CA Glue

[Cody Colston]

I had a person on another forum tell me that CA glue is unstable and will eventually break down, leading to failure. When asked if that meant that everyturning I had used it on would come apart due to glue failure, the answer was yes.

Now, this person is considered pretty knowledgeable over there but I thought I'd broach the question here to get y'all's opinion.

How long will CA glue hold up? Will pens and turnings that depend on a CA glue bond come apart at some point?

I'm sure there's been hundreds of thousands of pens made using CA glue and lots of collars glued onto HF's with it. Should I be using something else?

[Bill Bolen]

Cody I have never heard that and have not had anything fall apart in years. (well, except for my old body)..Bill..

[Paul Douglass]

I guess everything will fall apart eventually! How long do we have?

[John Grabowski]

Cody...In terms of pens...I have made lots!! I would say that if you are going to be using the CA to glue the tubes, it will be fine UNLESS the tube is loose...the CA will not fill the gaps. Sometimes, this causes extreme blowouts. Very difficult to fix.

Most of the time, I use epoxy. It does fill in the spaces and can be colored...I like that for doing acrylic pens...It also gives you a longer open time.

Just my .02

John G

[Barry Elder]

From what I have read in other forums, the guesstimated life of a CA glue joint is about 10 years.

[Don Carter]

Well, it looks like the first pens that I made are all about ready to fall apart...:rolleyes:

All the best.

Don

[Dave Halter]

I also read somewhere recently that you should use epoxy instead of CA for cabochons and the metal stoppers on bottle stoppers. It said that putting stoppers in the refridgerator would cause the CA to fail. Anyone know of the validity of that statement?

Dave

[Jack Giovo]

That CA glue stick to everything and lasts an extremely long time - especially if you are like me and glue my fingers together.:eek:

Jack

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have some cuckcoo clocks from Germany I have replaced the bellows on for the last 19 yrs. I haven't had any that I glued new bellows on with CA fail yet. You figure these bellows go up and down once on the half and then every hour from 1 to 12 times. Never had one come apart yet.

[Cody Colston]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I also e-mailed tech support at Franklin International (Titebond Glue) to get their take. If they reply, I'll let y'all know what they say about it.

[Bill Mitchel]

I have never heard of that. I also fly remote control planes (not the toys)and have never had a problem. They are put through tremendous stress, I have seen guys fold (break) the wings off but never from a failed joint. Keep in mind that some of these are flying at way over 100 mph +, verified by radar gun. Just don't let the poor sap holding the radar gun on the runway know about this thread.:eek:

Bill

[Frank Hasty]

I build R/C aircraft; there are millions of them held together with CA, many of them over ten years old. I've never heard of a CA glue failure even in a sloppy joint.

[Jim Becker]

I've never heard of such a claim, either. Sounds like hooey to me!

[Jeff Nicol]

I am in agreement with everyone else, if it is used correctly and the joint was good I see no trouble. The warm and cold thing about the cabs I can see, they do make CA that is flexible also so that might be the thing for that. Besides the stoppers that are chrome plated should be roughed up to put anything directly to the flat stopper like the ones made for glass/lampworked stoppers. How long has super glue/CA been around? 30 years or more, you would have thought that there would have been some other articles and info somewhere in that time that said it would fail.

Anything can fail at any time but the reason for failure most likely is not the same each time. If so I think it would have been off the market years ago.

Have a CA day!!

Jeff

[Brian McDermaid]

I build R/C aircraft; there are millions of them held together with CA, many of them over ten years old. I've never heard of a CA glue failure even in a sloppy joint.

Hey! another R/C flyer!! I also build (and crash) R/C airplanes.... CA can weaken over time. On an airplane its not as noticeable mainly do to the way balsa sucks-up the CA to create a strong joint. After a few years the CA may not be as strong but its still stronger then balsa :).

There are quite a few things that can have an affect on the longevity of CA. Using 'Accelerator' will weaken the CA, the amount of moisture in the air, the age of the CA before its used and even the brand of CA all can affect its long-term strength.


How long has super glue/CA been around? 30 years or more, you would have thought that there would have been some other articles and info somewhere in that time that said it would fail.


Its talked about quite often in the R/C world... check out some of the forums and groups.

~Brian

[Cody Colston]

Okay, to be specific, the failure discussed had nothing to do with application method, tightness of joint, etc. What I was told is that "CA glue is an unstable molecule. The crystals will keep growing until they disintegrate or turn to powder."

That's a paraphrase but captures the gist of what I was told.

Today I got a reply back from Franklin International Tech Support. I had asked if I could expect Ca glue to last for a generation...their reply was pretty succinct... "The bond should last for a generation."

Since a generation is thought of as around 25 years, I'll be dead before I have to worry about my projects failing from disintegrating CA glue. :D

[robert hainstock]

CA is a plastic material ? The only thing I can think of that might degrade it is UV, which shouldn't get into the joint. I'm with Hooey!:)
Bob

[Bob Hallowell]

I hope not I have been using it as a finish on some of my peppermills!:confused:

[Ryan Baker]

I know a guy who used CA to assemble the hull planks on his ship model. After less than two years, every joint had failed and the planks peeled off. CA soaks really well into those planks too. I don't know about any 'environmental' conditions that may have entered into the equation though.

CA as a finishing material shouldn't be any problem since it isn't under any stress at all. The failures I have heard of are cases that were all under some tension. Using accelerator would definitely increase the chances of failure. Old glue probably doesn't help either. I use CA for lots of things, but I wouldn't trust it for any serious, long-term bond by itself.

[Jon Lanier]

Every thing weakens over time.... or wears out. But for CA to have any problems within the next 10 -20 years... very doubtful. The A in CA is acrylic after all.

[Dick Sowa]

Not sure how relevant it is, but something to consider is the brittleness of the dried adhesive. CA dries to be very brittle. PVA glues, on the other hand are softer and have some give...even when dry. I think epoxies are somewhere in between. Most segmented turners don't use CA for glue joints because of that brittleness.