bchapman

My local hobby shop only seems to have the "house brand" CA in stock most of the time. When I started out building with CA in the early 90s I only remember using Zap brand CA and remember that it worked well. Now, all these years later, I'm back into the hobby and building again and would like to know how others feel about the difference in quality. I'd have to order it in from Tower, which is no problem, but I'd have to order at least the 2 oz size of each type so I wouldn't be running out and having to wait for more to arrive.

carrellh

Most of the 'house brand' CAs are bottled by Bob Smith Industries (BSI). I do not know if they are a manufacturer or if they simply buy in bulk and bottle it in hobby sizes.

I got a bottle several years ago that would not bond anything. It was my first bottle that was not branded Zap or Great Planes. At that time I would have said to buy the brand name. I wrote about it here in one of the "best CA" threads that pops up from time to time. BSI contacted me about where and when I got it and determined (based on order history) that the LHS had it on the shelf for years. They mailed me TWO fresh bottles as a goodwill gesture and it worked as well as Zap or any other brand.

Ozzy37

I've always had good luck with using Bob Smith Industries (BSI) brand CA. It's always branded as the house brand for the local hobby shop. To make my CA last longer I have extra screw on tips that I use that are pre cut for the thickness I'm using. Once I'm done with the ca for the day, I replace the cut tip with an uncut one and then I store it. To clean the cut tips I soak them in acetone. This process has worked well for me for years and I'm happy with the results.

V/R

Oz

KitBuilder

House brand CA and titebond from HD for me, never an issue.

Lamoilleriver

I have always had good luck with the great planes CA from Tower, steer away from Tower brand CA.

Mk23socom

My Feedback: (7)

I use Tower brand all the time and have since my very beginning.. there is nothing wrong with it in my experience..

w0mbat

My Feedback: (1)

Hobby shops sell "house" CA because they make more profit and it's easier to sell because of the price point. I have tried just about every brand of CA over the past 15 years and I keep going back to ZAP.

countilaw

I have found that storing CA in the refrigerator keeps it fresh a lot longer. It may be my imagination because i have never really tested the hyposthesis. I have had CA sitting on the work bench for a period of time and it got thick or completely set up.

Has anyone else tried this?


Frank

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

Keeping the UNopened bottles in the refrig does indeed work...but once opened, do NOT return it the refrig....and for some some reason I too keep coming back to Zap....no real reason, just that it is in my comfort zone

OldScaleGuy

My Feedback: (2)

Zap is great glue, others are very good as well, Great Planes, Bob Smith have worked well for me. I store mine in the refrigerator all the time when not in use. Tailskid, why do you say that? Maybe i am missing something, always open to learning....

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

when placed BACK into the refrig the moisture will condense in the bottle and the shelf life goes down quickly. At least that is what I've been told by both Zap and Bob Smith Industires.....

OldScaleGuy

My Feedback: (2)

Interesting. I always put the cap back on the bottles maybe that is why i don't have a problem.

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

That makes sense to me! So we both learned something new today

acerc

I use Tower brand and Great plane's brand. They both work as well as Zap. The best deal is Great Planes 4oz bottle from Tower. Remove the lid, fill a smaller bottle, replace lid, and store in fridge untill needed again. Note I said remove lid not cut tip.

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

I typically use either Mercury adhesive CA or ZAP. the past few years i have been using Mercury exclusively and have had no real issues with the CA...

BUT

Their accelerator "spray" nozzles absolutely SUCK!!! I go through atleast 3 nozzles per bottle of accelerator. Something in the plastic/accelerator spray doesn't work well with each other and the spray nozzle then falls out. You can push it back in, but it doesn't stay and you just get a puddle of accelerator to come out. Mercury even sent me a box of about 2 dozen accelerator tips, but they didn't last either. I ended up going through on average 2 a day during my heavy building season.

That being said, in 20+ years of modeling, i have NEVER had that issue with the Zap-kicker spray nozzle. Even now, i end up buying a extra bottle of kip-kicker just to get the spray nozzle off of it to have a spare.

All CA goes back in a mini-fridge under my building table for any length of time that I won't be building. I typically keep 16-20oz of CA at a time, some bottles I have had in the fridge for as long as 12-16months.

acdii

Soaking tips in acetone. Never thought of doing that. I waste more CA due to clogged tips, and it is such a pain.   Where do you get spare tips?  Or do you just reuse a tip from an old bottle?

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

My stock statement to this question has always been, I have never seen a nickles worth of difference between brands of CA. I have been buying mine in 8 ounce bottles from a wood working supply place, NO NAME and it has worked great like all the different CAs I use. I just re-fill a two ounce bottle I have in my shop then replace the CAP and put it in the freezer for long term storage. This month I have been doing a lot of sheeting and I bought some CA from my LHS sold under the name KWIK and distributed by GLOBAL. I have the thick and the slow cure. This is the first time in all my years of building I have run into total crap CA. It's so bad it won't glue paper together. It's useless to me.
The total crap cost over $8.00 for a two ounce bottle.
So, finally I can tell folks yes, there can be a difference. Don't waste your time or your hard earned modeling money on GLOBALS KWIK CA, it's total crap and for the price of the four ounces I could have gotten 8 ounces at the Wood Workers Imporium.[:@] Total Crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OldScaleGuy

My Feedback: (2)

Hummm,,,, i see a trip to the Wood Workers Imporium in your near future.

Ozzy37

acdii,

I do both. Reuse tips from old bottles and have purchased tips from my LHS.

Oz

Gene Margiotti

My Feedback: (4)

Yes, use the ZAP adhesives.

Gene

dgxco1

My Feedback: (11)

Started using Gorilla brand CA from Home Depot when they started to carry the brand. Stuff works like a charm, I have used many of their adhesives for different application and they just never fail me.
Pricing is very good as well and I see that they have started to advertise in the Hobby Magazines as well. I used to swear by Permabond (AKA Henkel) but the pricing is out of sight. One Permabond cyano I did like was the surface insensitive seemed like it would glue anything it touched. However the Gorilla stuff seems almost as good.

MX240

My Feedback: (4)

For years I always tried to buy Goldberg CA and liked that the best. It was hard to find so would use the Hobby Town house brand when I had too.

Last summer I had a friend loan me some new CA called, "The Last Glue." Wow, fantastic stuff. It will bond anything....right now!
But, it is very expensive...but I like it good enough I will pay the price for a vey secure joint.
Check it out at this link.... Use this stuff once and you will be spoiled too.

http://www.thelastglue.com/

Twin_Flyer

My Feedback: (4)

The only problem I have had with Tower brand CA was shelf life, it hardened in the bottle well before I could use it up, didn't matter if it were a new or opened bottle.

All brands did that to me, just Tower branded one were the worst.

Zap had one of the longest shelf lives i have used and Anchor Bond was the best, but they no longer sell to the consumer (dammit!!).

Going through some of my supplies this past weekend after cleaning up after a leak, I even had a set of unopened 5 minute epoxy harden up! Both the epoxy and the catalyst.. They were still in the sealed plastic bad they were shipped in as well. However, I probably had them for five years... LOL

Bill S.

redbiscuits

My Feedback: (6)

60 bucks for basicly a 1.5oz bottle? It might just be me and I don't care how good it is, that's nuts!

MX240

My Feedback: (4)

Ya I hear ya,.... I only buy the thirty dolloar bottles as that is enough for me and I do have the cheaper stuff on my building table.....but if I really need to hold something like the hardwood standoffs/strap gear door attachment onto my warbird so they don't move...I don't use the cheap stuff. ok And epoxy is worthless for this job as I am glueing hardwood with a cut down zip tie screwed into the hard wood and CA'ed to the metal Robart gear. Ya, I know about the stand offs they sell.
So one of those $60 bottles would last me for six months.