Help!!!

As a newbie I don't understand all of the different C A glues. A glue is a glue, then agian maybe not. What is the difference betwen thick and thin. How would you use them differently. I just want to build a kit and cover it. Maybe once I have soloed I will take my kit out and fly it. All info will help a lot. Thanks

trainer Sig LT 40
kit Sig 4 Star 40

Happy flying

Weathervane

Thick CA takes longer to set, can fill small gaps and is used for most basic construction except very high stress areas like Firewall, landing gear blocks, joining wing halfs and servo tray mounting where epoxy should be used.
Thin CA sets imediately and can wick into the surfaces, good for tacking pieces in place where critical alignment is neccesary, CA hinges ect...
CA accelerator (sp?) speeds up cure time of all CA glues and is good to harden thick CA fillets (thick CA on top of surfaces takes a long time to cure)
CA debonder loosens CA glues for fixing goofs or cleaning spills.
That said some people, myself included, often use white or wood elmers type glue. Some never use CA at all. I mix up my building technics.

CA is like crazy glue for wood, thick fills gaps and drys slower, med is just that, between the two grades and drys a bit faster, thin soaks in fast and sets quick and will "run" meaning if you apply some to a area it will soak in along a seam and glue that seam rapidly. CA is a great adhesive although there are many types of glues and knowing where to use them is important experience counts in where to apply the right glue and where. epoxy ,titebond or elmers wood glue, or CA they all have there uses.

With thin CA, you assemble the joint dry and make sure everything is aligned, then you apply the glue to the assembled joint. Capillary effect (surface tension) sucks the glue into the assembled joint where it hardens almost instantly. Think of a plumber sweating copper pipe fittings with solder and you get the idea. When gluing balsa, the strength differences between different glues is a moot point. Break a balsa joint glued with CA and you will break out the wood next to the joint.

Other than using thin CA for hinges I am not real happy using thin CA. I consider its main use is to stick 2 fingers together. I use medium CA exclusivly for balsa and I don't use CA hinges. I tried thick CA and it just seems to act wierd but maybe that because I am just not used to it. [8D]

I think Missileman covered it all!!

I know that you asked about the differences with CA, but I'm going to throw this in for a bit to think about. I've almost completely quit using CA glues. I do keep thin CA around but the only use I have for that anymore is hardening threads in wood. I will use CA for hinges on planes that I review, but only because that's the way the plane comes. When I build my own planes I use Robart's Hinge Points exclusively.

As for building I use Elmer's Wood Glue. I stopped using CA to build with because I got tired of having my eyes water every time I used it. There is an old wives tale that says that people can develop and "allergy" to CA over time. It's a wives tale because it's not really an allergy, but just a body's reaction to the CA and it's fumes. Everybody has reactions to the CA, some more than others. But EVERYBODY'S reactions will get worse over time the more you use the CA. I've spoken to several doctors about it as well as a couple of chemical engineers here on RCU. Basically here's what happens. CA adhesives are activated by moisture. When the fumes of the CA get into your eyes, nose, and lungs there are chemical reactions taking place because let's face it the insides of our bodies are a bit moist. As I said, some people have mild reactions while others have very severe reactions. Some people are so bad that they have to be taken to the hospital because of it, or have even had breathing problems that last several days after exposure to CA. My reactions were just watery eyes, but I wanted to quit using it before those reactions got worse.

Since I've started building with Elmer's wood glue I enjoy being at the building table a whole lot more now than I did before. And in fact I feel that my building has gotten better since I moved to wood glue. I have more time to ensure that the parts are in place before the glue "kicks". One other thing that I absolutely hated about CA was that wood that thin CA in it was like a rock and was very difficulty to sand. When parts are joined with wood glue the glue sands the same as the surrounding wood.

Anyway, that's a bit of my ramblings about CA. Hope they help

Ken

i use thin CA almost everywhere, epoxy for the rest. And i have done for the past few years and i'm yet to have any issues with it.

Having said that, i did pick up some white glue that claims to dry in 10mins a little while ago, that could be interesting, not got around to using it though I've noticed some other glues appearing at the lhs that have fast drying times too


I think CA with still be the glue of choice for the flight box though, perfect for fixing a little crack, just zip open the covering a tiny bit and let some CA soak in and it's dry almost instantly, i can't see another glue bettering this.

I'm with RCKen. In fact I'm about to run to Lowe's to pick up some exterior elmer's wood glue.

Most of its covered already, just a few more comments.

1. The fumes will give you a NASTY headache, especially the morning after. Be sure to work in a well ventialted area and if possible keep your face away from the fumes.

1a. CA is death to foam parts. It will melt foam into total and complete non existance. Make sure that if you have any type of foam in your airplane, keep the CA at least 1" away. If you put one drop on a piece of styrofoam, it will continue to melt through until it hits something solid. Then the vapors will spread out and take out any foam within an inch or two or where the liquid passed.

2. There is such thing as "odorless" or foam safe CA. It works pretty well but it is not QUITE as strong as the regular stuff. I build my foamie 3D electric planes with odorless CA and it works very well.

There are accelerators for CA, but like other glues if you accelerate them they are a little bit more brittle than without.

3. CA will attack plastics and severly discolor or "frost" them. The gases will cause an unremoveable whitish haze on the surface. Does the same thing to monokote and stuff. I keep a little debonder handy when Im working with CA just in case it goes where I dont want it to go. The thin stuff runs easier than water so you have to be really careful with it.

4. If you are doing CA hinges a good way to do it is with a capillary tube.. Your LHS should have some tiny tube that you can feed into the CA bottle that will allow you to "inject" the CA precisely where you want it. IE into a CA hinge slot. One thing the guy at the LHS taught me when I 1st got into modeling was to cut the hinge slot and then drill a 1/16" hole stright down into the middle of the hinge. This allows you to slip the capillary tube down in between the hinge and the wood on either side to get the glue down "in there" a little bit.

I love CA and I love fast drying epoxies, well,,, 15 minute epoxy. I dont use the 5 minute stuff unless I need to make an elergency repair. I like to fly more than build,, if you take the time to make good fits on your joints the faster stuff will last forever.

OK.

Vary cool,I got some great answeres here. I have an old (and I do mean old)remains of a crashed plane I can pratice on. 15 years ago I was going to make it fly, Well after looking into it I learned a kit will be cheaper. So 15 years later I am learning how to fly and wanting to build a kit. Baby steps are best.

Thanks alot for all of the info. It will help out alot. Maybe it will cut down on the mistakes.

Happy flying

Weathervane

my preference in the alphatic resin glue category ,which includes white as well as wood glue,is Tite Bond glue it works great its ultra strong sets up fast . been using it for work and modeling for years . have to agree with Ken CA is poison and sands like c#*p turning wood to rocks . I must add I do use CA hinges and have not had any problems ever, also for strengthening screw holes in balsa its hard to beat CA. speeds up the building definitely has its place on my building table

Yea I have used Elmers Wood Glue for some small cheap (happy home owner) kits. I was not sure about it in a full blown 4 chanel plane. I have found that it takes more than just one glue to build a plane. Vary helpful.

Happy flying
Weathervane

Don't know how. But I got this in here twice.

Yea I have used Elmers Wood Glue for some small cheap (happy home owner) kits. I was not sure about it in a full blown 4 chanel plane. I have found that it takes more than just one glue to build a plane. Vary helpful.

Happy flying
Weathervane