Can CA glue go bad?

[scrofts1219]

Recently I was finishing some pens exactly how I'd always done but the CA would not polish to a high shine. I tried different woods. I even broke out new micro mesh pads. Nothing worked. I was using the CA pen finish from Craft Supplies. Thoughts?


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[Herb G]

Yes, it can & does go bad. It will keep longer if you store it in the fridge.
Buy some new stuff & throw the old stuff away.

 

[Wildman]

All brands of CA glue have a shelf life of about a year or two!

 

[terry q]

Yes CA good go bad. I don't keep an opened bottle longer than 6 months. This is a result of old CA.

 

[leehljp]

Don't you just hate it to find out that - just after you have bought more than you can use in 6 months or a year!

When I lived overseas, I ordered enough to do me for a while because of the overseas shipping. Then I learned it don't work that way!

 

[Wood Butcher]

Experience: realizing what happened when you make a mistake again.
My experience says, buy 2 oz. bottles not the 4 oz.
Store UNOPENED bottles in the fridge.
When it acts funny, fill the cracks in the driveway with it and get more.

Remember, it cures in the presence of heat, the presence of moisture and the absence of oxygen, always.

After all the work in a prepared blank don't blow it by using old CA, trust me o this one.
WB

 

[JPW062]

I used some old CA and found it took MUCH longer to set-up. I was using it to stabilize bark on live edge.

 

[Pen Zen]

When stored in a refrigerator does the CA need to brought to room temperature before using?

 

[Dehn0045]

I'd be interested if there is a chemist around here that knows the details of the degradation. I couldn't find much published in the free domain, probably will take somebody on the "inside" to shed some light on the details. From what I can tell the major issue is that trace amounts of water in the CA gradually reacts to form acidic components. New CA is stabilized with acidic compounds that are quickly consumed when the CA is exposed to ambient conditions which allows the polymerization to proceed, the degradation acidic components do not get consumed and therefore no polymerization. When these acidic components are present in sufficient concentration you essentially can't get the CA to react. I also suspect that there is some polymerization that occurs in the bottle, which results in high molecular weight components that will react slower. But if this was the primary issue in the short shelf life, then I would think that high viscosity would be more of an issue than it is toward the end of the useable life. Anyway, take my thoughts with a few grains of salt, they are only loosely based on facts.

 

[Dehn0045]

When stored in a refrigerator does the CA need to brought to room temperature before using?

Yes, and only store UNOPENED bottles in the fridge, as Woodbutcher already mentioned. If you open a cold bottle, it will force humid air into the bottle, which will ultimately cause the glue to go bad faster. Since there is no way to prevent this from happening with an open bottle, all of the suppliers specifically state to simply store opened bottles at ambient temperature (preferably in a location with minimal temperature swings).

 

[scrofts1219]

Thanks for all the info. I had no idea CA had such a short life. It explains a lot!


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