Thread: CA Glue Failure

Originally Posted by sarge 06

...a potatro plug in each end...

I tried potato once, but when I had to dismantle a pen, found it had coroded the brass sleeve

Originally Posted by dai sensei

I tried potato once, but when I had to dismantle a pen, found it had coroded the brass sleeve

I use ear plugs, they work a treat

Barry I use CA when faceting gems and always use a metho lamp to heat the dop to remove the stone. If using a friction polish you may be getting a heat build up causing the CA to fail.
I use epoxy for my pen glue ups no probs to date.
Pete

Originally Posted by fxst

Barry I use CA when faceting gems and always use a metho lamp to heat the dop to remove the stone. If using a friction polish you may be getting a heat build up causing the CA to fail.
I use epoxy for my pen glue ups no probs to date.
Pete

Pete

That thought did enter my head as I am using EEE and Shellawax. Maybe i will try the epoxy way.

Barry, what I did not say in my earlier post was that I had used GPW's medium CA previously with no problems and I've found Loctite 454 very good. But then, I think I got some of a crook batch and so did you.

I've used both CA and epoxy.
I've had a few failures.
CA has some problems if the drilling is sloppy and the fit isn't good.
I always sand the tubes 240 or coarser.
I always blow out the pen blanks to remover residual dust
I always apply glue to the inside of the blank and rub it arround with a bit of #8 fencing wire.
I always make sure I have a good glue wetting on the tube before inserting.

I still get the odd failure.
If the timber is going to split thats the timbers problem.
I have had them spin...failure to sand.... too much heat....poor drilling.
I have had a number of blow ups.... adhesive still on tube... wood tears away.



You do get failures turning pens.... i think its part of the thing.

cheers

When glue is put just inside rim of blank, the brass tube pushes it (glue) forward and spreads it out coating the outside wall of the brass and the inside wall of the blank.
Determining the correct amount of glue is important and probably discovered through trial and error. Too much glue and the surplus pushes out the other end of the blank. I imagine a lot of you are making a mess by using too mush glue. Most glues "skin over" and delays in fitting parts will cause the glue to be forced out by the scraping of the brass tube.

I was speaking to Gary Pye this morning and I mentioned the glue failure issue. He said he has sold about 50,000 bottles of his CA glue and he has had a bit of feedback on these issues.

Apart from all the good advise that has been issued here one of the other things that he mentioned was that was with some timbers when you drill them out and you leave them overnight or longer before you glue the tubes in some of them will oxidise and leave a coating inside the hole and this can prevent an ideal bond.

He says that what some of his guys and himself also do is put some thinners or turps down the hole to neutralize the oxidisation and this will help the bond.

Another thing he said that it seems the more porous the timber the greater tendency to fail and as some one earlier suggested was to coat the inside of porous timbers first and then glue up.

For a couple of reasons above I prefer to rub the glue arround the interior of the blank with a stick or wire.

I hadn't thaught about the fresh cut thing.... but it certainly goes for some timbers doing conventional joinery.

I supose if the drilling operation burnished or burned the blank, that wouldn't help either.

cheers