CA & Watch parts

[socdad]

I use thin CA to adhere parts to carbon fiber or braided stainless steel. I have always finished glueing everything & set the blank aside for weeks or even months prior to casting in polyester resin. I have a customer that wanted a combination of dial & s braid that I did not have in stock. Finished glueing up yesterday. How long should I allow the CA to setup before casting?

 

[JohnU]

I usually only wait 24 hours with CA and PR. Never had a problem with it yet.

 

[socdad]

I usually only wait 24 hours with CA and PR. Never had a problem with it yet.

Thank you ...

 

[Kenny Durrant]

This has been brought up in the past and there's been a variety of cure times. I've always waited 3 days for " Out Gassing", as it's been called, just to be on the cautious side. I've done that pretty much since I've been casting. I also think some of the problems I was having might have been due to inexperience and not necessarily the glue. Now that I've seen the other response I will cut back to save time. But to answer your question I wouldn't think more than three days would be necessary.

 

[JohnU]

I use GluBoost but I'm guessing different brands might require different time lengths. With watch parts I switched to 2 part epoxy so there's no degassing time required. The trick is using very small amounts so it stays behind the parts and not on top. I use a toothpick to apply it.

 

[Kenny Durrant]

I just learned something about Glue Boost. I use it to finish wooden pens and it works great. I ran out of regular C.A. and substituted Glue Boost because I had it on hand. I used it to seal a tube for tube in casting and the surface of the tube turned cloudy. I tried it again thinking it might be a fluke and it did the same thing. It may be ok with small amounts but I'd be leery of using it to seal things.

 

[its_virgil]

I use Mercury flex for a pen finish but use whatever I have or can get locally to glue snake skins to tubes. I have used just about every brand out there. I wait 24 hours before casting and have not had a problem with any CA glue I have used.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[Aces-High]

I have used CA twice in casting. Once I did not wait long enough, the second time, I waited a week and it still got cloudy using PR.

 

[jttheclockman]

I wait at least 48 hours or until I can not smell it any more. That is a dead give away if it is cured. Put that in the tip file.

 

[socdad]

Thanks for all the info; as it turns out I will not be able to meet up with my customer until early next week. I'll cast them Friday or Saturday, should be safe by then.