What Thickness CA should I be using for a build? I have been using wood glue, with a little medium CA to hold the wood, since i dont have any clamps. However, if I want to use CA with no wood glue, can I use medium (its all I have in my house). I think i remember people saying use thin, but im not sure if this is accurate, or if medium will work fine too. Thanks

I primarily use medium with a little thin for certain things. Thin works well for tight fitting assemblies where you want the glue to wick into the joint while you hold the pieces together. I also have thick on hand but rarely use it.

I think medium is the most versatile. Especially if you are making end grain connections. If you need thick, it is time to tighten up your building technique. Thin has its' place, but it wicks away from the glue joint and you can actually end up using more thin to do the same job that a smaller quantity of medium would take.
My ratio for a Tower order is 3:1, medium : thin.

ok, cool. So i can use my medium for the actual assembly glue. For some reason I thought someone said use thin only. THis should speed up my glue curing time. fun

If you want to speed your building time get some kicker. This will set the CA almost instantly. For gap filling also get some wood fibres or micro ballons. [ Everybody has the odd gap! ]

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXAAC7&P=7

However if you have really tight joints just thin CA seems to work fine for me. I built a 90 size wing that had been laser die cut with nice tight joints entirely in my hand, eyeballed it for square then ran thin CA into all the joints. As far as I know that model is still flying after 5+ years and some serious air time.

[link=http://www.mercuryadhesives.com/index.htm]Mercury Adhesives[/link] has quite a bit of good CA info on their site, about the science behind the different viscosities, their uses, etc etc. Whether you're using their brand or not (see below), much of the info is valid for any CA application.

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**WARNING : OBSESSIVE PRODUCT RAVING COMING**

I recommend Mercury Adhesives stuff in the strongest possible way. No, I don't work for them, own stock, or anything of the sort...I doubt they even know who I am.

I simply rave when I find a product that works as well as theirs does.

It is, ime, compare to other CA's, "half price". I've been through 2.5 kit builds with it now, and have NEVER thrown an unused portion away, NEVER unclogged a tip, NEVER found a batch that wouldn't cure, or cured inconsistently. Every single product of theirs I've ever tried has been fresh, consistent, accurate, you name it. As a result, I've spent LESS money on CA over those builds, and gotten BETTER results.

They even have "special application" stuff, including a low odor product for you folks with sensitivity to CA fumes.

Fantastic stuff, and I encourage everyone to give it a try at least once.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

gboulton,

Thanks for the Rave on Mercury.

Could you (and others) describe where you would apply Mercury M3500FL (flex)?

and have you used M100XF (ARF) CA and is there a noticable difference compared to M5T thin?

*heh* I just figure as quick as a lot of us are to bash folks in this hobby, it's nice to rave some times when a product deserves it.

Best place I've seen it used was on an EPP foam aircraft. There are plenty of joints on your typical foamy that can stand to flex a little...or even NEED to...and typical CA (foam safe or otherwise) simply doesn't allow for that.

I've also used it in one case to CA a throttle and choke servo directly to the engine box of a gasser. The C doesn't allow enough movement to actually cause slop in the throttle/choke valve, but it DOES allow the servo to be isolated from vibration in the same way the rubber grommets usually do. The application has worked fine for some time now, and really opened up quite a few "potential mounting locations" where cutting out servo holes would have been difficult or impractical.

There is, indeed. It has 2 advantages, imo:

1) Being just a bit thicker, it doesn't tend to run out of a joint and into/on to other parts of the ARF.
2) It does a MUCH better job of bonding surfaces that aren't "dry clean wood"...such as perhaps a balsa or ply plate already coated with epoxy, or perhaps a fiber wing tube socket, or what have you.

Mostly, it's just kinda nice to have something on hand that has most of the advantages of both Medium and Thin...very fast set time, but enough work time, filling properties, and stronger adhesion, like Medium.


That, in fact, highlights one of the "ancillary benefits", if you will, that I've found with Mercury's stuff.

I really don't mind buying a particular bottle for one very specific task...even if I won't use it very often. The stuff simply does NOT go bad (well, i should say, I haven't had any go bad yet in close to a year) and I never have to worry about clogged tips, etc. Given that, I'm really ok spending, say, $4-$6 for a small bottle of the 100XF, EVEN if I won't use it much.