What CA glues do you recommend?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi folks,

I have recently been having a problem with my CA glues not setting properly. I had a couple of bottles of CA which were a few months old and they simply stopped working, so I blamed it on age. I bought a replacement bottle of Gorilla gel CA from Amazon and I tried it for the first time tonight, and it doesn’t work at all either.[|(][banghead][:(!]

I have two questions:

What CA glues work for you?

How do I guarantee that I am buying fresh stock?

Thanks,

Dave

2

it shouldn’t matter if it’s ‘fresh stock’ … CA glues will hold their effectiveness for years , in 20 or 30 years i have never had a bad one, and usually buy the cheap watery ones , not often the better ones …

sometimes i do use zap-it, a rapid setter for CA though…

3

Sounds like the accelerant/bonding agent is being contaminated. What are you bonding to with your current CA? If it’s a recently painted material, are you allowing for adequate curing times of the paint?

I don’t recollect any CA that I’ve ever used not cure properly. It usually ends up drying hard in the bottle first.

Tom

4

Hi Dave. I’ve had that problem with CA glues and thought it was a bad batch myself. Come to find out from a gentleman at Woodcraft hobby store, CA glues rely on the moisture in the air to set.

Being that it’s so dry in the winter time, that’s when this problem can more likely occur. The guy also informed me that a fine mist spray of water, can work just as effectively as the accelerator. Tried it, and it worked.

TF

5

Hi wvgca,

Thank you for correcting my misconception.

Dave

6

Hi Tom,

In this case I was trying to bond clean brass to bare styrene. The other situations where the CA has failed recently were similar.

Dave

7

My grandson inadvertently broke off the arm of a bobblehead with a basketball in its hand. I thought that there was no way to repair such a fragile and relatively heavy piece (i.e., the basketball in hand). I used the Loctite Plastics Bonding System, an accelerator and super CA combination, and it worked like a charm.

https://www.loctiteproducts.com/en/products/fix/super-glue/loctite_plasticsbondingsystem.html

It bonds in seconds and holds the two parts together securely.

Rich

8

Apparently that stuff does go bad. Bought a decent size bottle about a year ago and just tried it out. It was tightly sealed but more gooey than thin, and didn’t even work with accelerator. I’m only going to buy the small disposable tubes of this stuff anymore.

TF

9

Hi TF,

I knew about the requirement for moisture to get the CA to set. I don’t think that my house is so dry that there is no moisture in the air. We are not experiencing any static electricity and the wood furniture is not as dry as it has been in years past during cold weather. I can tell how dry the wood furniture is by looking at my dining room table. The drier the table gets, the further the end leafs stick out past the main table. In a dry, cold winter the leafs will be about 1/4" wider than the main table. They aren’t anywhere close to that yet.

Just to clarify, I was using Gorilla Gel CA and it did not set up at all. After an hour it was still the same consistency and there was no indication whatsoever that it was forming any sort of a bond.

I was also using another brand of CA, the name of which eludes me right now, but it had worked well for several months. Then it just stopped working.

I think my next step should be to buy some accelerator so I will do that.

Cheers!!

Dave

10

Dave, I encourage you to try my suggestion. A set of Loctite Plastics Bonding System accelerant and super glue costs less than $5 USD, and it works better than any other super glue that I have ever used. I believe that it was doctorwayne who first suggested this product to me.

Rich

11

I usually get the small bottles with a dispenser top from the LHS. I use these fast enough that I run out before it goes bad. I get the thicker stuff, not the watery kind but not the gel, either.

I keep it refrigerated if I’m storing it for a while.

I also practice good glue hygiene by keeping the cap and tip clean.

12

I’ve found that a “huff” of breath from your lungs (not just from your mouth), usually supplies enough moisture to cause the ca to cure.

Wayne

13

Has the surface of the “clean” brass been degreased prior to bonding?

Tom

14

Hello All,

The “Original” Super® Glue (CA) is what I use- -both traditional and Gel.

I buy it from Amazon in 12-packs of small tubes. I store the unopened tubes in the freezer.

Somewhere I read that keeping the CA frozen can extend its shelf-life on unopened tubes. Seems to work for me.

Once I breech the seal I make sure that I purge the application tip and store the tubes vertically- -Tips Up!!!

Yes, an open container of CA will dry out after time.

When that happens I just go to the freezer and get a fresh tube.

Another consideration is CA is not the panacea the manufacturers make it out to be when it comes to bonding dissimilar materials.

Your difficulties might not lie with the bonding agent(s) but with the dissimilar materials bonding properties.

Some dissimilar materials require other forms of bonding agents.

In your situation, I would consider hot glue. It will adhere to brass; a non-porous material, and Styrene; which bonds with a solvent-based agent.

Hope this helps.

15

Hi Tom,

I had just finished grinding the surface smooth with my Dremel so there was no grease.

I think that I may not have stated the nature of the problem very well. The problem is not with the bond breaking. It is that the CA is not hardening. After 30 minutes the CA was still sticky and soft. I don’t think it had hardened at all, or at least very little. The house is no drier than usual, and I did try breathing on it but to no avail. Has anyone else experienced this?

I have ordered a fresh bottle of Loctite CA as well as a different brand of accelerator. I looked at Rich’s suggestion of buying the Loctite super glue/accelerant combination pack but the price in Canada is ridiculous when the shipping cost is added in.

Thanks for all the responses.

Cheers!!

Dave

16

Grinding only makes the surface shiny; it doesn’t make it clean. Just to be safe I would wipe off both surfaces - brass & styrene - with a degreaser (e.g. isopropyl alcohol) before appying the CA.

Tom

17

Doggone it, I was afraid that would happen. Why would any serious model railroader live in Canada? [(-D]

Rich

18

Hi Tom,

Please read the above. I don’t think that surface contamination is the problem.

Cheers!!

Dave

19

I have had no problem with Gorilla. I do keep it in the fridge, however.

20

I admit that I use the cheap CA sold in small packages of four. It works fine. The thicker the coat, the longer it takes to cure. For items that are larger or structural, I drill holes and add pegs for added strength. Epoxy works well with metals and plastics.

Simon