CA and "accelarant"

[Charlie Harley]

I keep hearing references to CA glue and an "accelerant". How do the two work together? Do you put CA on one piece and squirt the accelerant on the other and hold them together?

Does it matter if your using thin or thick CA glue?

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[CMAturner]

Yes you can do it that way. Or you can glue the pices togeher and spray accelerant on the joint.
It works with thin, med., and thick CA.

 

[ahoiberg]

you definitely don't want to spray it on the surface you just put CA on, it will harden in no time and render it useless... unfortunately I learned this from experience.

so, the way you describe would be good, or the way with spraying it on the joint. quite frankly, though, i don't really see the need for accelerant with CA. the stuff dries instantly as it is... i prefer not to use it... IMHO.

 

[waltben]

Accelerant

Accelerant usually will make thin CA foam (boil?) since it makes it dry so fast. It is very helpful though when you're gap filling with medium and thick, and need a film to hold the stuff in while rotating a partially turned piece to look for other voids, cracks or whatever. The CA won't cure all the way down into a void or crack, but will stay put. Don't start turning again for a few hours though or you could end up with CA all over the place (and you too!).

 

[Charlie Harley]

the stuff dries instantly as it is...

That's what I found kind of interesting. I was using some medium thickness CA to bond silicon stoppers to a turned handle. I figured the thicker glue might be good for filling small gaps.

Well, first off the glue did a lousy job and wouldn't adhere to the silicon at all. I posted a few days ago and someone suggested using clear silicon caulk as a bonding agent in this application.

But what really suprised me was that the glue stayed liquid for hours and the silicon/wood joint would just slide around. It was odd.

It still feels wierd to me to use Super Glue with fine woodworking, but there are definitely applications for the different thicknesses.

 

[ahoiberg]

that is odd.
maybe CA just doesn't like to bond with silicone...

 

[Captain Eddie]

I always defer to the expert. Contact CPH International, chat with Paul. (Google the contact) He knows everything about CA.
When I need a really fast set on a repair, I put the ca on the moving part, spray very little accellerant on the fixed part and get them together really fast. Better way is to put some medium thick CA on the joint, try it together to spread it, then let it breath for about 3 seconds, put it together and spray it with water. Moisture acts as an accelerant, but not as fast as the regular accellerant, which does leave a white residue. Remember, all glue joints cure, the don't dry.
If you belong to a club, CPH does bulk deals of 2 ounce regular (3-4 thicknesses) for less than most wholesalers. They also sell specialty CA, like black, flex and super thin. Ask Paul for a flyer, he's a great guy and will provide service that can't be beat.

 

[MichaelMouse]

Word is "exothermic." Means a lot of heat is produced, faster with the accelerant, when the CA cures. Thus the complaints about flash and bubble and white rather than clear, due to entrapped evolved gases.

Accelerant is a great thing to use to prepare a piece to receive glue, especially if the wood is acid like oak or cherry. Spritz the area, let the visual wetness fade, then use the CA. It'll still wick into the cracks, because the capillary draw is strong, and more rapid than the cure, but it'll cure close to the surface of the wood rather than penetrate the grain and complicate your sanding with dark oil-resistant areas around the crack.

It's also a great insurance policy to spray it on the surface of a fill after following the above procedure, just to make enough of a surface over the uncured stuff that wants to find you when the switch is turned on. I like to dam things up on the outside with masking tape when I suspect the crack or void may run all the way through. AFTER treating the outer surface to a shot of accelerant.

 

[Paul Engle]

Actually water ( moisture) is a catylist and allows the molucles to attach to each other and bond , thus causing the " glue" to set up. Try CPH as Captain Eddy suggest, the world of chemicals is truly amazing. I first used this stuff to build balsa model airplanes radio controled, when it first came out in the late (?) 70's and reduce the build time to minutes instead of hours, we sprayed h2o on one part and the thin on the other and zap, wing building went really fast .... so does the mistakes