What CA glues do you recommend?

NONE! CA glue has put me in the emergency room several times with violent and severe vertigo. I use Woodland Scenics white foam glue for everything, even plastic models as a result.

I buy mine at the $ store (it is accually made by Pacer). Never had a proublem unless it was old. They sell both thin and jelled. The stores sell though it so fast it is rare you get a bad one and yes, old CA can have issues depending on how it is stored.

I decided to give the Gorilla glue another chance. This time, after cleaning the surfaces as suggested, I let the joint sit for about 12 hours. When I tested the joint, the detail part popped right off with very little effort. Something is clearly wrong with the glue.

Fortunately the new bottle arrived today. I haven’t had a chance to use it. I’m going to head upstairs to spend Christmas Eve with my wife.

Cheers!!

Dave

Try a 2-part epoxy like JB Kwik Weld.

Rich

Gorilla make great commertials but terrible glues as far as all I have tried both in woodworking and other.

The gorilla glue gel I have says to shake the bottle before usomg. Perhaps it was not mixed well.

I use Loctite Gell Control glue almost exclusively for the following joins:

Metal to Plastic

Metal to Wood

Resin to Resin

Plastic to Resin

Metal to Resin

Metal to Metal

This brand does not harden instantly, and it allows for repositioning. It hardens in a minute or two, and becomes very durable after 24 hours.

I have no idea. I buy mine from The Home Depot because we have a high turnover of this product, so I assume it is always fresh.

I used to buy it at Walmart, but I do my best to NEVER go into a Walmart anymore.

I will swear by Gorilla brand duct tape, but their glues are iffy at best. Elmers used to make a product called “Nano-Glue” that was similar, but better than the original Gorilla Glue.

-Kevin

I’ve been pleased with the Gorilla 100% silicone clear sealant. I use it for adhering the flat weights included with rolling stock kits - e.g. Accurail and Bowser.

Tom

I have never used that product.

Of the two glues I have tried, original Gorilla Glue, and Gorilla Wood Glue, I was happier with the Elmers versions.

However, Now I cannot find Elmers Nano-Glue locally, and Elmers Wood Glue is not as common as Weldwood Wood Glue. It is even getting difficult to find Elmers Glue-All, the common white glue.

Elmers School Glue is everywhere, but not very useful.

-Kevin

I just tested the new bottle of Loctite #406 and the bond is quite solid.

Thanks again for all your input.

Cheers!!

Dave

Interesting Gorilla super glue gel has been the only super glue I have used for a couple of years. I buy the tubes instead of the larger side sqeeze bottle. I have had the larger bottle seemingly thin out and separate but have had very little issue with the smaller tube. I wonder if that might have been what happened?? I do shake them a little after that. I have done a whole lot of work for the club with this brand and have found it to be the best superglue I have used as it is not brittle as many others are. That being said I did have one of the smaller tubes that was a bit thinner in consistency lately. I kind of figured I got an older tube where the stock had not been rotated. After I shook it up it appeared to work better. I have went through quite a bit in-between projects for the club and my layout so I thought it was a one off thing. I do not believe Gorilla glue puts dates on anything.

Jim

Hi Jim,

There seems to be mixed opinions on how well Gorilla super glue works, but regardless of that, my bottle of Gorilla glue simply wasn’t working at all. That makes me a little reluctant to try it again, but I am not being critical of you using it. I’m going to stick with the Loctite #406 for now. The bottle should last me a long time assuming it keeps working.

Cheers!!

Dave

[Y]

Rich

I had tried some when it first came out and really liked it but really got using it heavily when I got into several large scale projects for the club starting three years ago.

I do find that it probably off gasses more than other super glues so it can potentially fog acetate if a lot is used. The gel that had issues with thinness was one I bought recently. Could it be they are having quality control issues or it was an old tube? Good question.

I will say that they are a very different company than when they started. It used to be 10 years ago that they only sold directly to stores and they were shipped directly from the company. I managed a hardware store then and it was very rare to have an issue with their products of any kind. They have since changed their model where they send to retailers warehouses and are in all major retailers now. I wonder if that might be part of the change if the warehouses are not rotating. The bad one I got was from Walmart.

Jim

Give them a shake before using.

Good idea and seems to help.

Doesn’t the label on the Gorilla ca bottle say to do that? I think the bottle I tried said that.

The Gorilla glue that didn’t work was the gel version and it was quite thick. I had to pound the tip of the nozzle on my workbench to get it to move, so I don’t think that shaking it would have accomplished anything with that particular bottle. However, the new Loctite #406 is much more liquid so I will shake it before using it.

By the way, the Loctite #406 bottle says to not refrigerate after opening. Interesting.

Cheers!!

Dave

I might be remembering this all wrong…

I seem to recall in the 1980s there was a glue company called JET. They said their CA had to be refrigerated, and I remember Carl Wilson’s Clear Track and Gulf Coast Model Railroading had small refrigerators in their stores. JET was the first gap filling CA I think.

Then other companies were marketing glues, and hobby shops kept them in the refrigerator also. Then these companies started saying DO NOT refigerate our product.

I do not recall ever seeing a label of CA that said to refrigerate it since JET.

-Kevin

Can you hear me banging my head against the wall?!?

The Loctite #406 seemed to be working very well. That was until I tried to make a small adjustment to the air line that comes out of the brass brake cylinder assembly. You guessed it. The CA let go.[banghead][:(!][|(]

It turns out that Loctite #406 is intended only for plastics, so I did another search for suitable Loctite adhesives. One of the sources that my search came up with was Uline Canada. I have had great success with Uline products in the past so I decided to have a look at their website. What I found was a very specific description of what each of the Loctite adhesives was designed to do. I hadn’t found that detailed information on Loctite’s own website.

According to the Uline information, Loctite offers several general purpose CA adhesives. Some are designed for heavy duty industrial applications and they are rather expensive. I found one general purpose CA at a reasonable price so I have ordered it. It is Loctite #454.

Uline delivers very quickly so I should have it in a couple of days. I will let you know how well it works.

Cheers!!

Dave