Thread: Cyanoacrylate (CA) Sources

Hi,

I'm looking for reputable sources of CA especially in Canada. All I can find is superglue 3ml tubes for $1.79 at a True Value hardware. Please let me know what you guys use or point me to the a good thread.


Thanks,

Mark

i think that most of the CA folks here use HOT STUFF. 2oz will last you a bunch of scales.

lee valley is in canada:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...at=1,110,42966

woodcraft also sells it, they have both HOT STUFF and SuperT. same manufacturer, hot stuff is very runny like water and dries very quickly. SuperT is more like a syrup and goes on thicker but takes a couple hours to dry.

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=346


real benefits of hotstuff, and what you want in a CA for scales, is that it will buff glass clear. most of those types in the hardware/Rx stores won't buff to glass finish.


have fun! heheh.. oh PS.. buy some of those cheap plastic gloves that doctors wear. box of 100, cut out the finger tips and use them 1 tip at a time while applying the CA. it will save your fingers something fierce. also the fumes from it will burn your eyes if u get close during curing enjoy

~J

Try eBay.ca and search "super Glue" there are 25 ml bottles. That's where I got mine.

Mark,

You did not mention where you live exactly but if you are near any sort of larger center there is usually a Remote Control Hobby store, one that sells airplane kits and the like. They will carry a good selection of CA glues in various thicknesses and the accelerator sprays and whatnot. Brand is not too important though some have worse tips than others and it's the clogging tip that causes one to give up in frustration and buy a new bottle. I just stopped by my local hobby shop and they had a new brand by the name of Mercury Adhesives. It's looking very promising, great bottle and tip design + the folks at Mercury say their glues come with an unconditional warranty. If the contents go hard, if you somehow manage to get the tip plugged up, if it just plain went old and useless, send it back and they'll send you a fresh bottle, no time limit.

It seems to be a really nice CA but I find it's a bit slow setting (apparently this is deliberate) and having the accelerator handy is probably a good thing. I don't have their brand of accelerator but I tried two others, the Hot Stuff one from Lee Valley which was too hot and causes too much bubbling when it reacts and the other was a Bob Smith Industries product which worked really well... it sets up quick without going too fast. I'll be picking up a bottle of the Mercury one in the next few days as it too is supposed to be a bit milder. Using the Bob Smith stuff let me put down three good layers of CA on a piece of hardwood in 5 mins with only the first layer spritzed.

You can find more info on Mercury adhesives here.

For what it's worth, stick with the hobby shops as your source of CA, they go through gallons of the stuff each year so you're pretty much guarantied to get fresh product... places like Lee Valley..... well, wood turners use the stuff on occasion but they don't use anywhere near as much of it as modelers do.

Regards

Christian

Thanks everyone.

You can also pick it up at hobby shops.