Superglue

[Mikegtr]

Many thanks for all your replies--great info.

 

[peter spratt]

I have had good results in wood turning, with the superglue with an activator sold by the Range in Strood kent its called SOUDAL

 

[Linus]

One tip about superglue, which I picked up and have used successfully for a couple of years now, is once you open the bottle don't replace the cap. After use just clear the nozzle by wiping/squeezing it clear and then store with any others away from damp. The only rider to this is do not store activator in the same cupboard! The glue stays liquid and no more having to fight with the cap/nozzle for next use.

 

[MikeJhn]

Superglue is used extensively in Model Aircraft including 200mph turbine jets, I suppose some may be making the assumption the jet wont last long enough for the glue to go brittle.

 

[recipio]

I only use it in two applications and never rely on it for structural joining. Firstly for joining miters like picture frames as it will give a near invisible joint - before reinforcement. I'm amazed at all those youtube videos which show miters being clamped with PVA. this creates a very visible glue line. Secondly for segmented turning. You only want the segments to hold up to handling while making rings with them. The real strength comes from clamping all the rings together with PVA. Must try storing it in the freezer as it is a bit pricey to allow to harden after only one application

 

[Sideways]

I always understood that cyanoacrylate will cure faster in the absence of air and last longer if there's plenty of air space left in the (sealed) tube or bottle.
So I buy the big bottles from toolstation and keep them in the fridge. It seems to last well.

Again making the obvious assumption that cyanoacrylate will have similar properies to acrylic plastics, I expect it to be moderately hard and quite brittle when cured.
Watching people make this mistake time and time again on "forged in fire" people shouldn't make a glitzy polished knife handle out of one of the many acrylics and then expect to hammer it onto a tapered tang. 9 times in 10 it splits.

The only time i've used activator was to superglue upvc roofline trim in place. This seems to be a standard method nowadays. Superglue alone really didn't work but with a squirt of aerosol activator the job was easily done.

 

[sometimewoodworker]

I always understood that cyanoacrylate will cure faster in the absence of air and last longer if there's plenty of air space left in the (sealed) tube or bottle.

Your understanding is incorrect. The cure of cyanoacrylate is moisture and temperature related not absence of air. Since there is almost always a degree of humidity in the air the more air in the container the more likely that the glue will cure, so the best storage is without air in a completely sealed container in the freezer, though a fridge is also ok.

 

[Yorkieguy]

There are several grades of CA glue (AKA ‘superglue’), and the last place to buy it is in stationers or DIY stores in those silly little metal or plastic tubes as you haven’t a clue what grade it is, and most of it sets far too quickly. Just a few personal observations on my own experience with CA glues, mainly in pen turning and small woodworking projects

I use ‘Vitalbond’ brand, which is available in four different viscosities:

Super-fast & thin for closely fitting parts, which bonds in 4 seconds, thin in 10 seconds. Medium for general purpose bonding. Fills gaps and bonds in 20 seconds. Thick for bonding porous materials, where gap filling is required, with a lower cure speed, allowing re-positioning. Bonds in 45 seconds.

There’s a plastics and rubber bonder to bond plastics and rubber, such as model car tyres. Gives high strength bonds to rubber, plastics, metal, balsa wood, leather, ceramics, stone, glass and paper.

There’s also a de-bonder.

I use Vitalbond CA glue for pen making and as a durable finish, and for making pen boxes.

I use medium for gluing the 7mm brass tubes into the blanks, and for gluing segments together in segmented blanks. In the ‘Celtic knot’ pens below the white lines are from discarded plastic credit cards, so the glue has to glue brass, plastic and wood together in one blank. When turned, some of the segments are little larger than an orange pip 2mm thick so at 2000 RPM, if the bond was poor, the turning tool would just pull the segments out of the blank.

Like many pen turners, I use CA glue as a polish. Two or three coats of thin, and maybe 5 coats of medium, applied with paper towel and sanded between coats, up to 15,000 G with pen turning sanding pads. A quick squirt of accelerator when fitting the tubes and between each coat of CA glue.

I used medium CA to glue the segments of the pen boxes I made, which had to withstand routing for the grooves. The box below is elm, with walnut ends and segments. (The pen in the box was turned from a segmented blank from Turners Retreat known as 'Nightfire')

I also use 20 sec medium for gluing together pieces of broken Bakelite on damaged vintage radio cabinets. (Restoring vintage valve radios is another long-term hobby). It has good gap filling qualities and allows time to accurately position the broken parts into place.

Vitalbond Super Glue model cars plastics,metal,balsa wood,leather,No mixing, DIY | eBay

As an accelerator/activator, I use ‘Bond-it’ which comes in 400ml aerosol cans:

BOND-IT ADHESIVE SUPER GLUE ACCELERATOR 400ml CYANOACRYLATE INDUSTRIAL ACTIVATOR 5060021368539 | eBay

For the avoidance of doubt, I have no connection of the sellers at those eBay links.

I hope that might be of help to someone.

David



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[mrpercysnodgrass]

Not all Superglue's do the job you want it to.What Superglue have you used to glue wood to wood. For example to glue small pieces in guitar making--inlays?

I have used Superglues of different makes--all kept at room temperature--some will harden in the bottle--some won't. Any tips to make a hardened Superglue 'runny' again?

What in your opinion is the best Superglue to buy?

Starbond is the best I have used, the applicator bottles with their long spout makes it easy to be precise, they also do a brown one which does not leave a white edge and I like the large bottle of accelerator which decants into a small pump action bottle.

 

[Mikegtr]

Thanks for all your info. Much appreciated.

 

[Agent_zed]

I used CA glue as a pore sealer when I built my electric guitar. Rubbed it on with sandpaper and it filled the endgrain so my cellulose clear coat didn't sink into the pores and create a uneven darker area.

 

[peter-harrison]

I use it a lot for making jigs etc. I think it's pretty durable- I've gone to use jigs I made 10- 15 years ago and found them as strong as ever.