In today's video we're learning all about ca glue and some cool ways to use it first off what is ca
glue ca stands for cyanoacrylate which is really hard to say but basically it's super glue which
is a glue that dries extremely fast and has many different types of applications and it can be used
in many different types of material including wood rubber plastic and metal just to name a few not
all ca glue is made equal though freshness does matter some companies produce a lot of product
all at once so this means that they're going to have to store it for longer periods of time before
it gets to the end user while other companies produce product more on a monthly basis so that
when it gets into your hands it's as fresh as it can be like i just mentioned freshness does matter
so when you buy your ca glue storing it properly can drastically increase its shelf life the best
way to store ca glue to increase its shelf life is to keep it in the refrigerator at or below
40 degrees fahrenheit or around 4 degrees celsius another important thing to know about ca glue is
that it dries or cures in the presence of moisture this moisture can come from the material itself
and or from the air around it now that you know that let's move on and talk about the different
thicknesses of the glue available and let's talk about the accelerator which helps to speed up
the curing time most if not all ca glues are sold in a few different thicknesses a thin a medium
and a thick and this is really important because each thickness has a specific use let's look at
those now first is a thin a thin ca glue has a very thin consistency similar to that of water
and it cures in about three to five seconds it can be used as a high gloss finish on small
woodworking projects it can be used for inlay work and most recently i use it to stabilize the
end grain of this nine millimeter baltic birch the raw edge of the plywood sucks up the glue up into
the pores which stabilizes it and protects it from damage and excess wear next is a medium a medium
is great for general purpose repairs and bonding and it's really good for filling cracks the medium
has a thicker viscosity which means that it gives you more control over where the product ends up
basically fewer drips and runs plus the medium glue dries in about 20 seconds which gives you
a little bit more working time before it cures the last thing to mention here about medium ca
glue is that it's great for bonding items that are already tight fitting meaning that they already
fit really tight before the glue is applied the last glue to look at here is a thick this glue
is great for bonding and for filling larger gaps and voids unlike the thin glue that works great
at getting deep into the pores of the wood a thick tends to stay more towards the surface
or at the joint where it's needed the most thick ca glue dries in about 40 to 50 seconds without
an accelerator so how much does the accelerator increase the drying time well for a thin glue it
takes the drying time from about five seconds to one to two seconds for medium glue from 20 seconds
to five seconds and for a thick it goes from 40 to 50 seconds to 10 seconds now these drying
times can vary depending on how much product you use per square inch basically the more you use
the longer the drying time as you just saw the accelerator drastically increases the drying time
and because ca glue can dry so quickly that's probably one of the main reasons why people use
it let's finish this video out by looking at four ways to use ca glue and how to use the accelerator
the first and most obvious ways to use ca glue is for bonding two pieces of material together
it's good for bonding molding and trim and it's good for furniture repair or other quick diy
projects around the house now if you want to use an accelerator to speed things up you would first
need to apply the glue to one surface and then spray the other surface with the accelerator
then once these two pieces come together the two quickly become one ca glue is also good for
bonding different types of material together like inlaying these magnets for example as a side note
when you're gluing metal or any surface that is shiny you want to take a piece of sandpaper
and go ahead and rough that surface up to increase the bond of the glue the second way to use ca glue
is to fill voids cracks or knots in the wood for example this walnut is beautiful but sometimes it
has voids or checks that need to be filled before applying a finish a thick or medium thick if you
have it works great for this the key to filling larger voids is to do it in steps for example
this void is pretty deep so i'll first fill it about halfway full spray it with the accelerator
and then fill it up the rest of the way and finish with a top coat of
accelerator you want to make sure that you overfill the void slightly
so that when you sand everything smooth you don't leave behind any dips in that area
the third way to use ca glue is to use it to create double-sided tape when you're working on
projects that need a jig or some type of overlay that needs to be temporarily attached to it
the go-to for most people has been double-sided tape but the other option is to use a thick ca
glue and some painters tape first apply a strip of tape to each piece then add the glue to one side
and the accelerator to the other and then put them together once you're done with your work
break the two apart and remove the tape what's nice about this method over double-sided tape
is that the painters tape does not leave behind any residue as a final thought to this make sure
you test the strength of that connection first before you perform your specific milling operation
or task that you need to do now the last way to use ca glue is to use it as a high gloss
finish i've never personally done this but there are a lot of men and women out there that are
finishing off their wood turnings with thin coats of ca glue what they do is once the project is
done they use an applicator to apply thin coats of glue slowly building it up until they achieve
their desired look before we end for the day i'd like to leave you with two more helpful tips first
you want to use food prep gloves when working with ca glue because these are the only gloves that i
know of that will not stick to the glue and last be sure to tap the bottom of the bottle on a bench
or whatever hard surface that you have in order to remove the excess glue from the tip of the bottle
this will reduce the amount of glue left in the tip that could cure and then clog the opening
well i do hope this video was helpful for you i do want to say that star bond did supply
the materials that i used in this video but they did not pay me to make this video nor did i have
any control over what i said i did however ask them if they'd be willing to give away
one free starter pack the same items that they sent me and they said yes so if you'd like a
chance to win that starter pack all you have to do is leave a comment below and be living
in the united states canada uk or australia then on september the 11th 2020 i'm going to choose
one of those comments and announce that winner on our community tab within our channel whether
you go with starbond or another brand ca glue is an amazing product and is a must-have in the home
and in the shop thank you for watching today have a blessed weekend everybody see you soon
all right well now i know this stuff really sticks there we go here we go holy cow that's impressive