Question - How Does One Break A CA Glue Bond?

[BILL DONAHUE]

Am thinking about re-doing the base or foot on a tall hollowed form and if so, the CA bond will have to be broken. It's a piece I want to enter into a museum's art show so I like it and don't want to destroy it but am willing to take some risk to make it better. Any ideas on how to break the bond without damaging the piece?

[Scott Lux]

CA has tremendous sheer strength, but lousy impact resistance. It also gets more brittle when it's cold. Pop the piece in a freezer, the gently tap to break the bond.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

In the event of an accidental gluing of one's fingers, the release agent IIRC is acetone. I wonder if one could use acetone to dissolve or soften the joint enough to remove it?

[Noel Poore]

I use CA glue to glue wood onto a glue block. To release, I position a chisel along the glue line and tap it with a mallet. It usually doesn't require much to break the glue joint. Not having made any hollow forms yet, I'm not sure if this is practical for your situation...

[Brian Brown]

I had the same problem. I soaked it in acetone overnight, and it came right apart.

[Quinn McCarthy]

Acetone.

Quinn

[John Keeton]

Bill, I think either the acetone or the freezer would work, but as Scott indicates, the shock resistance of CA is not very good. Early on, I had a couple of gallery pieces that had some CA joints fail. I quit using it for anything but minor repairs. I now use epoxy for all assembly, or preferably Titebond, if time and application are appropriate. I would encourage you on this redux, to consider that.

Of course, it also means that any future redux may be quite a bit more difficult!!

[robert baccus]

Bill I Ca all my very heavy green vase blanks to a single screw faceplate. Acetone will dissolve the joint--find a way to keep it wet with acetone if a large joint. I often pop then off only if under 2" though. Acetone will eat most plastics but not vinyl. It does come apart at or about 20 years of age--I have a really strange looking sloop model of basswood.

[Brian Ashton]

Am thinking about re-doing the base or foot on a tall hollowed form and if so, the CA bond will have to be broken. It's a piece I want to enter into a museum's art show so I like it and don't want to destroy it but am willing to take some risk to make it better. Any ideas on how to break the bond without damaging the piece?

There is a solvent for CA. It's pretty volatile stuff that's for sure. It absolutely destroys plastics and probably finishes

[Brian Ashton]

In the event of an accidental gluing of one's fingers, the release agent IIRC is acetone. I wonder if one could use acetone to dissolve or soften the joint enough to remove it?

I've found that the solvent that's specifically for CA glue acts very quickly on it - a matter of seconds. Acetone, as far as I know, isn't that destructive to plastic but the CA solvent destroyed Plexiglas.

[Brian Ashton]

Interesting side note... About shock resistance of various crystalline glues such as CA or epoxy... It's surprising how fragile epoxy is. Take a 1/2" thick disk of cured epoxy and give it a tap with a hammer - it shatters like glass. Add a small amount of dust from a belt sander and you can't break it no matter how hard you hit it. CA is even more brittle in its pure form. Also CA isn't water proof. Given enough time it breaks down from both the humidity and movement of the wood. It's not actually a good glue to use to be honest - other than for short term jobs.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I've found that the solvent that's specifically for CA glue acts very quickly on it - a matter of seconds. Acetone, as far as I know, isn't that destructive to plastic but the CA solvent destroyed Plexiglas.

Actually acetone will dissolve plexiglass.

One of the ways pen turners make a plexiglass finish is dissolving plexiglass in acetone. I have done it.

[David C. Roseman]

Brian Ashton wrote:

[snip]CA is even more brittle in its pure form. Also CA isn't water proof. Given enough time it breaks down from both the humidity and movement of the wood. It's not actually a good glue to use to be honest - other than for short term jobs.

And yet, judging from manufacturers' claims on a lot of their packaging, it's the strongest glue in existence, and will permanently glue anything to anything. :rolleyes: Perhaps some of the newer variations are significantly improved. Was in a HD a couple of days ago to pick up some threadlocker and was surprised to see an end-cap dedicated to a new super glue from Loctite that claims it's "waterproof" and "dishwasher safe." The artwork on the packaging shows a crystal wine glass with a broken stem being repaired with the stuff. Hmm. Great if really that good, but I don't think I'd serve Zinfandel to our party guests in that glass. :eek:

David

[robert baccus]

Read some more research on CA and it does seem to fail after 18-20 years. It does have several good attributes however. I use thick on green dripping wood which is the only glue I am aware of that does that. Green end grain is notorios to fasten well--especially if purchased wood. I have mounted numerous vase blanks up to 100+ lbs. --roughturned and hollowed and cured on the wall (glue blocks) for several years without a problem. Glue surfaces must be a decent fit. CA and epoxy are the only glues that are gap-filling and do not need clamp pressure to get a good job. The problems are always in the details. Fine Woodworking had a great article comparing all the glues and their wierd properties about a year ago. Yeahhh flip flops and crawfish.

[Jerry Marcantel]

Am thinking about re-doing the base or foot on a tall hollowed form and if so, the CA bond will have to be broken. It's a piece I want to enter into a museum's art show so I like it and don't want to destroy it but am willing to take some risk to make it better. Any ideas on how to break the bond without damaging the piece?

Bill, I'm a little confused about your question. If you are going to modify your form using CA, and I presume a glue block, when you have the foot turned to what you are invisioning, why can't you just turn the block off using the method you used when it was first turned??????
If I'm wrong in my assumption, please excuse my ignorance... Jerry (in Tucson

[BILL DONAHUE]

Bill, I'm a little confused about your question. If you are going to modify your form using CA, and I presume a glue block, when you have the foot turned to what you are invisioning, why can't you just turn the block off using the method you used when it was first turned??????
If I'm wrong in my assumption, please excuse my ignorance... Jerry (in Tucson
Jerry, I don't like the foot on the attached piece and would like to remove it and do another with a different design.
.258440

[Brian Ashton]

Brian Ashton wrote:


And yet, judging from manufacturers' claims on a lot of their packaging, it's the strongest glue in existence, and will permanently glue anything to anything. :rolleyes: Perhaps some of the newer variations are significantly improved. Was in a HD a couple of days ago to pick up some threadlocker and was surprised to see an end-cap dedicated to a new super glue from Loctite that claims it's "waterproof" and "dishwasher safe." The artwork on the packaging shows a crystal wine glass with a broken stem being repaired with the stuff. Hmm. Great if really that good, but I don't think I'd serve Zinfandel to our party guests in that glass. :eek:

David


I've glued my fingers together many times... All I do is wrap a wet cloth around the affected fingers or stick them in a bowl of water for a while and gently work them and presto they pull apart quite easily. The CA also pulls off the skin quite easily after that with a bit more of the wet rag rapped around them... YMMV