CA Fumes Hazing Hardware

[Jim in Oakville]

Hi,

I have seen this twice now, I have used a drop of CA during the HW press on a Baron cap to "Lock" the hardware in place. I have waited about an hour before screwing in the pen, within a day the nib of the pen has hazed over, not easy to clean off....any thoughts on how to best resolve this, clean the nib, am I alone??

 

[wpenm]

I have had this happen a couple times. If you leave the cap off for about 24 hours the ca will cure and and you will not get the haze.

 

[Blind_Squirrel]

Use locktite.

 

[DCBluesman]

Both prior comments are excellent. If you already have the hazing, acetone on a cloth will remove it. As will TSW.

 

[wdcav1952]

As noted above, do not assemble or put in a case ANY parts that have fresh CA on them for at least 24 hours for the glue to harden and degas.

 

[mrcook4570]

I've had hazing even after leaving the cap off for two weeks. I no longer use CA to glue in components. I glue in all components with epoxy.

 

[wdcav1952]

Probably the best solution, Stan.

 

[Blind_Squirrel]

Originally posted by DCBluesman
<br />Both prior comments are excellent. If you already have the hazing, acetone on a cloth will remove it. As will TSW.

I didn't know that TSW did that too! Thanks for the info. []

 

[RussFairfield]

Good advice from all, but others seem to have somewhat different experiences from mine. When exposed to any quantity of CA glue on the inside of a pen cap, the plating will peel off of a fountain pen nib, the ink in the feed will crystalize into a grayish colored mess, and in the worst case the plastic material of the feed will start to disintegrate. While mine have been extreme cases where a lot of CA was used to hold in a recessed clip, lesser amounts of CA are only a lesser amount of damage. Waiting 2 months, filling the cap with accelerator and rinsing it out with acetone didn't solve the problem. I see the only solution as being to avoid CA glue in a pen cap. It just isn't worth the risk.

I use the System-3 5-minute epoxy to hold in the recessed clips, and red Locktite to hold in loose fittings. Neither have caused ANY problem. The nice thing about using epoxy is that any excess that might get on the pen can be removed with Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol without damaging the finish on the pen. Try doing that with Acetone or Lacquer Thinner.

 

[wdcav1952]

<s>E.F. Hutton</s>Russ Fairfield.

Great advice, Russ.

 

[GaryMGg]

Not to hijack the thread but I've had this problem myself
-- Why are Baron caps so frequently loose?

 

[babyblues]

Originally posted by RussFairfield
<br />I use the System-3 5-minute epoxy to hold in the recessed clips, and red Locktite to hold in loose fittings. Neither have caused ANY problem. The nice thing about using epoxy is that any excess that might get on the pen can be removed with Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol without damaging the finish on the pen. Try doing that with Acetone or Lacquer Thinner.

Now, that I did not know. Thanks, Russ!

 

[bjackman]

One other thought, Jim.
How old is your CA?
I have had far worse hazing problems as CA grows stale.

 

[Jim in Oakville]

Originally posted by bjackman
<br />One other thought, Jim.
How old is your CA?
I have had far worse hazing problems as CA grows stale.

Hi Bill,

I had no idea CA would go stale...The bottle I am now using is a month old, but the way I use it it will last a year. I am turning about 400 pens a season now, so I am interested to know if the CA has a best before date in your experience.

 

[bjackman]

Jim,
I have not seen any with a use by date on them. I have noticed a difference in cure time and fuming when the CA starts to change and thicken from whatever viscosity it was to something thicker. Ie, thin becomes less than watery or medium becomes something between medium and thick.
One indicator of that change that I have noticed is what I call "stringing". When I apply ca to something and pull the spout away and I see a little "thread" of ca form between the bottle/spout and the glue I just applied. I find my CA finishes becoming more difficult to get right and the glue taking longer to get a complete cure when the glue has aged enough that I get these threads.
I buy my CA in thin and Med forms from Mannie in 2 oz bottles and keep them in the freezer. I buy some extra 1/2 or 1 oz bottles and caps from him and dispense portions of the larger supply into the smaller bottles. Then the large bottle goes right back to the freezer and I just keep the smaller amount out in my shop where I keep it uncapped. The smaller bottles out in my shop go stale much faster than the larger supply in my freezer.
I'm convinced it's the large temperature swings that they experience there. In summertime it will swing from the 60's or 70's at night well into the hundreds during the day, and in the winter it will swing from 40's or 50's during the day to well below freezing at night. In my view, that kills off CA faster than most other things I subject it to. But that's ok, I only dispense an ounce or maybe a half at a time and the spare bottles are only a few cents, so when they get stringy, out they go!

 

[its_virgil]

Allow the CA to thoroughly outgas until you put the cap on or put the pen into a case and close the lid. A pen with a CA finish and placed into a case and closed will cause the other pens in the case to haze over or tarnish as the CA used for the finish give off its gasses as it continues to cure. Some metal platings seem to tarnish worse than others. Leave the pen out for a day or two and let the CA fully cure. As I recall, the satin finishes are worse than others about doing this. Its a pain to clean an entire case full of tarnished pens.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by Jim in Oakville
<br />Hi,

I have seen this twice now, I have used a drop of CA during the HW press on a Baron cap to "Lock" the hardware in place. I have waited about an hour before screwing in the pen, within a day the nib of the pen has hazed over, not easy to clean off....any thoughts on how to best resolve this, clean the nib, am I alone??

[]