Thinning CA Glue

[Paul Ray Moore]

I have a bottle of Thin CA glue that has become very thick. I have left it in my shop with the top off since I got it. It is probably around 6 months old. It seems that it became thick just in the last couple of weeks. I don't know if it is because of the heat or not but I'm guessing that is what caused it.

My question is, can I thin it down with acetone or will that degrade the adhesive properties of the glue?

[Prashun Patel]

I believe CA cures with moisture. There's a chance that the thickening is just due to evaporated solvent. If it were me, I'd just test a bit; you should know in a matter of minutes whether it's good.

[Thom Sturgill]

Heat will set it off. You can store it for longer periods if you refrigerate it. Don't know if thinning will work.

[Wally Dickerman]

Toss it! CA glue has a shelf life, especially after it has been opened.

Wally

[David Woodruff]

Throw it out. Time, temperature and moisture hastens polymerization. This is what you want to happen when you glue stuff but it also happens in an opened bottle. Put new and opened glue in the refridgerator. Will increase useable life to a year. You correctly observed an increase in viscosity. When that happens predictable results are questionable so toss it.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Toss it out. It will be no good even if you get it thinned.

[Scott Lux]

I have a friend who is a distributor of solvents and adhesives. He says, toss it.

FWIW, he recommends storing CA in the fridge to prolong shelf life, but not after opening.

He definitely recommends storing it capped. While it doesn't extend the shelf life a bunch, it does slow "grit" or "crystals" forming. These can ruin your finish too :mad:. Been there done that.

[Allen Neighbors]

I have thinned CA with Acetone, up to 50/50. It hasn't affected the way it works for me - so far. I use the thinned CA on very small cracks, and then sand with fine grit paper... just to fill the cracks.
Just to keep from wasting it, I'd thin it, then try it out on some sort of scrap that you wouldn't mind losing. JMO.

[neil mackay]

I have thinned CA with Acetone, up to 50/50. It hasn't affected the way it works for me - so far. I use the thinned CA on very small cracks, and then sand with fine grit paper... just to fill the cracks.
Just to keep from wasting it, I'd thin it, then try it out on some sort of scrap that you wouldn't mind losing.


Yep it works, also try placing your CA in plastic container with a tight lid, throw in a desiccant to absorb the moisture and it will last even longer.

[Paul Douglass]

You can thin it with acetone. Use to do it in model plane building. Thin it and paint it on the balsa wood to strengthen it. It would be good that way to work with punky wood, but I wouldn't rely on it for holding power.