Thinning CA Super Glue?

[dixieangler]

What do you use to thin out CA Super Glue? Thanks.

[ozarkflyflinger57]

I am not sure you can thin super glue. You can buy it thin but I have never seen anything made to do as you ask. Acetone will dissolve super glue (CA) but it will not allow it to harden after use, or so I have been told.

Dan

[Buddy Sanders]

Robert,

I tried all of the stuff you can get at the local hardware store. Nothing worked. got some interesting fumes and disolved a few containers....

Decided it was to much trouble to try to thin, and just found some that was thin, some that was thicker, etc.

My results were:

Thin= Bondini II. Zap. 'Super Glue'. Also that stuff they sell in little tubes (usually two of them) at the dollar store is pretty thin, but hard to keep.

thicker= Zap-A-Gap, Locktite brush on (I like this stuff).

thickest= any of the 'gap filling' gels.

Hope this helps.

Good Luck!

Buddy

[dixieangler]

I wasn't too sure it could be done either but I had to ask to see if someone had or knew if it could be done. Thanks anyway. BTW, I like the Loctite brush on CA also. Its my favorite because its a lot easier to apply and less messy but it always seems to harden up in the bottle before I can use all of it. Seems like I can use about 2/3 or 3/4 of the bottle before it becomes unuseable. Repeated air exposure and air in the bottle is not a good thing for it even though the screw top seals the bottle after each use .

[ozarkflyflinger57]

A good place to find all the different viscosities of CA is a RC hobby shop where they sell radio control airplanes. Woodcraft also has at least 3 different viscosities.

Dan

[bdesavage]

I used to be in "Model Railroading" and the way to keep CA glues "Fresh" when not in use keep in the freezer, it will last up to a year that way. I got out of " Model Railroading"(Was into N Gauge) because the pieces were getting smaller... Now I'm learning to tie size 24's and getting ready to move to 26's. Go Figure.
Bill

[Buddy Sanders]

Robert,

I've found that the CA glues I use last longest if I leave them 'open' on the bench. Bondini II, Zap, Zap-A-Gap, all last 'till the last drop if you don't cap them. I place each newly opened bottle on a small piece of paneling with a bit of floral clay. this widens the base enough so it's difficult to knock over (not impossible if you are as big a klutz as I am..). I've had bottles last well over a year in this manner.

Of course, the Locktite Brush On won't work that way. If you leave the brush out of it, the brush gets hard...In any event, I've just decided that 3/4 of each bottle of this stuff is all I'm going to get out of it. When it gets low, I just pitch it and open a new bottle. I do cut down the brush a bit, tapering it to a point with razor blade.

Good stufff, and since my favorite, The Bondini II, is becoming hard to find, it's a good substitute.

Good Luck!

Buddy

[ducksterman]

Just wondering if maybe this would work?????

Since it seems to harden after getting down aways it seems to me it the O2 in the bottle...[can't explain why leaving open works]....so maybe adding something like beads ,etc. to raise the fluid level to the top and capping would work....

But what the h....maybe it's not worth the trouble

[Buddy Sanders]

Duckster,

I'm in the 'not worth the trouble' zone on this one. The stuff is cheap and trying to save that last little bit seems not worth the time to me. It still goes a very long way, probably 3-4 months of fly tying applications as well as the other uses I have for it. At around $2 a bottle, that's quite a deal IMHO.

I still use plain old lacquer for most of my head cement chores. I like that it CAN be thinned to whichever consistancy I prefer quickly and easily, and it's so inexpensive as to be almost free (the quart I bought at the paint store for $9 five years ago has been used on many thousnads of flies, and I've got well over 80% of it left, most of what I've 'used' I've 'spilled'-stuff goes a LONG way...)

In any event, CAs, epoxies, contact cements, lacquers, all have varying applications to our craft. I wouldn't be without ANY of them.

Good luck!

Buddy