[pianotech] CA Glue

allan at sutton.net allan at sutton.net
Thu Sep 9 19:09:54 MDT 2010


I have been using more and more my CA kit (3 strenghts) with accelerator
(and cleaner)

It is a great show for the customer (some of this, pschit pschit some of
that, two drops of another bottle, pschshit ) music stand repaired !

I tell first :"do you mind a little strong smell ? it should dissipate
rapidly"

If I forget my kit, white glue and regular ca (very small single dose I have
hidden in my bag always) can save the day.

Allan Sutton, m.mus. RPT
www.pianotechniquemontreal.com


2010/9/9 Susan Kline <skline at peak.org>

>  Hi, Terry
>
> I find it difficult to imagine how you got a mixture of white glue and CA
> glue NOT to set up!
>
> As for the accelerator -- sure, it sets up CA extremely fast, but it also
> stinks. I don't know what is in it, but possibly it uses solvents, or
> something which is toxic, since the one time I used it it was so irritating.
> White glue is very non-toxic and so easily available.
>
> Also, I imagine that the white-glue-CA bond is tougher than the accelerated
> bond, possibly just because it takes a few seconds to set. I think that an
> absolutely instant bond isn't as robust long-term, though this might just be
> my idea. Possibly people should do comparative tests. I don't feel like it,
> because I don't want to breathe any of the accelerator.
>
> Once the joint has set up, it can be pulled apart fairly easily for a few
> minutes. It gets firmer and more determined within the hour, though. At
> least it has seemed this way to me. I like this feature, because if I do
> something wrong, I can take it apart if I catch it quickly, and then do it
> over again, after refreshing the glues.
>
> As for the bond of CA-white glue being stronger than CA alone, it was just
> my own experience. If I use CA glue alone, and get a little on my fingers,
> and they stick to something or each other, I can pull them apart, and just
> lose a thin superficial layer of skin. But the time I managed to have a
> little white glue on my index finger, and got some CA on my thumb, and THEY
> stuck together .... ! ! ..... the bond went deep enough I could tell that
> they were not coming apart, and if they did, I'd have a bleeding wound to
> deal with. I had nail polish remover in the car, and I had to walk out there
> with my thumb connected to the middle of my index finger, and it took a lot
> of work and repeated dousing with acetone to get them apart. I only did that
> once (smearing white glue into a hole for a rubber button, then holding the
> button and putting the CA onto it, messily, and the thumb contacted the
> slightly white-glued index finger while pressing the button into the lid)
> but I never forgot the experience.
>
> I don't think it's all that good an idea to repeat this experiment, just to
> validate the idea.
>
> Trying to figure out why you didn't get CA and white glue to set up .... I
> wonder. I've tried the "trick" with many brands of water based glues,
> Elmer's, Titebond, yellow carpenter's glue .. all worked equally well.
> However, I have not used different brands of CA. I've used Loctite brand,
> water thin, throughout. It has always worked, unless it got so old that it
> thickened in the original container.
>
> One could also consider quantities of each, but I've found the "trick" to
> be very tolerant of that. A pretty good ribbon of white glue with just a few
> minor dots of CA dropped into it set up pretty well. Small scanty smears of
> white glue with a layer of CA on the other piece (assuming it was
> non-absorptive, wood or cardboard instead of cloth) worked just fine.
> Someone used the "trick" to glue a thin wood carving onto a piano leg, using
> LOTS of both, and it squeezed out into a sort of foamy ooze, but the bond
> set up, and he was able to pull off the extra all in one string a few
> minutes later.
>
> If the bond is working right, for instance, cloth to cloth or cloth to
> wood, within a few seconds of the two glues meeting you can feel heat
> through the cloth.
>
> The CA mustn't be left just sitting around. I put the white glue on first,
> get it where I want it, then as soon as the CA touches it, the parts or
> cloth must be pressed together immediately. Once the CA is wet (in contact
> with water), it crosslinks and turns solid very quickly, and once it is
> solid it won't glue anything it wasn't already touching while liquid.
>
> Possibly if you gave me more details, Terry, I could figure out what might
> have happened.
>
> The original article is in the October, 1997 Journal.
>
> Susan Kline
>
>
> On 9/9/2010 5:41 AM, Terry Farrell wrote:
>
>> I've tried the white glue/super glue thing and it never seemed to set up.
>> It's definitely NOT instant. Maybe I just didn't want to wait long enough -
>> but then, that is one of the major advantages of super glue - bonds can be
>> within seconds - and is often one of the criteria I use in selecting CA for
>> a particular application.
>>
>> What is the basis for your claim that the CA/water-based glue joint is
>> much stronger than CA alone? With "CA alone you can truly glue yourself to
>> yourself in a way which requires acetone and a lot of patience and
>> determination to reverse. Don't ask me how I know...."
>>
>> I hope I don't sound too much like I am berating your Susan! I don't mean
>> to do that at all. My interest is that I don't want to be missing out on any
>> great little tech tip like this seems to be....... but I just haven't been
>> able to figure out what is the advantage of this over CA with accelerator.
>>
>> Do you have a reference for your Journal article? I do remember reading
>> it, but it's been a while.
>>
>> Thanks!!!  :-)
>>
>> Terry Farrell
>>
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100909/58e35c04/attachment.htm>


More information about the pianotech mailing list

This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC