Educate me- CA adhesive and activator

[AHill]

I wouldn't use CA for any mouldings. I'd use a PVA glue like Titebond. There are big differences between CA brands. It's a common glue use in pen making. Starbond is a very trusted brand. CA cures when exposed to oxygen, so it's important to keep the bottle sealed when not using it. CA tends to get brittle with age, then it becomes failure prone. The "T" CA glues from Satellite City are also good brands. If you still desire to use CA, I'd stick to the brands offered by woodworking stores e.g. Lee Valley, Rockler, and Woodcraft. They offer them in different thicknesses (thick, medium and thin). Thick is good for quick tacking of items where you don't want it dripping. Medium is your normal use situations, and think is good for firming up punky or soft spots in wood. The hardware store stuff is OK in a pinch, but nowhere near the quality of the brands sold at woodworking stores.

[goaliedad]

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate the info

[Tony Z]

I’ve used CA on mitered joints for molding, but only in middle section, with Titebond II on outer sections. Works well.

Question, has anyone intermixed activator and glue brands and did it work?

[MichaelS]

Good tips in this thread for sure - starbond, fastcap are both awesome brands. I prefer aerosol accelerant myself, those silly little squeeze/squirt top ones dont work well for me.

One critical comment though - be darn wary of the fumes. Ca glue fumes can wreck your lungs, in some drastic case - permanently. Awesome ventilation is really the only answer, as even if you get a proper organic filter respirator your eyes will still get severely irritated. Some lucky folks do not have much of a reaction at first but it builds/worsens over time.

I love the stuff for many purposes, but like any good tool you need to understand safe handling.

Michael

[Handplanesandmore]

Activators work on ca glue regardless of brands according to 4 different ca brands and 2 different activators I've used.

Simon

[MarkSingleton]

Starbond was a game changer for me, especially with the aerosol activator.
Did not realize the fumes problem mentioned, THAT got my attention.

I store mine in the refrigerator, was told that helps its' preservation. Dunno
if that is true or not.

[Handplanesandmore]

True according to almost all ca glue manufacturers.

Simon

[jteneyck]

The Starbond pump bottle accelerator works great for me, and lasts a lot longer than the aerosol cans.  It is nasty stuff, but OK with reasonable ventilation.  And it works pretty much - right now!  Game changer on the CNC.  

John

[MarkSingleton]

The Starbond pump bottle accelerator works great for me, and lasts a lot longer than the aerosol cans.  It is nasty stuff, but OK with reasonable ventilation.  And it works pretty much - right now!  Game changer on the CNC.  

John

   Thanks for posting that link.

   My Starbond purchase was one of their starter packs, which came with the aerosol.  
   Now that I know about the pump bottle version, I will go with that when needed.

   Cool.

   

[JohnnyEgo]

The other downside of CA glue is that while it is very strong, it is also brittle, and can be weak in shear depending on the material. I use it for quick clamping purposes all the time, but I go with regular old PVA glue for anything that goes the distance.

I keep all three viscosities in my shop, though I use medium the most when dealing with wood; the thin tends to absorb and wick too fast on permeable surfaces to form a good surface bond. For similar reasons when bonding end grain to face grain, I will usually use the activator on the end grain and the medium on the face.

As an off-label use case, I keep a bottle of the thin stuff on top of my first aid kit as a liquid band aid for life's little misadventures. Seals up a bleeder fast, and I like to think of the exothermic reaction as bonus cauterization. The burning sensation let's you know it is working!