I have been using Zap CA thin glue for the past few years, but I am not real crazy about their applicator bottle. I have two questions about CA. Who markets the best bottle from the standpoint of application and can you guys see any difference in the performance of the different brands? Some of them have become fairly pricey now, but maybe they are worth the extra money. Any thoughts?[]

I buy Tower's CA and then use SIG's tips. They fit right on the Tower bottles. The SIG part no. for the fine tips is SIGSH10220. They also sell medium tips that would allow better flow for thicker ca.

Zap has tips for their CA

Try BalsaUSA Gold. I've been using it for years. It's a great CA and applies well. http://shop.balsausa.com/category_s/59.htm

I also use Tower CA but I use the Hobbico applicator tips. I have no problems with how everything works for me.. try using a tip on the bottle and see if that may cure your problems if you like the Zap stuff!

I like the BUSA product, too. In fact, I just purchased 18 bottles at the Toledo Show.

That should be enough to last me, until next year's Show.

You may want to try abandoning the bottle tips altogether. What is far more effective is to buy large bottles of CA and use the Dave Brown applicators from Tower Here:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXB970&P=7

These are keep filled all the time and stored tips up in an old glass as in the picture. The Ca bottle is only opened from the large screw cap to refill the applicators.

These are far easier to work in tight places without the need to lift and position the bottle each time. When the tips of the applicators become contaminated just snip off a bit of the tip. They last a long time and the CA stays fine in the applicators a long time.

John

I'll add my 2 cents I have been useing BSI (Bob Smith Industries ) for years now & while i have tried other CAs I keep going back to the BSI. What i like about it the most are the bottles with the long neck & cap. I have even poured other CA into the BSI bottles because i cant get used to building with out the BSI tip. I personally didnt see any difference glue wise it was strictly the bottle i like!! Hope BSI never changes their bottles....Gene

Max, I just save old two ounce bottles and wash them out in acetone, I have never been brand loyal, I have never seen a nickles worth of difference between glue brands. I buy a bag of tips for the bottles, usually at Hobby Town or Hobby People, then I buy my CA at the Wood Workers Supply Store in 8 ounce bottles and just refill the old glue bottles as needed. I have a bottle of acetone and if a tip cloggs up I just toss it into the acetone and put on a new tip. If I don't feel like changing tips I just clip off about 1/8 inch of the tip to clear it. I'm in the habit of squeezing the bottles sides a little to clear the tip when I'm going to set the bottle down for any length of time. They stay clear that way. I use mostly thin CA so I only buy my thick CA in two ounce bottles.

I hear you Gene. First of all, let me say I am not brand loyal either. I will use anything that works for me. That being said, I like Zap CA. I bought some Tower Hobbies stuff once, I think they call it "Build It" or something like that, and it did not work at all. I probably should have complained as Tower most likely would have replaced it. Anyway, I started using Zap for some reason and it works fine, even smokes, but I do not like the bottle. The reason I don't like the bottle is that the tip is molded into the bottle. It won't come off. These are one ounce bottles. Maybe the bigger bottles have screw on caps, but I very rarely use CA and bigger bottles usually get thick before I use it all. That is why I mentioned the bottles at all in my earlier posts. Now John Buckner has mentioned something that sounds great. I have a whole bunch of the capillary bulbs he shows. I never thought of filling a couple and storing them with the tips up. So now I have a hundred or so of the applicator bulbs but CA bottles that the caps don't come off. Don't problems ever end with this fascinating hobby?

Max, if, make that a capital IF I'm in a hobby shop that is having a sale and I'm in need of some glue I will buy it depending on the price. If you store your glue in the freezer and it has the cap on then it won't harden or go bad. I was in Hobby People one day while they were having a sale, I bought some glue and discovered there was a box with screw on caps/ends/tips bellow the glue, these were a free item!! Now I have a cap for all my old glue bottles. Those bulbs John uses are great too. You can keep your main bottle in the freezer and have a bulb of glue on the bench.
Even in an 8 ounce bottle I have tended to use up my CA long before it goes bad. Not to mention living in an area with 6 or 7 percent humidity my glue lasts a bunch longer them in most places. Now that I'm hampered in my building and not doing a lot we will see how long it lasts. I think my garage freezer will be storing some glue now!

I use the freezer idea. That's how I get away with buying 18 bottles at a time.

Last week, I opened a bottle that I bought at last year's Toledo Show. It was as fresh as the bottle that I opened when I returned from the Show, a year ago.

Before I moved here to Vegas I had my old mobil home as a shop, it had a nice ice box, cold beer and wine with a few colas tossed in. The freezer had a few bottles of glue. One of them fell over and the cap was loose. I used a paper towl to soak it up, that was a mistake!! Acetone cleaned up the mistake though.
That little FYI is for anyone that plans to use the fridge that the wife is using too!! If it spills it doesn't cure, it is still a liquid but if it lands on a steak and your wife pulls it out to defrost you could hear about it rather quickly!! And loudly! Just a heads up!!