Considering I have been loafing in and out of the hobby for over 20 years......I should know this but. First, does CA stand for Contact Adhesive? and what is differnt about CA compared to modeling cement like from Testors? From what I have read is CA sets up much faster than modeling cement but what else should one know about it that has never used it? One thing I have never been fond of with the Plastic Modeling Cement in a tube is, I think it is a pain in the caboose to use (have used it for many years). I don't like how it flows out of the tube despite how little pressue was applied to the tube (its like a volcano or something). Normally I dump a little bit onto a disposable surface (plastic) and use toothpicks to apply it where I want it.....but this often leads to the super cement string effect even if I am trying to work quickly. And if it is a detail part....it takes FOREVER for it to set up enough to hold the part. (it is so cool when sunshades slide down the cab after you have been holding in place for three to four minutes). It is my dislike of the plastic cement that has me looking at CA for small details parts. In short, can someone give me the low down on CA?
CA stands for CyanoAcrylate. I simply use the dollar stuff in the .07oz tubes you can find at Walgreens. Mostly, the brands are the same, but I've found The Original Super Glue brand to be my preferred choice. The four pack is about 4 bucks. It's cheap, so if/when the cap glues itself shut, its hardly a loss. You want to store it vertical after you open it so the glue does not flow to the tip when in storage, otherwise you'll glue it shut after the first use and it will spill everywhere once you open it. I used The Original Super Glue exclusively for my Burlington O-4 Mikado conversion.
More hints for using CA: 1. Buy a bottle of CA accelerator. It usually comes in a small, 2-ounce pump spray bottle. A quick spritz or drop of this stuff will harden the CA instantly. I found working with CA very frustrating until I started using accelerator. 2. Unlike plastic cement, CA has a limited shelf life. If in doubt, buy fresh glue. After working with it for a while you will be able to identify stale CA from its odor. 3. CA comes in thick (gap filling) and regular thin varieties. It's good to have both on hand. If the parts fit together closely, with lots of surface area in contact, use the thin kind; otherwise, use the gap-filling type. 4. Needless to say, don't get it on your fingers. CA glues skin better than anything else.
To make CA last longer, you can store it in the fridge after opening. I've extended the life of bottles of it from a few weeks to several months by doing this.
CA is the modelling nerd name for Superglue. Actually, it refers to a number of different similar glues including Superglue and Crazy glue, but also medical adhesives such as LiquiBand and SurgiSeal. Another hobby of mine (when I have money and space) is Salt water fish keeping and superglue is used there to glue living coral to surfaces so it can grow, because the glue is safe to use right in the tank. Testor's modelling glue, at least the brush applied stuff is useful only for plastics as it melts the plastic surfaces together. Very different.
Here is a link to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate CA is not like plastic cement, it sets immediately, and you can easily glue yourself to anything you don't want to be stuck to. Also ALWAYS wear safety glasses when working with CA. There have been cases of people gluing their eyes shut (more model airplane folks because they use CA like crazy) or other body parts together. Go to you LHS and get a bottle of Debonder (basically acetone), it will remove the CA if (when) you glue your fingers together. CA works great on wood, fiberglass, carbon fiber (CF on trains??), and not so well on plastics, but it does work. It will also work o metal, but not very strong. Having been an R/C plane guy for many years, I prefer the ZAP brand of products, but they are all good.
Interesting bit of history about CA. It was invented by Eastman Kodak in 1942, and originally marketed as Eastman 910. We started using it at GE in the late 1950s to attach temperature sensors to satellites since it stuck so well and didn't come loose under high vibration conditions, also it did not emit fumes (out-gas) in the vacuum of space which would interfere with the electronics and other sensors.
How did the so called "cat get out of the bag"? Seems as though it was not available to the public until much later......... Also, I would only purchase it in small tubes. If you buy a huge bottle of the stuff, it will just go sour and harden in the bottle. Unless you are glueing everything under the sun!!! If you touch it to a cotton swab or facial tissue you will get a surprise heated reaction!!
Eastman sold the 910 formula and rights to Loctite in the late '60s, who then began marketing it around 1970 under their own brand name. I assume because it was so different from common glues at that time, and tricky to use, it took the general public 10-20 years before they felt comfortable with it and therefore created a large enough market for the big-box stores to start carrying it. Although I was buying it from electronic supply houses and specialty hardware stores in the early '70s without a problem.
By the by, Contact Adhesive is the type where you apply a thin coat to one or both surfaces, let it dry for 5...10 minutes and then put the two parts together ... at which point they bond on contact. Hence the name.
Great information and feedback everyone. So basiclly, it is super glue or crazy glue (and many other names). So here is another silly question, how do you use the accelerator? Do you spray the acclerator to the objexts you want to glue together and then bring the pieces together.....or do you bring the pieces together and with your third arm, spray accelerator?
I've never used accelerator. With the Original Super Glue, I apply the CA to one part, press it to the second part, then about 3 seconds later it's fully attached. I've glued metal, plastic, and wood in all combinations this way.
I checked the directions on the accelerator bottle. It says, "can be applied to opposite surface before application of CA." I've never tried it that way, but it should work. Don't get any accelerator on the CA before assembling the parts. The parts had better be aligned right when you bring them together; there will be zero adjustment time. BTW, the label also says, "do not use with thin CA", although I've used it with thick and thin CA with good results.
I use accelerator (widely known as "kicker") only after I have applied CA to the parts and brought them into perfect alignment. Then one quick squirt of accelerator causes the CA to bond instantly ... and I mean INSTANTLY. Some materials do not bond very quickly with CA, unless you use accelerator. Porous materials, particularly foam, bond slowly without accelerator. We're talking many minutes in some cases. Thicker forms of CA bond more slowly than thin CA, so accelerator can be especially useful with thick or gap-filling CA. Also, you should be aware that standard CA will melt or dissolve some materials into a pool of goo. Foam is one of those materials. When it doubt, test standard CA on scraps before you use it to glue something expensive or irreplaceable. You can purchase "foam-safe" or "odorless" CA if you want to glue foam with CA. Foam-safe CA is more expensive than standard CA, so I generally reserve it for use with foam only, using standard CA for less sensitive materials. Safety Notes If there is the slightest chance of the CA splattering, wear eye protection. If you get CA in your eye, it will instantly harden on the surface of your eyeball. (CA cures in the presence of moisture.) I speak from personal experience and was lucky the CA landed on a non-critical portion of my eye. Thin CA is easily attracted into small spaces by capillary action. It spreads very easily which is why it is so common to glue one's fingers together with the stuff. And it WILL happen to you! I've used a sharp Xacto knife to carefully cut apart fingers bonded together with CA, but nail polish remover is probably a better choice. You can also purchase CA Debonder, which for all I know may be the same as nail polish remover. - Jeff
