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Cap for CA Glue?

M

Mike Novak

Joined
May 30, 2022
Messages
357
Likes
342
Location
Belchertown, MA
I have been using small dispenser bottles with steel needle tip applicator for my CA. Works really well for dispensing. If it clogs, 2 sec to heat it with a lighter and it's cleared. No fooling with wiping, removing the cap, or soaking in acetone. Plus the needle I use is much smaller than any of the plastic tips so I get great control. I'm having two problems with this. First, I spill CA when I transfer to the smaller bottle. Second, the bottles I bought degrade after a couple months. Has anyone found a replacement cap that will take a standard dispensing needle and fit Mercury or Gluboost 2oz bottles?

these are what I am using, but I use longer 22 ga needles. I'm looking for the cap size for 2oz CA bottles. Amazon sells several different sizes. Any packaging engineers out there?

1738853391690.png
 
For those who don’t know, Luer lock simply means it is a screw on attachment. And these are blunt tip needles, much safer. While I don’t know the answer to your questions, Starbond has a warranty against glue hardening and has good customer service for answering questions. You might email or call them.
 
When you find a lid, perhaps consider ways to store the CA to extend the life. Some companies are getting better, but type of plastic used in lots of cheap bottles can let water molecules through which can cause the clue to set up in prematurely the bottle. Mercury Adhesives has the best bottles I know of.

Some types of glue, particularly some from Parsons Adhesives in my experience, will last much longer if refrigerated. I've had a large bottle of medical grade CA in my shop fridge for about 10 years now. Still like new.

However what seems to work on almost all CA bottles is simply keeping the moist air away. Years ago I came up with a plan for storage that has worked. I use desiccant to absorb any moisture in the air. The indicator desiccants change color when as they take in water so you can see when then need changed. I like the blue indicator desiccants which turn pink when exhausted. They can be dried out and reused indefinitely.

I buy this desiccant from amazon. (Also use it in my compressed air dryer, inlilne after the water separator and before the regulator.

I put desiccant beads in a sealed glass container with the glue. When it starts to change color I change it out for fresh beads and use a toaster oven in the shop to dry the beads in small aluminum trays for reuse. One friend who started using this method kept good records and said some brands that had a history of setting up in a few years were still good over a decade later!

CA_glue_storage_IMG_5481.jpg

Also, I'm a big fan of flexible capillary tips that fit over the glue bottle nozzle. These let me put the tiniest drop glue in small areas. I clean them out after use with a fine wire or a bit of compressed air

CA_glue_applicator_tips.jpg

JKJ
 
This is what I bought, but the bottles don’t hold up to the CA (you can see the crack in the photo below) and the needles are too short for the burning away clogs trick to work well.

I’m using 18ga medical needle with the point ground off. These are similar


Standard Luer Lock needles fit the end of the nozzle on Mercury and Gluboost 2oz bottles, but they don’t lock on and it’s a bit long overall with a 1” long needle plus the plastic nozzle. This is why I’m looking for a luer much cap.

I’m using 16ga for the medium and 18ga for thin. Here is a picture. The small bottle is the one from the link above with a standard medical needle. The other has one of the needles that came with the bottles.
IMG_0403.jpeg
 
I've found that simply keeping a capillary tip on the bottle works. After using the bottle I wait a few seconds for liquid to settle and squeeze to poof out what's left in the tip. Or, just clear the tip with a fine needle. Good new is that if the tip stops up, it's super cheap to replace.
 
So you are looking for a luer lock cap that is large enough to screw onto a regular ca glue bottle? And I guess longer needles? I found some very long needles on Amazon. In you pics the bottle on the left seems to have some male threads at the base of the top. I presume those don't work in a luer lock cap?
I'm not seeing much variety in the caps. One might need to find a transition thread piece to get down to the standard luer lock cap
 
Raif Harik said:
So you are looking for a luer lock cap that is large enough to screw onto a regular ca glue bottle? And I guess longer needles? I found some very long needles on Amazon. In you pics the bottle on the left seems to have some male threads at the base of the top. I presume those don't work in a luer lock cap?
I'm not seeing much variety in the caps. One might need to find a transition thread piece to get down to the standard luer lock cap
Click to expand...

Yes, looking for a cap that accepts Luer lock needles to screw onto a bottle of CA. Needles are easy to find. The hard part is finding a cap. The threads on the CA bottle are 18mm. I found this that would probably fit, but it’s a $50 minimum order.
www.ellsworth.com

Fisnar EALLC18 Luer Lock Cap Black 18 mm

<p>Fisnar EALLC18 Luer Lock Cap Black is a 18 mm cap with a Luer lock design, compatible with Fisnar 2 oz oval and 1 to 2 oz round low-density squeeze bottles.</p> Part Number: EALLC18
www.ellsworth.com www.ellsworth.com
 
Mike Novak said:
Yes, looking for a cap that accepts Luer lock needles to screw onto a bottle of CA. Needles are easy to find. The hard part is finding a cap. The threads on the CA bottle are 18mm. I found this that would probably fit, but it’s a $50 minimum order.
www.ellsworth.com

Fisnar EALLC18 Luer Lock Cap Black 18 mm

<p>Fisnar EALLC18 Luer Lock Cap Black is a 18 mm cap with a Luer lock design, compatible with Fisnar 2 oz oval and 1 to 2 oz round low-density squeeze bottles.</p> Part Number: EALLC18
www.ellsworth.com www.ellsworth.com
Click to expand...
For around six times that price you could get a printer. All joking aside though if you know someone with a 3d printer that might offer a solution.

Gregory
 
John K Jordan said:
I put desiccant beads in a sealed glass container with the glue. When it starts to change color I change it out for fresh beads and use a toaster oven in the shop to dry the beads in small aluminum trays for reuse. One friend who started using this method kept good records and said some brands that had a history of setting up in a few years were still good over a decade later!

View attachment 72033



JKJ
Click to expand...

Without the advantage of the desiccant that changes colour to indicate its absorption state, I've used the small desiccant packets that come in lots of med bottles and I've found that they do a good job. I just replace the older ones from time to time with the constant supply of new ones that I seem to get with what I have to take to keep me in running order nowadays.

I just tap the bottle on its base several times to drain down the CA from the tip before returning it with no cap into an airtight container (with desiccant packets) for storage. That works reasonably OK, although over twelve months thin CA can become medium thick CA, which is also handy to have for some applications.

I have supply of fine medical needles, which are good for some applications, but have not tried the fine flexible capillary shafts. I like the idea of those for directing the CA into more awkward places, so will try those, thanks.
 
So Mike, do you know what the width of the ca bottle is in MMs? Some of the luer caps specify that the bottle neck as 20-410 where the 20 is the width and the 410 is the thread. Ill try to remember to measure tomorrow. Mm maybe we'll be lucky at itll be 20
 
Jamie Straw said:
I've found that simply keeping a capillary tip on the bottle works. After using the bottle I wait a few seconds for liquid to settle and squeeze to poof out what's left in the tip. Or, just clear the tip with a fine needle. Good new is that if the tip stops up, it's super cheap to replace.
Click to expand...

Or cut a little off the end off the tip. Just don't try to remove the tip from the bottle an blow out the last drop with your mouth!!

I always have a few packages of these on hand. Especially helpful with tapping threads in wood and applying fine CA inside the threaded hole to reinforce the threads without accidentally applying too much.

JKJ
 
I appreciate the suggestions about the plastic tips. I’m sure they work well for many. For me, I have problems with my hands. Snipping off the tip is difficult. Clearing with a pin is beyond my capabilities. I frequently bump the tip on whatever I’m gluing, knocking the tip off. I have found the needle locked onto the cap works much better for me. The only difficult part is transferring the glue to a different bottle.

@Gregory Hickman , great idea! I drew up a cap in Freecad yesterday and sent it to a friend to print out. I found drawings online for the needle end, but had to reverse engineer the bottle end. Will be interesting to see if I got it right, and if the 3d printing is smooth enough to make a good seal.
 
Neil S said:
Without the advantage of the desiccant that changes colour to indicate its absorption state, I've used the small desiccant packets that come in lots of med bottles and I've found that they do a good job.
Click to expand...

If anyone is interested, this is what I bought the last time.

I like the blue best because of the strong visible change between the dark blue and the light pink, but have also use some orange.

Another thing: you can also use white desiccant, which can be cheaper but doesn't change color, and mix in just a few blue indicator beads from someone who has a supply. When the blue ones change color, it's time to use heat to dry out all of them. If you had just a few blue beads you could easily know when the bags needed changing. Or just cut open and empty the beads in all the bags into the container and easily "recharge" when needed.

Also, as for blunt needles, I use normal sharpened needles and grind off and smooth the tips. (I keep a large supply of various sized syringes and needles for farm animal use.)

JKJ
 
@John K Jordan Many years ago in pharmacy school they taught us that all plastics are permeable to air penetration. Less so with stock pharmacy bottles than consumer packages. Since then the permeability may have improved but I would not bet on it since not a high priority.
 
Gerald Lawrence said:
@John K Jordan Many years ago in pharmacy school they taught us that all plastics are permeable to air penetration. Less so with stock pharmacy bottles than consumer packages. Since then the permeability may have improved but I would not bet on it since not a high priority.
Click to expand...

Mercury Adhesives had an interesting article on their web site about this, don't know if it's still there. They clam the plastic formulation for their CA bottles is better and have (had?) a lifetime warranty against the glue setting up in the bottle. Their bottles feel much thicker than others but I haven't cut any up to measure.
 
I just found this product on amazon. the bottle cap "looks" to be about the correct size for a ca bottle. It's a nifty system, the cap has a spout that takes a luer cap or one of those ca ... thingies, I just woke up. words are failing me. In any case I'm gonna buy it, worst case I get a bunch of "needles" so if I find a luer cap that works I wont need to buy those.

Actually just found this one too that is just the cap and actually says it's designed to fit on 2 oz acrylic paint bottles. Shoot, now I'm not sure which to get.
 
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@Raif Harik , neither of those will fit a ca glue bottle. The first ones are 10ml, same size as the small bottles I have been using. See pictures above. I have a 2oz acrylic paint I just measured, the cap is much bigger than a ca bottle, so the one in your second link won’t work either.

I tried printing a cap on a 3d printer, but the surface finish is not good enough, so it leaks. Took several tries to get best finish I could, but still not good enough.
 
I'm starting to think more about my issues, sorry if it's hijacking. My issues are:
1) bottle tips get clogged.
a) this is probably because I"m not disciplined about cleaning up. also perhaps because with wet/undry wood moisture can get wicked up in to the tip.
2) accuracy, even with pipettes or those very fine extension things I end up getting glue outside of a crack, often running down the side. Again, probably an issue of discipline.

One benefit of pipettes is that you pull up some glue then you put back the rest when done. The act of putting it back is the same as clearing the tip so they probably remain unclogged longer.
So one thing I'm considering is using a syringe. It feels like the syringe would provide the same benefits of a pipette, disposability and cleaning the tip by expelling the remaining glue, but it would provide considerably more control of expelling the glue into the crack. I find that with a bottle I'm tapping it and squeezing it to try and get the glue to start or to reach the end and then boom out it comes in a big drop. So I'm going to try that and see if it doesn't address my problems.
 
I do not put caps on the two bottles of CA I keep out at lathe station. I see no deterioration in the glue as far as drying out or failure to set. I do try to wipe the tip and give the bottle a tap on the lathe to help drain the tip.
 
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