Super glue for household repairs

[Larry Browning]

Super Glue I get at Wal-mart to do the occasional household repair seems to be a one and done affair. I will buy a small tube and use it to glue something back together, then put the barely used tube in the drawer. A few months later when I need to use it again, it is all dried up and useless or maybe the opening is all clogged up, I don't know, but either way, its useless and I have to go buy another tube and the cycle repeats itself.
Is there some way to avoid this waste of perfectly good glue?

[Jason Roehl]

It's all about the cap. You need a cap that doesn't contact the tip. I've had good success with a brand that comes in a small bottle, yellow label, red cap with largish fins on top. The whole bottle with cap is about 2" tall.

[David C. Roseman]

Larry, is the Super Glue you got from WalMart different from the CA we use for turning? I've had similar experiences in the past with CA in the tiny foil-like tubes. But the medium thickness CA I get in small plastic bottles with screw-on caps last for months, even a year or more, if I keep it in the freezer between uses.

David

[Val Kosmider]

It is not Super Glue, but for those 'honey, can you glue this' projects, I use E-6000. I buy it in a small tube, it is useful for gluing just about everything from ceramics to glass to wood to stone....lasts a long time, does not get brittle like CA, and the tube is 'workable' for more than a couple of uses....like a couple of years in my experience. There is nothing more frustrating than going to get the Super Glue out to fix a minor break and having the glue be solid as a brick.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I've had problems in the past with some brands, I used to do okay with the model makers CA glue I bought at the hobby shop, but I was using a lot of it back then. After long enough though, it always ended up being solid if I didn't make it through a bottle.

A few places now sell tiny one-use tubes; I saw some by Scotch at the drugstore the other day, in a pack of 6 or 10 or something. If you like having it around and an infrequent user of it, it might be the way to go.

Isn't keeping moisture away from this stuff the key to keeping it from curing?

Seconded on the E-6000! My wife loves the E-6000 for a lot of projects. But sometimes a fast-set superglue with a spritz of accelerant, or some superthin you can wick into a crack is really what you need.

[Larry Browning]

Larry, is the Super Glue you got from WalMart different from the CA we use for turning? I've had similar experiences in the past with CA in the tiny foil-like tubes. But the medium thickness CA I get in small plastic bottles with screw-on caps last for months, even a year or more, if I keep it in the freezer between uses.

David
David,
I would have no clue about that??? I am not a turner, nor do I play one on TV.
I do know that super glue really is CA glue though. My experience with it has always been the same: use it once, and the next time I need it I end up driving to walmart for another tube. I was kinda wondering if I bought the stuff in the small bottles, would it have a better shelf life or would I just be wasting the extra money I spent on it.

[David Weaver]

I've had great luck with all of the CA sold to model airplane builders and marketed by woodworking chains (though the woodworking chains are much more proud ($) of their glue than are the hobby stores, despite them being the same thing - often the same brand).

Anyway, I don't know as much about what's the best as a turner, but I always keep a bottle of thin and medium in the freezer at home, and they last several years before they are trouble. As they start to go south, they just take longer to cure, but for household repair stuff, they are still fine.

There's no great reason to buy super glue in the little bottles now, even if it's just the size and shape of the tip, the hobby CA glue is better.

I believe I got my dad hooked on zap-a-gap (parents are crafters - no, not hooked that way, just hooked on its usefulness) when I was building airplanes, and they still use it for crafting. I think dad bought a few dozen bottles one time and stored them in the freezer and used them for years, maybe 4 or 5? Never any trouble with them.

[Rick Potter]

Because it dries up so fast, I get mine at the 99 cent store in little tubes. When the rest of an open tube goes bad, I have not lost much.

Rick Potter

[Larry Browning]

Because it dries up so fast, I get mine at the 99 cent store in little tubes. When the rest of an open tube goes bad, I have not lost much.

Rick Potter
It is not so much about the cost as it is about the inconvenience. It is so frustrating to have to drive into town to get a new tube of glue, turning a 2 minute fix into a 45 minute one.
Here is what I have learned:
1) Buy the glue at a hobby store.
2) Store it in the freezer.

[Rick Potter]

Larry,

I just buy several at a time. As long as they are unopened, they store a long time. I have two small boxes for epoxy, super glue, and Velcro. One is 'opened', the other new. The freezer is a good idea.

Have you found the hobby store glue to be better quality? I assumed all CA glues were the same. I don't use them much, I'm an Epoxy guy.

Rick P

[David Weaver]

It's not better, it's usually just cheaper. What rockler thinks is worth $12 or more is often $7 or something instead at a hobby store. That doesn't count places like michaels that jack the price of their stuff up 100%, then give you a coupon for 50% every once in a while so that you think you're getting some kind of deal.

Just looking around, rockler has glues for about $10 and $13, depending on the brand (for 2 ounces) and tower hobbies has a house line of CA glue for $6, and great planes branded glue for $7 (great planes may also be a house brand of theirs, I don't follow who bought who any longer in the hobby world).

What makes titebond CA worth $13 for two ounces is beyond me.

[David Weaver]

Tower hobbies also has epoxy for about a third of the price of system 3 epoxy at rockler (about a buck an ounce).

There's probably enough savings there in a variety of glues to make an order from the hobby store every couple of years.

[Larry Browning]

Well, it must be nice to live in an area where there is an abundance of woodworking and hobby stores.
We have no woodworking stores within 150 miles, but we do have a small Micheal's and a Hobby Lobby.
I will be checking the Hobby Lobby.

[Dave Lehnert]

I make Fretwork clocks and have had very good luck with Gorilla Super Glue. Seems to last a long time in the bottle. Can find it at most stores or Amazon.
http://www.gorillatough.com/images/products/sg-bottle-tube.png

As the other post said, You can buy in a one use tube.
http://www.amazon.com/Scotch-Single-Super-Glue-AD119/dp/B00342VCGM

[Ken Platt]

I too find that CA glue in ounce size bottles lasts for years. I keep mine in the fridge, in a little plastic cup so the bottles stay upright. I tend to buy whichever brand is carried by whomever I am placing an order for other stuff from. Lee Valley, Craft supplies mostly. My current open bottle is Hot Stuff brand. I date them, and this bottle was purchased in Jan 2011, opened Jan 2012, and is still good when I used it tonight.

Ken

[Bonnie Campbell]

I also store my CA in the fridge. Have had a tube for a couple years and it's still usable.

[ray hampton]

OKAY, after you stored the glue in the freezer until it got very COLD , HOW long will it take to warm up so that you can use it

[Pete Hotard]

Zap the best super glue I have found. Have used it on most surfaces. Accidentally spilled some under a piece of wood on my desk the other day and I had to get the wonder bar out to get it off!! Down here it is mainly marketed toward offshore fishermen. I use it to glue skirts onto the acrylic heads of my trolling lures, finish the dacron loops in my wind on leaders, and finish some knots i don't want coming untied. I have put it through the rigors and it has yet to fail me, even holds skirts on when we get hooked up with monster yellowfin tuna and toothy Wahoo. The regular Zap glue is your standard super glue, while the Zap-a-Gap is thicker and will fill larger voids. I have had the same bottle for a while now and have even forgotten to put the cap on a time or two and its still as liquid as the day i bought it. Just be careful because it dries in the blink of an eye

http://www.zapglue.com/

[Larry Browning]

Zap the best super glue I have found. Have used it on most surfaces. Accidentally spilled some under a piece of wood on my desk the other day and I had to get the wonder bar out to get it off!! Down here it is mainly marketed toward offshore fishermen. I use it to glue skirts onto the acrylic heads of my trolling lures, finish the dacron loops in my wind on leaders, and finish some knots i don't want coming untied. I have put it through the rigors and it has yet to fail me, even holds skirts on when we get hooked up with monster yellowfin tuna and toothy Wahoo. The regular Zap glue is your standard super glue, while the Zap-a-Gap is thicker and will fill larger voids. I have had the same bottle for a while now and have even forgotten to put the cap on a time or two and its still as liquid as the day i bought it. Just be careful because it dries in the blink of an eye

http://www.zapglue.com/

Where do you buy this stuff? Do you have to order if from the distributor? I was hoping for a little less hassle purchasing experience. I am mostly looking for something I can purchase locally, or maybe through Amazon. My use is just for you basic honey-do project.

[Larry Browning]

OKAY, after you stored the glue in the freezer until it got very COLD , HOW long will it take to warm up so that you can use it

I like to know the answer to this one too!

[Pete Hotard]

Where do you buy this stuff? Do you have to order if from the distributor? I was hoping for a little less hassle purchasing experience. I am mostly looking for something I can purchase locally, or maybe through Amazon. My use is just for you basic honey-do project.

You can order off of amazon. They sell it at local fishing stores around here so I have never had an issue. Maybe try a local Bass Pro or Cabelas if you have one

[Tom Stenzel]

Years ago I read that keeping superglue in the freezer wasn't good, it should be kept in the fridge. Don't ask me where I read that but it long before the internet came along. At work we used the Loctite brand with good results. We took it out of the refrigerator and used it immediately.

By far the nastiest superglue I ever used was made by Eastman Kodak! I had to call for help and then had the phone glued to my hand in addition to my other woes.

-Tom Stenzel