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CA glue storage.....?

D

Doug Rasmussen

Joined
Dec 5, 2015
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Seattle, WA
I don't use CA glue much. When I need to use it though most times mine has dried out. I've been keeping it in the refrigerator between uses. Doesn't seem to make much difference.

Are there some brands with better sealing caps? Or brands that store better than others.
 
Low humidity environment is a plus I think - CA glue can be left open for months and never cure - until high humidity hits, as I understand it... I don't bother with refrigeration (don't have one in the shop anyway) I just wipe the nozzle and tap the bottle on bench after use (to encourage glue to drain back down into bottle) and drop the cap loosely on top. So far that Starbond I bought 8 months ago is still working well (and I ran out of thin, and had to order more) and I don't use CA that much either.

Works for me, YMMV.
 
I like starbond and will store unused stuff in the freezer. Once it’s in use I found the key is to keep the tips clean. Touching the tip to the wood and recapping will cause the CA to start curing on the lid and then move into the bottle. To keep this from happening I always use a microtip, and at the end of the day remove the tip and place it in acetone to clean it up. Then recap the bottle and it should be good to go next time.
 
Storing in the refrigerator will help also store at the lowest humidity you can manage. I used tostore mine a closed plastic container something like Tupperware with silica gel beads this did the trick for me.
We have down under something akin to your five and dime type stores. Here I buy CA sealed 5gm tubes a packet of 10 would be a couple of dollars generally buy half dozen packets at a time. As they are well sealed they last just fine hanging on a nail in the shop and to date have never had a problem, not to mention the price is hard to beat.
 
like hughie, I buy the 10 pack of small CA tubes from HF for maybe $2. Works for me, but I don't use as much as some here.
 
I too use the freezer for my bulk and keep small bottles in the fridge. Holds up well. Like the small tubes particularly for the thin.
 
I store Starbond in the refrigerator (34 - 36° F). The pint bottles will last three to five years. The 2 oz. bottles will keep for at least a year. I leave the micro-tips on the small bottles and just make sure they are clean before putting them back in the fridge. I don’t leave the bottles sitting out of the fridge any longer than necessary.
 
I've had pint bottles in the freezer for darn close to 5 years and still works when I fill a small 1 or 2 oz bottle.
 
I'm using Starbond and it is cold storage. Please allow me the opportunity to present my latest experience. Due to my inattention, the cap became permanently secured to the small bottle. Due to my cheapness I decided NOT to discard the almost half full bottle. Instead I drilled a tiny hole in the middle of the cap. The thin CA comes out in a controlled fashion and I put a piece of blue tape over the hole and back in the frig when not in use.
 
Doug Rasmussen said:
I don't use CA glue much. When I need to use it though most times mine has dried out. I've been keeping it in the refrigerator between uses. Doesn't seem to make much difference.

Are there some brands with better sealing caps? Or brands that store better than others.
Click to expand...
I'm keeping mine in the freezer or years, when I've got them at special price, I bought a lot and never lost any of them, it don't freeze, I use it and put it back as soon I'm finished with it and no suprise since, before even in refrigirator, I was lost some, but since I've tried the freezer, never lost any, got the luck that the big freezer is just the other side of my door.
 
I just put the cap back on and set it on the workbench. I use mostly thin and medium. Never had a bottle go bad but the nozzles can get gummed up or clog at the end, mostly due to my sloppy use. I need it handy quite often so walking back and forth to the frig or freezer in the garage is more hassle than I'm wiling to put up with. I alternate between Stick Fast and Starbond in the 2oz size. Benefit to starbond is you get extra caps and the micro tube applicators with it.
 
I don’t use much, but what I use is mostly starbond medium. I try to get the CA out of the tip - loosen the cap,squeeze the bottle, retighten the cap and let it suck the CA down out of the thin tip, then wipe the tip and toss it on the shelf. No fridge, no cap. Seems to work for me. I do sometimes have to replace the thin tip extension thing if I don’t get enough CA out. YMMV
 
This was just on Starbond’s instagram a few days ago. I’m sure the advise applies to all CA glues. I don’t know if others have a similar warranty.
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I have been using E-Z bond from William Wood-Write for quite a few years, and buy the 8oz containers of thin and medium, plus accelerator, couple small 2 oz containers and the thin tips, good price and more economical than getting 2 oz ones, the glue last till I have it all used.

The CA I'm using now I ordered May 2020 and it is not all gone yet.

I place the larger containers in the back of my fridge and fill the 2 oz ones 3/4 full, making sure this gets done quickly so there is no condensation.

The 2 oz ones are set in my shops cupboard so less dust will land on it, and usually without a cap on them, after using some CA, a quick squeeze will empty the spout and I wipe the tip clean, some times the tip will close up and I use a thin drill bit to open it again, works for me :)
 
My shop is in an unheated section of my basement, so never gets warmer than about 64F, but can be humid in the summer, especially when I'm turning lots of green wood. I use Starbond CA.

I keep a bottle of thin CA, the one I use most, on the bench top, uncapped with one of the microtips on it. When I remember, I clean out the tip after using it like Leo and Dave describe above. Occasionally I have to replace the microtip or cut off the end if it plugs. But the bottle itself will last > 2 years with no problem.

I've got a bunch of other grades of CA - thicker viscosities, some with colors - that I don't use as often. I keep them in jars with some silica gel desiccant so that the air inside the jar is very dry. Moisture is involved in the curing mechanism for CA glues, so it seems to me like this should help. I have bottles that are several years old that still flow and cure fine. I use empty peanut butter containers. Sam's Club and Costco sell Jiffy peanut butter in extra large sizes. The jars are tall enough that you can store a bottle with the microtip still on it.
 
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For me I have found that thick CA does not last as long as thin and medium lasts longer than thick but again not longer that thin.
 
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