I’ve got some Athearn metal hand rails I’ve removed from a loco shell. They have big globs of CA on the stanchions. Anybody know of anything I can soak these in to remove the CA?
They make a solution that disolves CA. You can get it at any woodworking store.
I use good old fire. I’ve removed glue from handrails and etched brass by passing the piece over a flame. I don’t let it sit very long in the flame (maybe about a second) and usually the CA will catch on fire and burn out quickly. I don’t know how you feel about using this method, but it’s worked for me. Of course, don’t try this method with plastic, only works on bare metal.
CA can be dissolved with acetone. If you have a little nail polish remover on hand, that should work.
I’d be wary of using heat to dissolve a gob of CA. I’ve heard that heated CA gives off toxic fumes.
Sometimes you can simply crush the CA with a pair of needlenose and it will fall off the wire.
True, but it’s only a tiny amount of glue. I’m sure setting the whole tube on fire would be more hazardous than the tiny pume of smoke I see when I set the drop of CA on fire. Just don’t set it on fire directly under your nose and you’ll be fine.
Burn baby burn! You da man Tony! A lighter worked great! I wouldn’t have thought of that which is strange since Loathar invented fire![:P]
I just thought that I would point out that they make non-acetone nail polish remover, so if you try nail polish remover, make sure you check the bottle.
[;)] Glad it worked for ya.
Probably the only way to remove CA is with a massive earthquake.
It probably does, CA stands for cyanoacrylate adhesive.
It’s not so much that CA is horribly toxic. The problem is that it vaporizes very easily and then can get into your lungs and set. Police will often intentionally vaporize CA with heat and let it coat a crime scene and thus preserve finger prints. Obviously, they are not in the room for this.
I burned it off out in my garage. I couldn’t smell anything. No real smoke. I think those toxic fumes are probably long gone after the CA dries. Striking a match made more smoke and fumes.
As stated, I wouldn’t try and light a fresh tube on fire.