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Pro tip (CA glue)

Raif Harik said:
Wear plastic gloves when applying CA glue, or try not to use your index finger. Otherwise you will not be unlocking your phone with your fingerprint for a couple of days. :)
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Been there, done that.

Robert D Evans said:
Another tip: When you flood a crack with thin CA, make sure it's dry before turning the lathe back on.
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Done that one too.
 
Jesse Tutterrow said:
Before working with CA I fill a margarine tub with Acetone which is a CA solvent. When I get it on me I just immerse hand in the Acetone. After use I pour the Acetone back into it's metal can.
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Assuming the margarine tub is plastic, doesn't the acetone soften and/or melt it? That's been my experience with acetone and anything plastic.

I remember reading about someone who spilled a fair amount of CA on the running shoe he was wearing. It didn't occur to him that he should get the shoe off immediately. When it did occur to him, it was too late.
 
I was thinking of making a safety sign for my shop that says "Days since Ric inadvertently glued body parts together:".
It would only need room for a single digit number.

Hi Gary! On a global scale, we're neighbors.
 
Yep, I live a mile north of Armstrong. I don't do much flat work, so I don't go there much. I have 5 acres of woods, so I supply my turning needs just with the downed trees. Lots of domestic hardwood, except for my two favorites, maple and walnut.
 
John Hicks said:
Starbond heavy thin is what I switched to after the thin ca always finding a way to the other side of the blank, and my hand.
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I did the same thing. The only time I use the thin is if I want it to soak into the wood, like for a threaded hole in a jig, etc., or if I think it's been too long since I "inadvertently glued body parts together". :p
 
Mark Jundanian said:
"heavy thin" ??
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I'm not sure if links are allowed? This is it....

Heavy Thin Super Glue

Heavy thin super glue with enhanced viscosity for precision bonding and polished finishes. Ideal for woodworking, inlays, jewelry, and crafts. This versatile adhesive bonds wood, metal, ceramics, gemstones, and plastics while sealing cracks and stabilizing surfaces. Perfect for DIY and...
starbond.com starbond.com
 
Starbond has CA glues in a wide range of viscosities. The thin is so thin it's really unusable, at least in (and on) my hands, but if you have an application that truly needs CA that's thin as water, they've got it. The Heavy Thin is more like other brands 'thin.'
 
Dean Center said:
Starbond has CA glues in a wide range of viscosities. The thin is so thin it's really unusable, at least in (and on) my hands, but if you have an application that truly needs CA that's thin as water, they've got it. The Heavy Thin is more like other brands 'thin.'
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To get more specific:
Starbond thin, aka Superfast thin EM-02, has a viscosity of 2 cP, almost as low as water which has viscosity of 1 cP. It wicks into cracks like crazy.
The EM-40 Heavy thin has a viscosity of 40 cP, similar to olive oil according to Starbond. I haven't used this.
I like the N/0-05 grade. At 5 cP it is noticeably thicker (to me) than the Superfast thin and doesn't wick as well into fine cracks But I like it because it is odorless...no irritating fumes.
 
Larry Mercier said:
John, why not?
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I’ll tell you why I quit wearing gloves altogether

I got the worst burn I got in woodturning when CA wicked under a leather glove with cut off fingers.
I’m a guy that gets burned about every 6 months accidentally testing my chainsaw muffler for hot with my wrist or forearm.
The CA didn’t bond to my skin it just reacted with the moisture in the glove.

A few months later I found that a club member had sworn off gloves for the same reason.
 
CA glue was originally used for cornea surgery which is why it sticks to cellular material. I highly recommend keeping some ca glue thinner on hand, it only takes a drop or two. :cool:
 
Toby A Brown said:
CA glue was originally used for cornea surgery
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I'm pretty sure that this is not true. Surgical use on the cornea came much later. I haven't tried to be exhaustive, but relevant references to cornea surgery appear to only go back to about 2000 or so. Superglues are much older, having been invented in the 1950s at Kodak. See the linked article below.

With that, I'll do the obligatory PSA: regular CA glues should NOT be used for medical purposes on human or animal tissue. Use Dermabond or Vetbond. This very short explainer from the Emergency Medicine Journal lays out a capsule history, and exactly why that's the clinical recommendation:

Case of the month: Honey I glued the kids: tissue adhesives are not the same as “superglue” - PMC

A case of a father who treated his child's facial laceration with the home supply of “superglue” having been previously misinformed that superglue is used to treat lacerations is presented. The differences between tissue adhesive and superglue are ...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
 
John Whitley said:
the obligatory PSA: regular CA glues should NOT be used for medical purposes on human or animal tissue.
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So true. I keep a bottle of medical grade CA glue in my shop fridge, certified for human use but works well on animals as needed. I use it on wood and other materials, but recently on a horse's lower leg, a cut not deep enough to sew up - the glue did the trick to hold the skin together. I think it sets up slower and doesn't create the instant heat like the "normal" CA when it contacts moisture.

I wouldn't have done the repair by myself, but a vet friend happened to be stop by on her way home from work but didn't have the supplies she normally used at the animal hospital - I keep a bit of everything for emergencies. Another vet told me of when someone used the Walmart CA on an injured animal - she ended up having to cut the skin away and sew it up properly.

We also keep tubes of Vetbond in the shearing kit in case a llama or alpaca gets a little nick - they are terrible at standing still for shearing, even when "locked" into a restraint chute - they simply hate being touched!

shearing_A_2020.jpg

JKJ
 
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