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I was wondering... once applied to the intended target, does super glue 's bond actually expire?

or... do they actually expire just sitting on the store shelf too?

Im getting agitated with metal pieces as they either fall apart

or my finger always gets glued no matter what i do.

LunaHound wrote:
I was wondering... once applied to the intended target, does super glue 's bond actually expire?

or... do they actually expire just sitting on the store shelf too?

Im getting agitated with metal pieces as they either fall apart

or my finger always gets glued no matter what i do.

What are you calling superglue? I'm guessing it's a Cyanocarylate (CA) glue. Once dry, you shouldn't have to worry anymore about it "going bad." These work excellently on porous materials (plastic, resin), and not so great for metal-on-metal connections (like, say, the current hive tyrant; CA glue has a fairly low shearing strength, and metal-on-metal connections are more likely to experience shearing, just because of the weights involved). For the latter, I've found that inserting a very thin layer of greenstuff at the connection point (metal-glue-greenstuff-glue-metal) makes for a much sturdier joint. Alternatively, hunt down an epoxy glue for those types of connections.

(And yes, CA glue will go bad over time, just sitting in its bottle. I've never been motivated enough to stick it in the fridge, though.)

Also, if it's metal to metal - pin it! :p

I've got models I used superglue on 18 years ago that are sticll stuck together.

For larger/heavier pieces i always pin now, but before the tools became available I'd put a small square of toilet or tissue paper to fit the jointhen apply the glue. The paper binds the join much more strongly.

I would definitely recommend pinning... I always find just using superglue makes models quite fragile & brittle.

also, Ive never found any way to avoid sticking my fingers together.... the amount of skin Ive lost off my fingertips... *sigh*

also for small, almost non-pin-able metal parts
like the left arms of immortals, scythe arms of lictors and the bombs on an Epic Thunderbolt
use 2 part epoxy, the 5 or 1 minute tends to be strong enough
both take about 24 hrs to cure fully, so don't worry after ten minutes if the bond is still rubbery

it's best to purchase the packages were the two parts are in separate squeeze bottles
as the hardener and the epoxy have different densities and can be difficult to push out of double plungers evenly, depending on hand strength
plus the squeeze bottles tend to be larger volume and a better price

the one i bought was Instant Krazy Glue.

aha! in gel form ( hoping it wouldnt run to my finger now )

:"P

If you're in the habit of gluing your fingers (or indeed skin) then I've found (from here I think) that having a bowl of water on hand to submerge the offending glue in will cause it to cure into a slime that can be pulled off and not stick finger to eye.

Also works with models.

Toilet paper?

I will try that...

Solasun wrote:If you're in the habit of gluing your fingers (or indeed skin) then I've found (from here I think) that having a bowl of water on hand to submerge the offending glue in will cause it to cure into a slime that can be pulled off and not stick finger to eye.

Also works with models.

that might help if i knew i had glue on me lol , normally what happens is....

i would hold on to the model so tight, that my finger is actually numb. when the glue end up on my finger i wouldnt even know....

till im ready to put the model down, then i realize.... im stuck.

That water strategy is smart. I sometimes find myself putting down my model and reaching for the paint when i realize my fingers are glued together, I have now adopted using super glue rather then plastic glue so this happens more often then not

Super glue is not good at bonding metal without pinning. My metal captain model broke like 5 times! Got it to stay eventually. Also, from my experiences Super glue can get pretty brittle and with enough pressure break. But normal wear and tear shouldn't cause it to.

Yes, superglue bonds do eventually give out. It's not designed for a permanent fix (atmospheric humidity and oils/salts from your skin will seep in and dissolve the glue enough that the mass will do the rest of the work of making bits fall apart. As will repeated hot/cold changes).

Pinning is a good strategy, though. Roughen the pin as well, to increase surface area for adhesion.

As to not sticking your fingers together. Try using less glue, or a nozzle that allows more precise flow.

Waaagh_Gonads wrote:I've got models I used superglue on 18 years ago that are sticll stuck together.

For larger/heavier pieces i always pin now, but before the tools became available I'd put a small square of toilet or tissue paper to fit the jointhen apply the glue. The paper binds the join much more strongly.

By using the toilet paper you are trippling the tensile strenght of the glue. Just like rebar in concrete, when I Do plaster casts of footprints I use cheesecloth and put second layer of plaster over it this allows me to use about 1/4 inch or plaster vs a 2-3 inch thick cast to prevent breakage. I never thought of using it for models though GOOD IDEA.

Bad idea is putting your hand in water water Is a catalst for Cyanoacrilate wipe it off with an old rag. (not papertowels) and the rub acetone on the glued fingers then rinse with water. Unless. You like crusty finngers..

I prefer to use Superglue only for small parts which won't get a lot of stress later.

I like Araldite (2 part epoxy cement) for all serious metal bonding jobs. It's also good for plastic to metal.

Pinning is a good technique.

Liquid plastic cement is the best stuff for bonding polystyrene and ABS model parts.

Superglue can take a while to cure, it's often better to use a small amount than a large. Super glue also isn't very strong under a twisting action, and this may kind of force may be applied to the join depending on where the weight of the parts are in relation. Hope that bit makes sense.

Apart from pinning, you can also score the surface of two parts going together. Use a knife to enscribe crosshatching onto the two surfaces being glued together, and it gives the glue something to key into.

I have read that Superglue prefers flat surfaces -- I don't know if that is correct.

I always used to cross-hatch the joining surfaces and it worked. It certainly helps with epoxy.

Don't bother cross-hatching when using liquid poly cement. The point of liquid poly cement is that it dissolves the two touching surfaces and they weld together when the solvent evaporates.

Super glue is the devil's pee.

Try to get the gel, stops it running everywhere. Make sure there are enough 'points of connections'. Wiggle your fingers regularly,

I found superglue struggles with bonding plastic to modelling clay sometimes.

Belphegor wrote:
it's best to purchase the packages were the two parts are in separate squeeze bottles
as the hardener and the epoxy have different densities and can be difficult to push out of double plungers evenly, depending on hand strength
plus the squeeze bottles tend to be larger volume and a better price

I bought one of these 2 part epoxy things, and used it on my Avatar that had exploded when I accidentally dropped it. Also on my two metal Wraithlords and several other models.

The stuff is really, really useful. I don't expect for the stuff to break off unless they're nuked.

I always buy the cheap 3 pack super glues from wal-mart, been doing so for eons. Always served me fine, but this goes hand in hand with scoring each individual peice and pinning. Followed up by promptly using a glue accelerator( Zip Kicker ).

You are in for endless frustration until you accept pinning into your life, trust me for metal-to-metal it is the only way.

pinning! and Zap a Gap!

Glue accellerants decrease curing time which will result in a weaker bond. That's fine when you don't expect much use or don't mind having to reglue peices when they fall off.

My old marines from 97 are still holding together using liquid superglue, apart from the occassional arm loss from being dropped or hit with a Nerf dart...

I'll pin my models whenever I can using gel/gap-filling superglue (CA) as the bonding agent unless it's a big or heavy model when I use 2 part epoxy. My wraithlord's arms and legs were epoxied after the pins set with superglue wouldn't hold due to the shear stress.

The epoxy is great for metal to metal, but many will not bond to certain plastics, I believe polyproylene to be the most common.

Greenstuff has been said to work nicely as a bonding agent, but I've had limited success with it as such. It's great as a filler, however, and I use a wee bit of it in the pin holes to make the pin fit as tight as I can. I should look into getting a smaller vice bit, though...

i buy locktight and its never failed me and it can be found lots of places like walmart. and as others have said a small amout is best to use not a big glob.but if your haveing problems if you have some green stuff you can take a tiny bit of that and use it like a pin.

put a tiny piece of green stuff in the middle of the part your trying to glue then put the glue around the GS careful not to put to much cause it wont work if its to much GS or super glue they will mix and cause problems for awhile. so a small amount of both should work and you can always dab a bit more glue on after.