CA glue
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- This topic has 6 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 4 months ago by Paul Sellers.
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I’ve read Paul on his blog and several others on here advocate using super glue/cyan0-acrylate/CA glue for sealing knots or punky wood. Where do you guys get CA glue in sufficient, affordable quantities to flood a section of board with it? How does the accelerant work? Are there other ways that woodworkers on this forum use CA glue?
Eric, I’ve never used it for knots but I have used it as a finish for some straight razor scales I made. There are three viscosities that I have seen, one is like water, it flows into cracks really easy. This viscosity is what you want for knots I believe. The other types have a thicker formula, maple syrup type thickness. Apparently wood turners use the stuff for finishing their projects. Lee valley sells all three types plus accelerant too.
You don’t need alot of it, even a couple little tubes of crazy glue would do in a pinch. And you don’t need accelerator either if you have the patience to wait for it to cure over night.
23 December 2012 at 3:32 am #5495I’ve used it to tighten tenons on chairs and repair a bunch of christmas ornaments and other similar things that the grandkids break. I know some turners use it but I’m not sure for what. The accelerant supposedly makes it set faster but it sets pretty fast anyway. Way too fast for general woodworking.
There’s also a solvent that is sold for CA glue. I got mine from Woodcraft and it’s called Super Solvent. You want to be very careful with this stuff. You can easily glue yourself to the object you’re trying to glue without realizing it. This is especially true of the thin CA. It will actually penetrate the pores of your skin.
Dave, Gary, Thanks for your responses. I read on this forum somewhere–don’t remember the thread–that you can use baking soda as an accelerant. Anybody want to describe how that works? Also, is there a way to thin out super glue if I already have the thicker stuff?
23 December 2012 at 1:46 pm #5506Cyanoacrylate (CA) glue was initially developed as a liquid suture. They realized after the fact that would adhere a great many things. We still use CA glue in the operating room. Its brand name for the skin adhesive is called Dermabond. Just a little Lagniappe.
Brent
23 December 2012 at 4:12 pm #5511Baking soda is a perfect accelerator and safer than the spray kicker too though sometimes not as convenient as a mister spray to the other part. CA relies on minute amounts of air or surface moisture to cure and so inside a joint it is best to clamp and minimize the volume of CA as the larger the quantity, the longer the cure time. It’s also best to gap fill with small or thin layers and use the kicker sparingly as you increase the layers.
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