581 wrote:...remind me of the saying "To the man with just a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."

Never heard that saying before. I like it!

Believe the stuff was developed to bond closely fitting, smooth surfaces. Which doesn't sound much like balsa wood.

When CA first appeared on the modeling scene, it (Satelite City's Hot Stuff) was only available as thin. To fill gaps and make better joints, many of us used baking soda. You would apply the baking soda to the joint with a paint brush, then hit it with CA.

Of course these days there is only one kind of gratification: instant. Who can wait 6 hours for a glue joint to set up?

''

Often true!

I've tried CA but I didn't like it, but I don't like CA hinges either...

My favourite fast glue is/was celluloid dissolved in aceton, but it's getting harder to find celluloid around here.
So now it is regular white glue and epoxy where it is needed. For laminating small stuff that will need sanding, the UHU-hart works better than white glue.

I like CA, especially the thin variety. When it first came out, I avoided it, "Nothing that works like that can be any good!" But, after some testing, it's about all I use for most building. I still use epoxy for firewalls, high stress joints and hardwoods and Poly-U for laminating and foam. Building is a major part of the hobby for me and I tend to be fiddley and slow, usually cutting fat and sanding most joints to fit.

I think one of the problems folks have with CA is bridging joints and just using too much. I don't use the spout alone, but always insert a length of teflon spaghetti tubing. It is useful for wicking the right amount to a joint and gives me an extended reach into areas where the standard spout is too short or large.

There's nothing like CA for a fast field repair, and I also use it a lot for building, but for any carving/sculpting project I always use the slow stuff. Slabs of balsa, glued and clamped in a vise will carve like a single piece of wood when dry, whereas the CA creates a "sheet-metal seam" that resists my knife or sanding block, leaving a petrified ridge at the joint.

I'm lucky in that I can still get Ambroid from Scheffers Hobbies in St. Louis, and also have a supply of Sigment Duco Household Cement is also great stuff...though Walmart usually only has it in pretty small tubes.

Alot of folks just use the spout, and I think that is one of the things that turns most off. A overglue that makes a mess. The CA applicator glue tips allows you to put that tiny single drop right where you need it.

Someone gets ahold of the superthin 1-3 second set and glues everything down, including skin, and that tends to deter people right off of the bat. Have to be very careful with the superthin stuff.

I use the thin and medium thick for most builds. Epoxy where needed but CA for the rest.

Keith has me thinking. DUH!

Part of my CA problem is that I poke too big a hole in the application tip. When the CA comes out it is usually too much and therein lies my problem of excess. (I've been using my fly tying dubbing needle to poke the hole)

Just checked my selection of tiny drill bits an VOILA! Found one much smaller than the dubbing needle. Now I'm going to ditch the "overbore" applicator in favor of an applicator from a new bottle of CA make a smaller hole then using the old applicator to seal off the new bottle.

Thanks, Keith!

No problem Dave. you can get replacement caps for your bottles,,if they are the Bob Smith style of bottles. Jet Adhesives also has replacement tips and caps.

Keith:

Replacement tips bah!

I'm too fugal (cheap).

I'll just swap the applicator tips and toss the ones with the oversize holes. The oversized ones can alway be capped and used to seal new CA bottles whose tips have been used as replacements.

(Does that make any sense?)

Gluing 101:

There are a few things that we sometimes forget about gluing. For example, if gluing two pieces of plywood together, epoxy should be used. Not only because of its strength but also because it cures chemically. White glue is strong but it takes a LONG time to dry between plywood pieces because the adhesive between layers in plywood makes it hard for the glue to breathe.

Also, joints should fit. Adhesive should never be used as a filler. To enhance fits we use the double-cement method. This involves pre-gluing the joint's mating surfaces then apply a new bit of adhesive and connect them. If possible, the joint should be clamped. For a minimum weight joint I understand that some folks even thin white glue for the initial application.

So we must consider drying time, penetration, and how it dries/cures. Cement uses a medium to help penetration. When the medium gasses off, what is left makes the bond. for aliphatic "white" glues, the medium is water. Epoxy cures so it doesn't need air. I THINK CA is anerobic (cures with lack of air)...not sure.

George

I am liking Elmer's wood glue, applied with a small paint brush (I am in my first build using primarily Elmer's wood glue). Instant? no. Gap filling? sorta. Easy to work with and around? Yes! Allows for repositioning? Yes! Fume free? YES! Lightweight? Yes, depending on how much used.

On wing ribs I set up with Testor's wood and metal cement, which is a celluloid based glue that has above average gap filling properties. I also use CA when I need a faster grab on parts wit tight fit. A few hours later, or the next day I go over the joints with Elmer's.

On portions that are easy to jig and pin I have been just using the Elmer's wood glue.

Cloth hinges are SUPER EASY with Elmer's, even compared to using Testors (which is also easy compared to CA) Wet the cloth with water, put a spot of glue on the wood, fill the cloth with more glue, using water as needed, then let it set up for a few hours. Join the hinge in the same manner, wet the cloth, apply glue to the wood, join the hinge, fill the weave using added water if needed. **Weight the assembly together and let sit flat and tight overnight to prevent warping. You must allow some air space though**

I transferred some of the Elmer's wood glue into a 1/2 cup jelly (canning) jar with a good lid, only 1/3 full (it dries out when you are using it). I store my brush soaking in another jar of water. Sometimes I have to thin the glue with water, sometimes on the wood, sometimes in the jar. I expect to have to throw out some of my glue.

As another note, Glad Press-and-Seal can be used to cover your building board and plans if needed, it resists (might lift but the glue does let go clean) all the adhesives I have used (CA, Elmer's wood glue, Testors Wood and Metal cement, Gorilla white polyurethane, I need to test Epoxy still)

Phil

Damn. I just glued my hand to my workbench again.

SuperDave wrote:Keith:

Replacement tips bah!

I'm too fugal (cheap).

I keep one tip without a hole in the end --- at the end of each building session, I replace the open tip with the closed one. Never have to worry about knocking the bottle over or have the CA gell up too soon due to moisture. The tips and teflon tubing I've been using get dropped into a sealable tub of acetone. Any crusted CA will be dissolved by the time I get ready to build again.

If you need a thin applicator tip and don't have any tubing or tips available, you can make passable tips from the Q-tips with the plastic stick portion. Heat the center section over a candle until very pliable and pull -- you can then stretch out a long thin tube that may be cut to the desired length and size.

Ok, my fingers are going to betray me, so I will let them.

Worked at a grocery store during high school. One night stocking shelves, two perpetrators walk in. With fingers in there hoodie pockets simulating guns, they proceed to rob the place. They marched all 4 of us to the back room and were were thinking " well, this is it" because when they march you back, that usually means bad things are about to happen. Once they had us gathered in the back, they break out the bottle of superglue and proceeded to glue our hands together (separately) around steel building support poles. Me and the owners son around one pole and the two severely distressed checkout ladies around the other. Once the glue had set, the two perps ran up front and yanked all of the cashier drawers out and ran off with the cash. Me and the owners son dug down deep inside the survival mode instinct that had blocked the pain from adrenalyn overdose and peeled our hands apart and then separated to each side of the store to observe out of the shoplift sight windows after picking up some 2x4's from the stock room. The perps had long gone by that time. I still have a few slight scars on my hands from the peeling process, which basically peeled skin from the full dousing of glue they had put on our hands. The perps were never caught.

Keith:

Don't tell that story to Eric Holder (US Attorney General) or he'll try to ban CA too.