I have a bottle of this stuff and it always clogs to where I have trouble with it. I have to cut the tip further down every time I use it. Anybody have trouble with it. Is there another product similart that is also has non toxic fumes? This stuff doesn’t give me a massive headache.
Thanks in advance
OK, you got me confused - the only Testor’s Liquid Plastic Cement that I know of comes in a bottle like this and has done so for over 2 decades, probably more (although the bottle used to be squarish).
Do you mean some sort of CA cement (superglue) instead?
The bottle I am talking about is this. It can be frustrating though. Thanks for the link to the site. I will look around.
Will,
Mostly I use the glass bottle with the brush. However, I did pick up a small, polyethylene application bottle at my LHS with an extra-fine tip (0.016" OD) on it and transferred the liquid cement into that.
The bottle also came with an extra-fine wire (0.005" OD) inserted in the tip to keep it from clogging. (One end of the wire is wrapped around a bead.) I have noticed that if I don’t keep the wire inserted in the tip when I’m not using it, it will clog. Reinserting the wire will, however, reopen the tip. [:)]
The extra-fine applicator tip comes in very handy for uniformly applying liquid cement along a long joint.
Tom
I use both, but prefer the Testor’s thickness when I need to fill gaps. However, the Testor’s I use has a red label, I’ve never seen the blue version. From your description, it sounds like you have one of the newer bottles with the plastic applicator. Mine also clog badly. Fortunately, I had kept one of the old style bottles that had a metal tube applicator. Now when I open a new bottle, I clip the plastic tip way down and jam the metal tube in its place. It just moves from bottle to bottle. It will still clog at the tip, but a thin wire makes short work of it. I suggest you check out old craft stores and hobbyshops for the old style package.
Don
Keep a three inch or so piece of fine piano wire on your workbench. When the tube clogs insert the piano wire and it will clear the tubing.
Wholeman,
I’ve used the adhesive that you’re referring to. It’s helpful to store it in your refrigerator inside a small carton as the cold environment will increase its life span…
The fumes are unhealthy but a simple old fashion method that works well for me is to have a small house or miniature fan blowing behind or beside me in addition to wearing a dust mask. Fumes don’t make it anywhere near my nose! [:D]
If still availaable, you can pick up the really small ( 5 to 7 inch) mini house fans at Walmart or Kmart in the $10+ range.
Some type of cement I used to have, many moons ago, in a tube I think, used to clog on me. I put a common pin in. It acts like the small wire suggested above, but has a head to keep it from slipping into the tube.
Good luck,
Does this material evaporate from your brush applicator? Should you still wash your brushes in water and dry? How do you cleanup spills or material on fingers, etc.?
Says to work in well ventilated area … is working in my basement under a window considered a well ventilated area? Should I use a fan as well? The furnance and pilot light are about 25 ft away from my layout/work area.
Do you need to apply/brush the entire length of the joint or just apply to top and allow capillary forces to draw the adhesive down the joint, ie. brush stroking is NOT required.
Thanks,
Practice good glue hygiene. When I use any adhesive with a narrow-neck container, I make sure the container sits with the neck pointing straight up at all times. I only invert it to use the glue. When I’m done, I look at the opening and make sure it’s clear. If not, I use a paper clip, wire or toothpick, depending on the size of the opening, to clear the tip. Then I wipe off the outside of the tip with a scrap of paper towel and replace the cap. Again, I keep it straight up for storage.
I’ve used the stuff in the black square box-shaped container with a metal applicator tip for years and never had it clog on me. I think the key is, as Mr Beasley says, keep the applicator tip pointing up (at the designed 45 degree angle), keep the cap loosely on the container when not actually applying cement, and wipe the tip when you’re done. Never had a clogged tip in years of use.
I generally use Tenax 7R, applied with microbrushes. I don’t clean the brushes - it fully evaopartes an does not adhere to the brush fibers. Eventually the bush does pick up color from the plastic that gets melted when you apply the glue and you may have to swap it for another one. The thicker Testor’s ay not fully evaporate from such a brush you might have to clean it off after use. To keep the spout clear, try what I do with my bottles of CA. After I put the cap back on (makign sure it’s secure), I rap the bottle on my desk - like slamming it down. Firmly, but don’;t break the bottle - that woudl be a huge mess. This seems to make sure there’s no drop of glue in the narrow spout where it can dry and clog the bottle.
–Randy
I had an unfortunate accident a while back with a bottle of liquid cement that I hadn’t screwed the lid back on. (When I’m glueing, for speed’s sake I just drop the brush/lid on top of the bottle.) Well, you know Mr. Murphy chose that time to visit, and I threw out a ton of glue-crazed DPM modules. As I had also spilled a bottle of ACC accelerator, I decided to keep all my adhesive ‘eggs’ in one immovable ‘basket.’ I took a small square of counter-top material and came up with this.
The hardest part was drilling the hole for the liquid cement at an angle, but it makes for easy withdrawal, so it was worth the effort. Since I built this, I’ve had no more problems with adhesives…if you don’t count glueing my fingers together.
Don
I have been using the testors in the square bottle for a number of years. With new bottles I found that I have to trim the tip a little. After that I never have a problem. If you are worried about making a mess, the one thing I never do, is try to put the glue directly on what I’m working on. Always put your glue on something and use a toothpick or some type of applicator.
I have use the Testor’s Model Master in the past when my favorite, Faller Xpert wasn’t available.
I never had the issues of any nozzle clogging w/ the testors. While using the glue, especially on larger projects, I will always gently squeeze the bottle once set upright to “blow” out the applicator. This works on the Testor’s and is immperative to do with the Faller. The Faller Xpert uses the thin steel tube that will clog in a matter of minutes if not cleared. One thing great about the steel neele tube is that if it clogs, it can be cleared easily with a match/ flame in seconds. Then it works like a new bottle.
If the nozzle/ cap does start to get beat, and not produce a decent seal, I find that placing saran or thin plastic over the tip then capping will work. I do this on problematic CA bottles as well.
I find that these 2 products work identiacally, in easy application, some wiggle room in part placement, yet will set for a quick and strong bond in minutes.
The liquid Testor’s works well for bonding or laminating larger styrene surfaces or where the wicking (capilary attraction) is needed like bonding clear plastics. Apply with a small brush, forget that “thing” in the bottle cap. Many perfer tenax in this instance.
The brush in the cap is the main reason I don;t buy that “Same Stuff” from Micro-Mark instead of actual Tenax. The brush is entirely useless and as far as I can tell is useful for only makign it easier to accidently dump the entire bottle (unless I’m doing a lot of joints in sequence, I tend to put the cap back on my Tenax between applications). I use various sizes of microbrushes for most glue applications, toothpicks for CA since the microbrush would be shot after the first application.
–Randy
I gave the brush in my Testor’s bottle a judicious clipping, removing over half of the bristles and leaving a sharp point. I find it works pretty well in most applications. I just move it to the new bottle when replacing an empty. It is rather short though, so I have a micro-brush handy for those hard to reach places.
Don