Thread: Glen 20 activator and CA experience

With thin CA no need for activater,It dries almost instantly a couple of rubs back and forth is all you have time for , the activater forces a reaction with the CA and the white appears to me to be very fine bubbles as the CA "boils and hardens" I have had hard white lumps 1/8 inch at times on large surfaces ,in these cases it has been used for stabilising and not been a problem, but on pens best let it dry naturally ,its only a very short time in reallity ,the thicker CA's seem to handle the activators a lot better ,it just takes a little practice to stop wiping at the right time before it gets tacky (it really is a Dark art) hehe ,even when you think you have it under control it will still bite you at times . Cheers ~ John

The white comes from too much accellerator that causes the CA to harden too quickly:
Yahoo! Groups
Try misting the accellerator from further away from the blank.
Brad Harding
HardingPens.ca

Thanks John and Harding. When I was using the Glen 20 as an accelerator, I was using what I thought was a very small amount, don't know if I'm game to try it out again, had too many failures with it. On the subject of tackiness, I noticed when using the thin CA that after 10 secs or so it was still slightly tacky so that's why I asked about waiting time. Shouldn't the blank be completely dry before the next coat?

You need to let the surface dry past the tacky stage. If you don't, you will get drag marks in the surface. This time of the year down our way, the curing time between coats is lengthened due to the colder weather. I do use accelerator on thin CA and have never had a problem. I only give a very light spray from about 200mm away every 3rd coat.

Thanks Dallas, I hadn't really factored the cold in, it's been fairly mild here of late but the blanks were definitely tacky. I have the dust extractor on and I'm oblivious to the weather. By the way which activator do you use?

My best piece of advice is that if you must use activator and I agree with the others that say if you use thin CA you will rarely need it then give the Glen 20 a miss because if you look through past threads on the glen 20 you will find alot of people had dramas with it but on ther other hand a few people had good results.

Cheers Ian

Hi Ian,

I have seen some of the previous threads but I happened to have some Glen20 in the house and it looks so easy on the video that I thought I'd try it and try again and then again. Timberbits says that the white cloudy substance will disappear when the next coat goes on and it seems to with my blanks, then it gradually reappears and you can't get rid of it. Lost enough time on this so time for the activator, still if people can get it to work it must be something very subtle, but what?

Please excuse my ignorance, but is CA short for Cyanoacrylate or Cellulose Acetate?

If we're talking Cyanoacrylate, then the only accelerator needed is moisture in the air. Try breathing on it - the moisture in your breath will hasten the hardening process.

Hope it helps.

Regards,
Chris.

I use this one Tiger.

Originally Posted by Treecycle

I use this one Tiger.

Thanks Treecycle.

Forget the Glen 20 Tiger. You will lose more blanks than it is worth in savings. You are right - you will not get rid of the white spots. Stick with the Mitre Fix accelerator. You can buy it direct from the supplier in Melbourne or Sydney at a little less cost than elsewhere. It comes with CA but it is a thick and I prefer a thin CA so I buy that separately from Timberbits.

Good luck

Originally Posted by chrrris

Please excuse my ignorance, but is CA short for Cyanoacrylate or Cellulose Acetate?

If we're talking Cyanoacrylate, then the only accelerator needed is moisture in the air. Try breathing on it - the moisture in your breath will hasten the hardening process.

Hope it helps.

Regards,
Chris.

Cyanoacrylate.

Interesting thought. Might be a little difficult with dust mask or other ppg.
And don't get too close when you take in a breath.

Might be worth a try though.