One thing not mentioned but important is that superglue is very strong against tensile loads but not shearing ones. You can lift a car with six drops of it on the roof of it (see Myth Busters et al), but you can’t glue a 40 lb weight to the wall.
I'm very surprised at this and I wonder if it's not a failure of the shear strength of the glue, but of the surface of the wall. I'm pretty damn sure that plaster is a crap thing to attach directly to, ditto wallpaper, and rough raw brick while strong is far too uneven to expect much contact between it and the item glued.
I think the shear strength is the weakness. I break super glued corals off their ceramic plugs for my aquarium and you can almost always get a perfect break by using flush cutters to slide the coral off the plug instead of trying to pry it off or cut it.
Then you'll probably wind up using the same 3 or 4 glues for everything. Actually almost everyone will do that because few have a magnificent glue collection.
Super glue, shoe goo, and epoxy are going to give pretty good bonding for their use cases but are more toxic.
Hot glue and titebond III seem to be safe-ish(Hot glue doesn't exactly smell very healthy when you use it though!) But require technique and experience to use and know what stuff to not even try using them with.
And gorrilla tape is probably good enough half the time.
UV glue I just don't have any experience at all with, but it seems to be gaining popularity. Just don't use the nail polish and blast your hands with UV too much!
Mechanical fastening is usually least toxic and often stronger.
Paper or hemp cord willer or wrapping is often helpful.
But my favorite of all is to design things such that you're not putting lots of forces on a joint in the first place, then it's less important how you make said joint. Look at a basic ugly cinder block and scrap wood shelf. The load goes straight down compressing the blocks, gravity is doing most of the work here, so friction holds it together.
It’s actually a pretty effective design pattern if your goal is for your users to not finish reading what you wrote (and therefore be less likely to share it)
My go to glue is almost always a 2 part fast set epoxy. It has better shear strength than SG, and it's better for filling in gaps. Almost everything I've used SG for has been a disappointment. It might be useful for a cosmetic fix, but anything that has a load/force on it works better with epoxy.
As a bonus, you can buy decent sized tubes and use them for many months. SG tubes are basically disposable once opened, since they'll be useless when they glue themselves shut or crust up.
Could you please recommended a product(s) for 2 part fast set epoxy?
Yes, the Shoe Goo dries up whether you put the cap back on or not! I wish they had a smaller tube version so I could more easily justify the cost. I've used Shoe Goo to repair so many things (favorite was a microwave oven handle) and never had a failure.
I usually buy mine from Harbor Freight, because it tends to be cheaper than Amazon for small amounts. 0.3 oz tubes are $2 or the larger 3oz size is $8. If you don't use it frequently, don't buy the biggest size. Eventually, it will get crusty, but you should be good for months once it's opened.
The key is to be prepared when using it. Wear nitrile gloves and squirt two equal size blobs next to each other. Mix thoroughly and quickly with a small, disposable stick like a matchstick or large nail. This can be used as the applicator as well. You want to mix on something non porous and disposable: I use aluminum foil for small amounts. Don't use plastic for the mixing container, as I've found it sets it faster. Don't mix more than you can use in a few minutes, because it will become unworkable quickly.
Hold or clamp for 5-10 minutes. It will hold after that, but overnight for a full cure.
> SG tubes are basically disposable once opened, since they'll be useless when they glue themselves shut or crust up.
You can greatly extend their lifetime by storing them in the freezer. The metal ones then die by leaking once you have used them a few times, but the plastic ones can be used for years if needed.
Yeah. I use this gorilla glue two part epoxy that comes in a dual syringe thingy. I think it even has metal or carbon fibres throughout. Easy to apply and mix together. Works super well. The lid is sticky but the thing has even fully usable for two years now.
I've been using super glue to assemble 3D printed models lately. Loctite gel is my favorite right now. It's available at all major hardware stores and is easy to control. My only gripe is the size (.14 oz). They put it in a large "bottle" which is actually a mechanical container for the small tube in the inside. You can disassemble the container and find the small tube that's actually labeled for the European market since it's made in Ireland. Not sure why Loctite thinks the U.S. needs a special container, maybe they think the average American will fall for the larger "bottle" compared to other brands standard tube for the same price?
I'll likely be looking around for a more reasonably priced gel because of this, maybe something from McMaster-Carr.
I like these and have used them for several years because they don't seem to dry out and become useless after the first use like most of the steel tube type.
This is a great guide and summarizes many things I've found through trial and error myself. One thing I would like to add is that when gluing plastics and similar materials, e.g. broken sunglass temples, it can help to roughen up the contact surfaces with sandpaper before applying glue to create more contact area. In my anecdotal experience the seal will fare a lot better this way.
There's certain types of plastics super glue doesn't bond to, similar to some gloves as mentioned in the article. While pretty universal, it still doesn't quite work on everything.
Superglue has a shelf life of about a year before it stops working as well. It will still harden, but doesn’t have the same strength.
I figure it’s six months old when I buy so in practice that almost always means “buy a new tube” if you need a full strength joint unless you use it regularly.
I think you can prolong it by keeping it in the fridge. At least that's what my grandpa did with cyanoacrylate glue in communist Poland where things were not easily available
I just got some super glue to re-glue the anti-slip rubber to the bottom of my laptop, which has become detached. But i am too scared to use it as i am bed-ridden at the moment and have visions of being eternally glued to my duvet cover or to my laptop!
* Don't get it close to your eyes while it's drying, the fumes will HURT (ask how I know). The fumes also stain white, so leave it to dry somewhere outside.
* If you get a cut, you can pinch the skin together and use CA glue on it to keep it there. I've done this many times, hopefully it's not any kind of harmful, but a paramedic friend agreed that it should be OK.
* The article is right about using a tiny amount.
* I never managed to use a tube more than 2-3 times without the glue drying up. The only packaging that keeps going is a Loctite bottle I got. It holds 25ml, but it's better than buying 3ml at a time, using 0.5 and throwing the rest away.
I’ve used CA on wounds quite a bit - I have a habit of carving myself open, usually on my fingers, and when it’s a deep cut that will reopen without sutures, glue it is.
You don’t want it in the wound. It won’t adhere well, and it will interfere with healing. Instead, I usually use a bit of sterile gauze, glue it to the skin on one side, let it set, and then pull the wound closed with it and glue it to the other side. I then bandage over to prevent dirt etc. getting in. I’ve used this on surgical wounds, too, when they weren’t closed by the hospital and I couldn’t get an appointment to have them addressed. Worked beautifully, no scar even.
This is pretty much the ER / urgent care does when you go in to glue a cut, but sanitary and performed by people who aren't themselves suffering from an open would on their hands or bodies.
Hah, yeah - I knew there was a second thing I wanted to mention, and that was it. Unless you’re looking to cauterise something, in which case there are much better ways - a red hot nail, for instance. Other excellent use for a hot nail is nail trephination, which I had to do only last week as I’m a dolt who carried a cast iron stove without closing the door first, and gravity did it for me, on my finger.
Being accident prone and living quite a long way from medical care teaches you a few tricks.
> I never managed to use a tube more than 2-3 times without the glue drying up.
I used to have the same problem, then I followed a friend's recommendation -- I keep it in the fridge inside a tiny Ziploc bag. I've never had it dry up since.
I actually keep a little bag with all my superglues in the corner of the fridge door -- regular, gel, liquid bandage, heel-seal, and nail repair. (Liquid bandage and heel-seal being designed specifically for skin.)
"If you get a cut, you can pinch the skin together and use CA glue on it to keep it there."
I am not a doctor or medical professional of any kind, but I've been advised to only do this in a small spot (like a stitch) rather than sealing the length of the cut (which can then fester).
There's a few different kinds of cyanoacrylate, and the common one you find in super glue, ECA, can cause severe irritation. In a pinch it will work, but the two other common versions, BCA and OCA, tend to be much better for medical uses. Liquid bandage products tend to use one of those.
You also don't really want to be using it for long-term wound care because it's barely breathable and tends to not promote the best wound healing.
You're right, thanks for the correction. I think I incorrectly combined "invented as part of WWII research" and "used on soldiers in Vietnam" in my mind and somehow came up with "invented for use on soldiers"
People in my hotel always break smoke detector in the room. They take it out to smoke in the room, and try to put it back and break the tabs that holds to the ceiling.
We use super glue to attach the plastic tabs otherwise it will cost me 300 dollars a month.
A good intro to superglue. Here’s some more advice from working in factories and workshops over the years (doing something wrong in front of 50+ yr old engineers, craftsmen, and tradies who’ve been doing that job for 40+ years is a great way to pick up information).
The active ingredient in superglue activator sprays is water, the other stuff is expensive filler to justify their price tag. You can use a spray bottle filled with tap water instead, but the cheapest option and one that’s always on hand is just to breathe on it like you’re trying to fog up a window. Fume safety: close your eyes when doing this, and move your head away before breathing in.
If you have a gap in what you’re gluing, don’t do any of this “sprinkling bicarb soda on it” nonsense unless you only have superglue and bicarb soda. If there’s a gap or you’re trying to fill space, superglue is the wrong tool for the job, you want two-part epoxy. They put epoxy next to superglue at the hardware store for a reason, you’re supposed to buy both together so you’re ready for anything. “Superglue” might be a brand name in your area so others will have to use the term “CA glue” or their own brand name; if it has cyanoacrylate, it’s superglue. Both epoxy and superglue are waterproof once cured. While you’re in the glue aisle, grab some wood glue as well and you’re pretty much covered for all jobs. For high-volume specific applications it’s worth doing research as there may be a glue that’s better suited for that specific application - usually cheaper, comes in the amount you need, and is more convenient to apply. A common case you might run into is connecting PVC pipes, where you want “pipe cement”.
There are exceptions to the previous rule of “don’t use filler to make superglue stretch across a gap”. Bicarbonate is a great filler with superglue if you must use this method for some reason, as is thread. I’ve also been told sand works, never tried it. And for cheap cosmetic repairs in wood, mixing sawdust with superglue is a great filler for small holes like you get from nailing or drilling the wrong spot. Mix it in the hole, sawdust and superglue sets so quick you’ll probably see smoke. It won’t take a stain like the wood around it, fine woodworking has other solutions like wood putty.
As a rule, glue bonds are stronger than the materials they’re joining and the material will break before the glue joint does. If your glue joint is separating, you’re using the glue wrong, or using the wrong glue. It might also be the wrong joint for glue. Glue bonds aren’t appropriate for joints that will experience repeated flexing, they will fail pretty quickly in those situations. You want a mechanical fastener - bolt, screw, nail, dowel - to take the flexing instead. In these cases, drilling both ends of the joint and gluing in a dowel puts the glue to work in a much more favorable way. Glue and nail is a standard method in wood construction.
One more specialty tool is acrylic cement. I've used CA for this job (6mm Plexiglas with butt joints) but it was difficult to get exactly right. In my high load situation, joints eventually failed. The right tool here is acrylic cement, which dissolves both surfaces and then they harden as one. It's not easy to find on the intertubes but it's a must if you really need it.
I don’t know the origins of the term “cement” in glue, but this “dissolves the material so it reforms as a single piece” is the principle of all cement glues, and it’s also why they are all specialty glues - you need specific chemicals to melt specific materials. It works really well. The other common term for glues that form this kind of bond is “weld”, as in plastic weld. That term makes more sense since actual welding is melting metals so they solidify as one piece. (Oh, maybe cement is like liquid stone or something - that might be where that term comes from?)
I can't remember if this was someone I know or an urban legend, but I heard a story once of someone who grabbed a super glue from a purse thinking it was eye drops because the container shapes are so similar, and got super glue right in their eyes. IIRC they didn't lose vision but it was quite a mess.
TLDR don't store your super glue near your eyedrops.
Jet printing with superglue on fine powdered baking soda where a printerhead with hundreds of small holes moves right after the comb that smoothes the powder.
It’s used all the time in the freshwater aquarium hobby, which still kinda blows my mind. I use it to attach certain species of live plants to rock and driftwood
The water will cause it to cure very quickly, so it will be hard to establish a good bond. Normally it cures because of the presence of water in the air.
No. Maybe you could make it work but I wouldn’t count on it. Marine epoxy is designed for this task, it can be applied and attached fully submerged with no issues.
