I am concerned about CA glue

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tommy2tone

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I did a CA finish on a couple pens using the foam method that ptownsubbie mentioned. I placed the cut off pieces in a metal can thinking about it sopontanious combumsting in the trash. How do you dispose of the paper towels, gloves, etc.
 
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When I was doing CA finishes I just threw them in the regular garbage when cleaning up. I use WTF now; water based so no issues.
 
Keep the CA away from cotton wool when drying and you should be good.

If you are still uncertain then keep the section on the lathe until it cools down :)
 
When I'm doing a CA finish, I throw the pieces on the ground of my shop (concrete). Any reaction that is going to happen is done within a minute or two. If it hasn't caught fire by then, you're good to go. CA is very fast reacting, not like a polymerizing oil, so there's not nearly the same concern for fire over the long haul.

When I'm using a wadded up piece of paper towel and drizzle some thin CA on it, you can feel the heat build up with a few seconds. But within 30 seconds it has hardened and is already cooling.


tommy2tone said:
I did a CA finish on a couple pens using the foam method that ptownsubbie mentioned. I placed the cut off pieces in a metal can thinking about it sopontanious combumsting in the trash. How do you dispose of the paper towels, gloves, etc.
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I toss the paper towel pieces on a small tin plate, as much to keep count of the layers I applied rather than the worry of fire. I empty the plate after the pen is assembled.
 
These tips are only useful if you are NOT using Linseed Oil as a finishing aid - if you use Linseed oil, the spontaneous combustion can happen at any time and burn down your shop.

CA glue is a hot reactant - but it's done fairly quickly. After a few minutes, when it's hard, it's usually cool to the touch. - but be wary of BLO - it's a dangerous oil!
 
maxwell_smart007 said:
These tips are only useful if you are NOT using Linseed Oil as a finishing aid - if you use Linseed oil, the spontaneous combustion can happen at any time and burn down your shop.

CA glue is a hot reactant - but it's done fairly quickly. After a few minutes, when it's hard, it's usually cool to the touch. - but be wary of BLO - it's a dangerous oil!
Click to expand...

Yes, blo is a different story. I lay my blo paper towels out to dry then move them out to the outside trash.
 
A while back I was changing out a tip on a CA bottle and knocked the capless bottle off and behind my lathe into about 6 or 8 inches of wood and acrylic shavings, worn out pieces of viva paper towels and sandpaper, and probably some other stuffs that would easily catch fire.

It spilled about an ounce of CA and it made a hell of a lot of white smoke and ran me out of that corner of the shop for a few minutes, but after inspecting the big mass of crap that resulted there was no sign of anything having gotten hot enough to actually light up.

And as mentioned, any oily rags should get treated a lot differently. Anytime I'm dealing with oil finishes of any kind I put my applicators/rags into an old tin coffee can until I'm finished doing whatever I'm doing, then dispose of them into my burn barrel immediately after my turning session is done. Back when I lived in town and couldn't have a burn barrel I just put everything outside to dry out completely before disposing in the normal garbage stuffs.
 
I like Millerturnings idea of keeping the scraps to know how many coats you applied. I lost count on the last decal pens I did because I just threw the scraps in my metal tin.
 
Bloody hell! I've been using BLO for years and always just thrown the used Viva towels and blue towels in the trash, or on the side until I clean up the shop. So far, not a problem. Have I just been lucky!?!?



maxwell_smart007 said:
These tips are only useful if you are NOT using Linseed Oil as a finishing aid - if you use Linseed oil, the spontaneous combustion can happen at any time and burn down your shop.

CA glue is a hot reactant - but it's done fairly quickly. After a few minutes, when it's hard, it's usually cool to the touch. - but be wary of BLO - it's a dangerous oil!
Click to expand...
 
yorkie said:
Bloody hell! I've been using BLO for years and always just thrown the used Viva towels and blue towels in the trash, or on the side until I clean up the shop. So far, not a problem. Have I just been lucky!?!?



maxwell_smart007 said:
These tips are only useful if you are NOT using Linseed Oil as a finishing aid - if you use Linseed oil, the spontaneous combustion can happen at any time and burn down your shop.

CA glue is a hot reactant - but it's done fairly quickly. After a few minutes, when it's hard, it's usually cool to the touch. - but be wary of BLO - it's a dangerous oil!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Yes, you've been lucky. Just ask Curtis (Mesquiteman) about what happened in his shop.
 
Monty said:
yorkie said:
Bloody hell! I've been using BLO for years and always just thrown the used Viva towels and blue towels in the trash, or on the side until I clean up the shop. So far, not a problem. Have I just been lucky!?!?



maxwell_smart007 said:
These tips are only useful if you are NOT using Linseed Oil as a finishing aid - if you use Linseed oil, the spontaneous combustion can happen at any time and burn down your shop.

CA glue is a hot reactant - but it's done fairly quickly. After a few minutes, when it's hard, it's usually cool to the touch. - but be wary of BLO - it's a dangerous oil!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Yes, you've been lucky. Just ask Curtis (Mesquiteman) about what happened in his shop.
Click to expand...

I would not say 'lucky' as to cause that effect is not easy nor does it happen frequently. there is some hard core science behind the effect and the odd's are low.

Instead I would say 'conditions were not right for it to happen'
 
navycop said:
I like Millerturnings idea of keeping the scraps to know how many coats you applied. I lost count on the last decal pens I did because I just threw the scraps in my metal tin.
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I go the opposite way... I cut 10 towel strips, and when there are no more sitting on my lathe, I know I have 10 coats on the pen.
 
Wow, I have been using CA and BLO together for a long time. I guess I will not be doing that anymore!! How do you finish you pens then?
 
edstreet said:
turnin4fun said:
Wow, I have been using CA and BLO together for a long time. I guess I will not be doing that anymore!! How do you finish you pens then?
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Do not fear either of those things. Also no need to drop either of these because of this byproduct of fail sauce shop practices.
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You are right about not quitting what you are doing out of fear, but it is good to know how to handle the products you're using safely. I always read the label to know what I'm dealing with and look at the safety precautions contained on said label. Do that and you'll be golden.
 
While good practices never hurt, also take into account the scale. For pen finishing, you are talking a few drops of BLO on a paper towel which (at least how I do it) gets buffed into the wood pretty thoroughly. The BLO on the towels is pretty much polymerized by the time I am done and is not going to produce much heat. This is compared to somebody finishing a much larger project by hand with rags soaked in the stuff. By comparison, the pen turners risk is pretty low. So yes, be careful and make sure the towels are completely dry before tossing, but you don't have to be afraid to use it.
 
I just keep a plastic trash can near the lathe. The can is filled part way up (3") with water. ALL the used towels go in there. No heat up issues after that. I don't keep pieces of towels or sawdust, etc. around the area. I clean up with shop vac frequently to get rid of debris. Small shop, need to keep it clean.
 
I rarely use BLO in a pen finish, but the few times I have, I hang the cloths on the edge of the garbage can in the open air... no heat build up from a wad of cloth buried deep in the garbage can... any heat can and will dissapate to the air pretty quickly... as for the CA, I use little strips of the foam film that comes wrapped around electronics... cut into 1 x 2 inch strips... by the time I've finished spreading the CA on the pen, it's dry on the foam and cool to the touch... just toss it then.

I use a lot of polyurethane in wipe on finishing... also just hang them over the edge of the garbage can to dry before they get tossed in the garbage... they usually hang for a day or two to be sure they're dry.
 
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