albajet_5256H

My Feedback: (1)

A question for the pro's out there... I'm ready to begin serious kit building but I have a major problem. My past two projects weren't completed because I just got to frustrated working with CA! My wings/fueses always seemed to be covered with little CA finger prints and were just generally really messy. I've tried regular wood glue but have no patience for that! Is there any better choice? Maybe something with a faster drying time than regular yellow wood glue, but without the super tackiness of CA? ...any suggestions?

dbruening80

My Feedback: (1)

Personally, I use Sig Bond for most of my construction, but its basically wood glue. It really does not take that long to dry, just dont use huge amounts. Its longer drying time has saved me on a few occasions when I have made a mistake and had to correct it, the glue was usually still wet by the time I caught it. There is also a product called Ambroid but I have never used it. I still use CA for certain tasks, just not general construction. You really have to learn how to control the CA and realize a little goes a long way, especially the thin stuff. Part of my decision to use Sig Bond is the cost, I can get 4oz of sig bond for the cost of 1/2 oz of ca, plus the sig bond is a lot easier to sand.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Simple, Elmer's Carpenter's Glue. The only thing I use CA for is hardening threads in wood, and CA hinges. Other than that I don't touch the CA. I feel that my builds are better now with wood glue. When gluing a part in place I have time to make sure it's in the proper position before the glue sets.

Ken

bps

My Feedback: (3)

Over the years I have used many glues. Aphelic Resin, CA, Ambroid, Gorrilla Glue (polyurethane glues). The use of CA glues requires different building methods in the way that the glue is applied. Parts can be placed in direct contact and the CA applied. Depending upon joint fits either thick, medium or thin CA is used.

The solvent release glues require the glue to be placed on the parts and then the parts put together to form the joint. In the case of Ambroid sometimes pre-gluing is required. This is where both parts are coated with cement, placed in contact then pulled apart and the cement is allowed to pre cure past the tacky stage. The parts are then re-cemented and assembled.

Aphelic Resin glues seem to be better at flowing into joints, more like the CA's. I usualy apply glue to the part(s) and then place them in contact with each other and secure them where required by pins, tape or weight. This is the type of glue I prefer.

Epoxy can be used in high stress areas or where parts of disimilar material are to be jointed. Some materials can be joined using epoxy that are usualy not good candidates for gluing together such as ABS and other plastics. I much prefer solvent based glues for this task.

Gorrilla glue and other polyurethane glues seem to work well on a variety of materials. They are however at their best when joining materials with some porosity such as woods, thick papers, plywoods. These glues are activated by moisture and so storage becomes an issue. They "foam" considerbly during the curing process so it does take some getting used to in terms of the amount of glue required to make an effective and strong joint. Best results are obtained by moistening the materials to be joined and letting the moisture soak into the material to be glued. The strongest bond is acheived in this manner.

These are just my ideas and I am sure other have theirs. Just make sure if that with what ever adhesive you decide upon that proper safety precautions are observed. You are much better off to prevent a reaction than to deal with the results (health wise).

JEB

bkdavy

My Feedback: (1)

In defense of CA, I'm working on my first kit/first balsa build, but it must be used correctly for maximum effectiveness. It was not clear to me until I read the instructions in the kit that to use the thin CA, you must butt the pieces together tightly, holding them in place with pins or masking tape, and then sparingly drop the thin CA onto the joint area. It will quickly wick into the wood. Quickly wipe any excess off with a dry paper towel. So far progress is good, and I've only glued my fingers to the plane twice! Seriously though, done correctly, my fingers shouldn't be anywhere near the parts being glued. The only trouble I had was trying to piece together the ABS cowl, and the CA wicked through the joint and dripped down the side onto my finger. I did a test of the thin CA on various butt joints on scrap balsa, and in each case, the balsa failed before the glue joint.

I know that every builder has his/her own preferences, and there are a variety of adhesives available with different properties. Each one, used properly, will adequately fulfill its purpose.

Brad

Test005

I use wood glue (Great Planes pro wood glue) and totally like it.
It's nice to work with something less toxic than CA and it doesn't take long to cure if you don't use to much and really stick the pieces to be glued together properly.
I've developed an allergy to CA and use it as little as possible, I sure like to have it in really tricky spots, but I'm a bad CA user, I get everything stuck except the intended piece
In the end, wood glue gets my vote for being so nice to work with.

bps

My Feedback: (3)

Brad,

You make a good point about joint fit using the thin CA,s. They certainly have their place in the construction process. Just know that models can be constructed without them. When I started we never used them, that was a bunch of years ago.

Also on the ABS. Give the Oaty's PVC cement and light weight fiberglass cloth a try. Works great and the PVC cement bonds the ABS by desolving it, instead of just mechanicaly gluing the two parts together. I have used this on all my ABS parts and I get fantastic life out of them. Used to repair our Piper Cherokee fairings with this method. To darned expensive to replace parts on the full scale.

JEB

bkdavy

My Feedback: (1)

I ended up just using the CA to tack things in place on the ABS Cowl and wheel pants. For final finishing and solid bonding, I dissolved the scrap ABS pieces in the PVC Pipe Cleaner (Acetone and MEK mixed). After about 24 hours, I ended up with a very smooth goop about the consistency of a very thick paint. This was applied to the seam. Filled the gaps and bonded perfectly with the existing plastic. Using this method allowed me to get the parts positioned correctly before final gluing. My experience with PVC pipe cement is that it bonds very quickly once applied, but I didn't think it would give me a chance to properly position.

Brad

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

I use the CPVC cement to reinforce the vacuum formed cowls and fuselage tops. Use the swab to paint 3/4 oz woven fiberglass inside the plastic. It never comes loose.

Enjoy,

Jim

shd3920

I used to use CA glues for all parts of the construction except for the joining of the wing panels and the firewall.
I have tried Ambroid and though it is a really good strong-bonding and fairly quick-setting glue, the bright yellow color when it dries is not to my preference. And Ambroid is a very-hard-to-sand glue as well. It is really good for gluing the inside of structures such as the ribs, formers and other inner parts where you don't need to sand and it does allow alittle time to reposition parts. And the smell is not strong or offensive to most - I just wish the color wasn't so bright.

Sig wood glue, Elmers wood glue and (my personal favorite) Titebond II are my preference for the main building of all my kits now - it dries very strong with very little color when dry, it sands fairly well, and it gives plenty of setting time for correcting mistakes. For areas where drying time needs to be quicker I still use CA thin or medium when necessary. I always use 30-minute epoxy for high-stress areas such as wing panel joining, firewalls and formers, landing gear blocks, pushrod tubes, and for joining the control surfaces to the fuselage.

I use Balsarite for fuelproofing the tank area and as a topcoat in fuelproofing the engine compartment after painting with fuelproof paint (usually Rustoleum)

buzzard bait

Some people develop severe allergies to CA. I rarely mess with it--I keep it in the freezer so I've got it when I need it.

Superphatic from Hobby Lobby is great stuff--very thin, soaks in like CA, but is water soluble till it dries. Very strong and light. I use it to fiberglass too.

I also use a lot of Weldbond. Occasionally I use epoxy and Gorilla glue; sometimes even Goop.

Experiment with them, they all have their purposes.

Jim

jstrawn

Titebond II. It dries enough to hold almost as fast as CA, but takes longer for full cure - but you can't fly it right away, can you? And it doesn't stink, burn the eyes, or cause athsma. Besides, my mistakes are a whole lot less permanent, as there is time to fix it before it fully sets.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

I put my CA in the freezer a few years back. Someone in the family knocked it over. Even though I had the cap on tight it leaked. I had it in a baggy but it wasn't a zip lock one.

The fumes from the CA migrated all through the refrigerator. I didn't notice the smell but I did notice the white powder coating on food items in the frig particularly on the ice cubes.

Needless to say, that was the End of putting CA in the refrigerator.

Anymore, I only use it on hinges.

Enjoy,

Jim

Rcpilot

My Feedback: (78)

I'm a CA nut.

I've just about finished framing a 4*120. Big plane. I used thin CA to frame the wing panels. The only place I used epoxy was the dihedral brace.

I used medium CA for my fuse. Only used epoxy on the firewall, landing gear, and wing mount.

I love CA because it's fast. It just takes some time to get used to how it flows out of the bottle. I get it on my fingers, and it peels right off after a good hot shower.

I can't imagine sitting around and waiting for ribs and spars to dry when using some type of glue that takes 1/2 hour to set up.

I had my wing panels on the jig and glued up in less than 20 minutes. It took 2 hours to set the jig up--but once I got the bottle out--I was done.

I glued my fuse together with medium CA. It took 2 hours just using CA--I'd still be at it if I were using wood glue or alphatic resins.

I love CA. I've really never used anything but CA and epoxy for traditional building on wood airframes. I'll use polyurathane on a foam wing or contact cement. Dave Brown Sourgum. But for a traditional wood airframe--it's CA and epoxy for me. Simple and effective.

Jim Finn

My Feedback: (2)

I use "SigMent" which is like what I used back in the 1950's. It is fast setting but slower than CA. The best part of sigment is that when sanding it it, sands just like balsa. CA is too hard to sand well. I use this and Titebond II. Very little CA.

blw

My Feedback: (3)

I've found that if you adapt to the glue you will get optimum results. Same for CA. Tight fit- thin CA. Not so tight or needs some wiggling- medium CA. I can go pretty fast with it and it works great. The fumes only bother me if I'm right over them and don't take notice of it. Otherwise, no problems. I like how a lot of fuselage and wing work can be done right with tacking down places with thin. It makes alignment a breeze. I later go back with medium for strength when I know it is dead on. I wouldn't think of aligning stabs, rudders, etc with with anything else unless it is working with foam. Then, I try for very tight fits and use 6 minute epoxy.

You can sand CA. I don't know how many minutes you have with thin, but if you don't hit it with accelerator you can come back and sand it easily. Done that many times for good surfaces on sheeting, etc.

Devo

I started building again about 6 years ago after a 15 year absence. If CA was used to build 20 years ago I wasn't aware of it. The kit I re-entered the hobby with was a GP Cap232. I used CA for all construction except where epoxy was called out. I thought the CA was great! Fit your parts up, hit them with CA and move on. I remember fitting all the major parts of each wing panel, then just add some CA. Eyes watering, nose running. Add some sheeting, eyes watering, nose running. But man it was fast! It didn't smell that bad, maybe even a little sweet. Built a couple more kits, by the fourth one I noticed I had had a bad sore throat for quite some time. It took one month to build the kit. The sore throat lasted three months. Not good. Now anytime I get even the slightest whiff of CA my nose starts running and the next day I wake up unable to breathe through my nose.

This situation led me to buy a couple of ARFs. I think anyone reading this forum knows that's not good for you either.

For me the solution was good old Elmer's wood glue. Sure it takes a little longer to set up, but I found that there's always something you can do while you wait. On plywood assemblies I was never that impressed with CA anyway. Overall I don't believe it takes me any longer to build with Elmer's than CA. So now Ca is used only for hinges and threads, and that's done outside.

I love to build, but I've shortened my life enough as it is. Leave the CA on the shelf.