A couple notes on CA glue

[whatwoodido]

These comments were posted in a different thread, but I think that they deserve their own thread.

Originally posted by penhead

Have to agree with what you are saying here 110%.

During a class I was taking from a visiting instructor, several of his ornament blanks came whizzing off the glue block, because (he said) he had been in a hurry and used CA that was about a year old.

Not that a 2"x2" block of wood is that big, but it still gets ones attention.

Originally posted by whatwoodido

Originally posted by RogerGarrett

The problem with someone stocking the stuff is that CA glue only has a shelf life of about 6 months. This particular brand (EZBond) has an effective shelf life of less than that before you even receive it, due to shipping from the factory by ship. Which is the reason why my club refused to do a group buy for this product. I personally, am willing to accept a reduced shelf life and pay half the price.

Drew,

I used CA Thick from WoodCraft for about a year and a half before it finaly got to the bottom (prior to CA finish on pens)- and then it took another month to begin to thicken beyond any usable condition. Is it possible that 6 months is a conservative estimate? I hope so - I ordered 16 oz total of each - thin, medium, and thick - along with some extra bottles to fill when the larger bottles start to drop levels enough for the air inside to want to cure........

Best,
Roger Garrett

It depends on what you are planning to use the CA glue for. If you are going to be using it to repair hairline cracks in bowls, boxes, pens, etc. I think the shelf life is less relevant. If you are using it to hold a bowl blank to a waste block, you may want to take the shelf life much more seriously. I have seen how bad old CA glue holds first hand. It is really brittle and a small catch will send a bowl blank flying. I have had others tell me of very similar experiences they have had.

If all you are doing is finishing a pen, then you are probably pretty safe. Refrigeration helps.

I have never had a problem with it solidifying or congealing, but the holding power deteriorates. I have had this happen with medium and thick, I never use thin to hold bowl blanks to waste blocks.

Also be careful when remounting old bowls that were CA glued to waste blocks. The CA glue can become brittle over time and even though it was fresh when it was applied the bowls can come shooting off. If time permits, I highly recommended the use of carpenters glue to attached bowls to glue blocks, years later a bowl blank will still be solidly attached to its glue (waste) block.

Drew

This was an additional comment of mine tacked on to the end of that thread.

Originally posted by whatwoodido

I should also mention that a not too bad way to determine if you CA glue is getting old is to spray some accelerator on drop of CA Glue. Do it once with a drop from a fresh bottle and you will know what to look for, it is rather impressive.

By the way not that anyone would intentionally do this, try your hardest to keep from getting CA glue on a hand with accelerator on it, or from getting accelerator on a hand that has uncured CA glue on it. The reaction generates an incredible amount of heat. Second degree burns on finger tips kind of heat, which I think would be 3rd degree on a more tender part of the body. And yes I know this first hand.

Drew

 

[Johnathan]

Thanks for the info![8D]

 

[alamocdc]

Good info, Drew!

I might also add not to use accelerator such that it gets on a pen with a CA finish (and I'm not talking about during the finishing, but after it's done). I know, I can hear you asking, "How, or why would anyone use accelerator on a finished pen?" I had to apply a drop of thick CA to a finial recently because it pressed in quite easily by hand and I didn't want it to come loose. So I turned the barrel to hit the inside with a small spritz of accelerator. I instantly became attached to the barrel (CA Finish). [!] You can figure out what I had to do from there.[B)]

 

[whatwoodido]

Oh yeah I forgot to mention, if you are going to play with CA glue make sure you have some debonder around. Either that or you need to be very good with a razor blade, been there done that.

Drew