Product review: CA applicator tips

I've been looking at them on the verge of getting a pack. Some of them won't fit the tip of my Loctite thin CA, but I saw some at Hobby Lobby that do. I think I'll try them because there have been several times I've wished I had some. Instead of plugging them, drop them in acetone. See if it dissolves it. I'm thinking that type of plastic will survive and be clean next time you need it. Just leave them soaking and covered so it doesn't evaporate.

Rusty:

For less that buck for six applicator tips they are bargain.

Yes, acetone works well to store the tips but when in use I insert a piece of fine wire in the tip to prevent clogging. Providing to don't wait too long it will pull out with ease because air can't get to the CA.

CA is nasty stuff if you don't handle it correctly.

SuperDave wrote:...CA is nasty stuff if you don't handle it correctly.

I've read many people, mostly at RCG, complaining about getting it all over everything, running down their arm, gluing their fingers to everything in sight, etc. I don't know how uncoordinated they are, but I get along with it pretty smoothly. I do avoid breathing the fumes, and I try to use old eyeglasses in case the vapors might condense on my lenses. Cyanide, yeah, handle with caution.

I use several sizes of the short and long tips

I keep a long skinny glass bottle with acetone that I put them in after use

Fish out with hemostat, quick shot of canned air and ready to go

I keep and acetone clean all my small zap or other brand CA bottles

I buy the larger Bottles of the differing CA thicknesses and keep in Refrigerator

Not really trying to be frugal...just got damned tired of the small bottle always being clogged or near empty when I needed to do a quick project

Rusty:

It is a common fallacy that if a LITTLE adhesive is good a whole bunch is even better.

How many of us have gone through that experience?

In my particular case I have a visual impairment that makes judging the right amount of adhesives extremely difficult ergo I like applicator tips.

Getting old isn't for "wussies". You'll get there eventually. (If you're lucky)

I've done the same as Fred WRT acetone. I keep a bottle spout that has not been opened to use on my CA when not in use. All others stay in a tub of acetone so they are CA free when needed. Rather than buy the applicator tips, I use teflon tubing that I buy in bulk from McMaster-Carr: http://www.mcmaster.com/#spaghetti-tubing/=kcip90

I poke a hole in the spout that is just large enough for a good friction fit on the tubing and insert a piece. Cutting the end at an angle helps out. When finished building, spout and tubing go back into the acetone. The tubing is available in multiple ID's depending on what thichness CA you prefer. Since I use thin almost exclusively, I have the smalled ID tubing. With care, you can wick just the right amount along a seam without overflow or waste.

In a pinch, you can make tubing by heating the plastic Q-tip sticks over a candle until softened, then pulling into a long thin tube.

I obtained the applicator tips from Tower as part of a larger order and, in part, as an experiment to determine if I liked them. For 95 cents, what did I have to lose?

Andrew's idea has merit but I doubt if you could do it for less than a buck.

andrew wrote:...I use thin almost exclusively...

Me too. I use thin CA, but I have some medium Gorilla brand CA that I rarely pick up. For structural balsa if I want something that soaks in and dries fairly quickly, I tack it with CA and then use Titebond II as the main adhesive. I learned to like the stuff when I was building the Streak. I apply it with a Monoject priming syringe. It's nice to be able to fine tune the fit after applying the glue. And if you botch a CA job, you can't re-do it as easily. I do manage to get the Titebond all over me and the table.

SuperDave wrote:
Andrew's idea has merit but I doubt if you could do it for less than a buck.

That's true.

The initial cost is higher, but it works out to about .02 per tip. Because I do quite a bit of electronics work, the tubing also gets used as insulation in PCB and perf-board construction.