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Old 01-30-2006 | 09:20 PM
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RCKen
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Default RE: Help for a newbe!!!

When I started building planes I built with CA glues. I built with them for a few years and then I made the decision to switch to using wood glue, Elmer's Carpenter's glue to be specific. As to why I switched?? While I never really developed the severe reactions that I hear about on RCU, I still didn't enjoy what the fumes did to me. So I switched to using wood glue and haven't regretted it one bit either. In fact, I feel that I have become a better builder since I switched. As mentioned above, when you are working with the wood glue you have the time to make sure that your parts are positioned properly before the glue sets, with CA if your part is out of position you have no time to correct it since the glue sets immediately. Also, with the quickness of CA I noticed that I would sometimes work so fast that I made mistakes because I would be building too quickly. When a joint is glued with CA it is next to impossible to sand it because CA is almost as hard as rocks when it's dried, but wood glue can be sanded as easily as the wood can. You're going to hear people that build with CA tell you that they don't like to wait for wood glue and that's why they use CA, but I'll challenge them with the fact that using proper planning and building I can build as fast with wood glue, if not faster, as they can with CA. I still have thin CA around my shop but only for a couple of purposes, mainly for hardening threads and holes in the balsa and for CA hinges (although I will only use CA hinges on planes if I am building for somebody and they request it. otherwise I use hinge points). I would urge you go give serious thought to using wood glue instead of CA.

Hope this helps

Ken