I keep extra tips in a baby food jar full of acetone and keep a sealed tip on the bottle when not in use.

Ca is real good to fix those exacto cuts on your fingers also!! It will glue those cuts rite back together

Never thought of that one! Great idea. I know some form of ca is used by the medical profession for just that purpose. I'm sure their version is 100 times the cost of ours and probably the same brand as ours!

Lets see, one bottle of ca equals 200 band aids?

If you have not tried it the IC2000 from Bob Smith is fantastic. It has rubber in it. I use it to join metal rod to carbon fiber tubes for pushrods. Its very strong.Just apply to the metal rod and insert into the carbon fiber tube. Rotate the rod around and push it in. Don't be shy on the glue.

CA specifically for skin is called Derma-Bond. Don't bother trying to find it because it's the same thing we use on our models just sterile.I first learned about using CA on cuts at a gig ofmine, one night between sets my bassist's finger tips were so raw he was putting Krazy glue on them!!( I playthe Drums so no need for it there) He said he was doing it for a while with no issues. I have used it on minor cuts and especially my cuticles around my finger nails when they rip ever since. As far as the CA tips ,go on e bay you can get 100 for about 5 bucks and you wonthave to worry about them for a long time. Just trim the end to fit on the CAbrand bottle you use and cut off the small end if they get clogged. I use a small T-Pin to seal it up after use and Never had anProblem. My 2 cents!!

I did not see anyone mention CA debonder. It works well. But I just peel the glue off my fingertips when I am done for the day. Of course if you leave it on then you don't have fingerprints

As far as the point I tap my bottle on the table and squeeze it slightly while pointing up. This gets rid of any laeft in the tip. I have been amazed at how much less junk you get on the outside of the tip and assume that much of it must come from evaporation of what was left in the tip.

If you are patient, when your skin replenishes the oils that the CA dried out, the CA will peel off. If I get a lot on my fingers, I use a sanding block and remove it.

For simulated rivets I "used to" use RC-56 canopy glue thinned with water and use a small CA tip or a toothpick. Thicker for round heads and thinner for more flatter head.

Now I can do it twice as fast with medium CA and very small tip like in post 14 and kicker.

Just lay out you panel lines and then I use piece of paper marked of in the proper space between rivets. Lay it about 1/2 inch off the panel line and just go down the marks with a single drop. Do about 12-15 in a row then hit it with CA Kicker, I wait about 3 seconds and then wipe clean with a paper towel.

Easiest way yet for raised rivets. Doing my 90" zero now.

I was at Hobby Lobby yesterday and picked up a bottle of SIG Thin and SIG Medium CA as well as a package of the tips (see post #14) and man do the tips make an unbelievable difference! I was using the tip on the bottle and continually cutting it back as it gummed / dried up and the tips are so much better. Still got a little bit on my fingertips but no where near as messy. I also like the post that mentioned using the  "suction" of the bottle to clear the tip. When I'm done I just suctioned the bottle, wiped the outside of the tip with a paper towel and it was good to go next time.

CA is wonderful stuff. I remember way back when in my early control line days all we had was Ambroid and wood glue. Took forever to build a plane. Then along came Epoxy and five minute Epoxy. We thought we had dies and went to heaven.

When CA came along it was amazing. You hear people say that they use Epoxy for some uses since they think it is stronger than ca. Years ago I built a Sig King Cobra using only CA. Thin and Medium. That plane lasted 15 years until I grew tired of it and threw it away. I have found that CA, Epoxy and Wood Glue are all far stronger than the material being glued. Ca just lets us work much faster.

However it does not care if it sticks you to anything you touch with ca on it! I even glued my leg to the chair once when ca dropped unto the chair without my knowledge. I'm sure glad no kicker was involved! That would have been very hot on the leg!

"Ca is real good to fix those exacto cuts on your fingers also!!"

My understanding of the history of CA is that it was originally developed to treat/suture/close up battlefield wounds without having to sew them together.

Les

+ 1

Bob

First time I saw CA was in 1963. My dad was an engineer in aerospace and they used it for items in the rockets and missiles. In 68 I never saw any used by the medics or in there kits. Doesn't mean it wasn't there though.
I buy my CA in 8 ounce bottles and just fill up a two ounce bottle as needed. I use the small tips sold at the LHS but I still glue my fingers together and to wood. Acetone removes it. I only bother removing it if I'm going out in public, my friends all know what I do for a hobby.

Back in the 50s and 60s we didn't have epoxy. All we had was Ambroids and white wood glue. Gluing a firewall in could be challenging. Wood glue was always water soluble and glow fuel would eventually dissolve it. So you would have to glue the plywood to the balsa with wood glue and wait for it to dry well, then coat the exposed area with several coats of Ambroids and again wait for it to dry.

You could buy Ambroids in the quart can and it could be thinned with acetone. Several coats of thinned Ambroids you could completly fuel proof the engine compartment.

Then 5 min epoxy came along. You can thin it with acetone also. I could build a complete Ugly Stick in less than a week and be flying it that weekend.

Now we have CA and I love to hear people try to pronounce the name. That's why we call it CA and not Cyanoacrylate. A couple of years after the thin CA appeared the thick CA appeared. Thin CA will not adhere plywood very well but the thick will. I still use Epoxy for firewalls and landing gear mounts.

Whenever you are having a hard time with CA kicking off, sprinkle a little Arm & Hammer baking soda over the wet CA. It will cook off very quickly. It will also strenghten the joint.

Frank

My son cut his chin and had to go to the ER. The doctor glued it shut with some CA and we got a bill for almost $500. The LHS sells a 2 oz bottle of oderless for $20. Lesson learned.

When I built fixtures out of Graphite we used 100% nitromethane as debonder.

If you stick your fingers together just let your CA debonder work dont rush or you will tear your skin apart.

Hint use only one hand when glueing.

I used balsa dust to fill gaps in stick building one dropof thin Ca and it would harden like stone.

<div>I thought CA use in the military was a myth, but it's mostly true:</div><div>
</div><div><span style="font-family: '.HelveticaNeueUI'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2187/was-super-glue-invented-to-seal-battle-wounds-in-vietnam</span></div>

Good article, I have never seen CA in a spray either. I have been on blood thinners for a year now and I have cut myself several times so when in my shop I just close the wound with CA so I don't bleed all over everything. During one of my back operations the Dr. tried to use the glue on me and it didn't hold. This Dr. was a bit on the old side and I'm sure he wasn't a modeler so perhaps he really didn't know how to use glue? His mistake caused me another two back operations. Ca in the wrong hands can be dangerous!!

GB, sorry to hear. My younger brother, now passed, was on blood thinners among other meds. He clipped the prop of a plane that was on the floor with his leg. Despite his full-length jeans, it opened him up a couple inches without tearing the denim. Took several months for it to heal. <div>I hope you're doing well!</div><div>
</div><div>Crazy Flight, I use balsa dust also but with Titebond-type glues which makes it very easy to sand. </div>

I use CA a lot because it is fast. Getting some on your hands is inevitable. As others have noted, using tips and proceeding carefully, and planning the glue-up beforehand, are all important steps. I too use it also when I cut myself. A little hot when it cures but works like a charm. That said, it is expensive stuff so you have to be judicious in how and when you use it. I always have CA debonder on hand as well as accelerator, to control the behavior of the CA bead.

One of the things I like about it is that the thin soaks into wood very well, making the bond even stronger. What I typically do if strength is important is to use thin CA first to get into the wood, then thick to mate the surfaces. I use medium a lot to make glue fillets to reinforce formers to fuse in ARFs. The generic Bob Smith stuff is OK, but Zap glues are excellent.

This said, CA is not always ideal. It is strong, but also super brittle. Epoxy is better where you need strength with some flexibility, plus, epoxy will bond just about anything, whereas CA does not always bond certain materials. Also, it may be tempting to reinforce a part with glas and soak it with thin CA rather than epoxy. This works fine, except in cases where you want a smooth texture. Only epoxy will provide that.

I alsocombine CA with epoxy. I use CA to "tack up" the pieces, then use epoxy for the main job.