I have an old balsa kit that has been stored in attic for 15 years. Recently decided to finish this kit. CA glue will not bond balsa together well. The glue is good as it works on new balsa. This kit was subjected to high heat and cold temps in attic. Also, could have gotten wet but is dry now. Will I need to use some other glue on this old balsa? Thanks

Make sure that all the surfaces are as dust free as possible and the use of a little kicker might be needed.

Pretty much normal. There is no moisture left in the wood. I have run across this several times with old kits. You can use alpheteic resin glue(titebond) to build it.

As TLH101 says, the wood is too dry. Best is to expose the wood to a moist atmosphere for awhile but another solution is to lightly (very lightly) dust the area to be glued with baking soda--like used in the kitchen--in the areas to be glued. The baking soda technique also works will with plywood and hardwoods that you try to use CA on.

Open the box and leave it in the bathroom on top of a shelf or cabinet for a couple weeks.

The steam and moisture from taking showers and baths will put some moisture back into the wood. It's easy to do and takes no effort on your part. It's a slow process, and will work perfectly if you just leave it alone for a few weeks. Trying to mist the balsa with a spray nozzle or even dunking the balsa in water is the "I'm in a rush" way of doing it and you won't be near as happy with the results.

It took 15yrs for the wood to dry out. Do you really want to put all that moisture back into it in 5 minutes? Stick it in the bathroom.

I agree. Ca sets, not drys, based on the trace moisture in the material being glued. Spraying the balsa with water will not be the same as allowing the material to draw moisture slowly. That's why I suggested using kicker. Ca kicker causes the glue to set without trace moisture being in the wood.

I'd agree with TLH101. Use Titebond or similar carpenter's glue. IMO, kicker causes the glue to get brittle, and it's difficult to sand. For the strongest airframe, I avoid kicker if at all possible.

Phil

Kicker does not make ca set any harder or more brittle than not using it at all. It does however compromise the inherent strength of the glue if more than what it takes to initilize the curing is used. As far as harder to sand, you should never use ca in a place where sanding will be needed if at all possible. If you use wood type glues, which I still do in certain applications, always look for the sandable type as all alpahtic wood glues are not the same.

How would you know if you're using too much? I find it takes very little to start the reaction, but my spray bottle puts out a pretty good spritz ... maybe that's where my idea, that it makes the joints brittle, comes from.

If too much kicker is used you will see an immediate reaction in distortion, heat, and even smoke at times. I use a spray nozzle that puts out as fine an atomization as possible and hold it back from the work about a foot and try and spray just enough to let a couple of droplets fall on the glue joint. That's usualy all it takes to start the curing.

you can put moisture back into the wood by putting the kit in your bathroom and take a nice hot 20 to 30 minute shower. i was told to do that on older kits.

Thanks for the suggestions.