Luftwaffe Oberst

I have had problems in the past trying to put on a glue applicator tip on my CA glue bottle without it cracking on me. At times I've ruined a nice paint job on my plane by having the CA drip out the small crack and on to the painted surface. I've tried using hot water and using my fingers to warm up the applicator end, but still I've had one or two crack on me. [:@]


Well, I figured out how to solve the problem!


Cut a peice of old or new medium glow fuel tubing about 1/2" in length, and slide one end over the fat part of the applicator, and slide the other side of the tubing over the tip of your CA bottle. Push it all together to make it look like this:




You don't need to push the applicator on the CA Glue bottle, just have it touching inside the glow fuel line.


After I figured this tip out, I no longer have to worry or struggle with the glue or applicator anymore. It's cheap and it works!


Pete

papion007

My Feedback: (19)

Many Thanks for the Tip...I bought a few of these and what a mess...I did save them,now I will use them..

Villa

Hi Luftwaffe Oberst
Where do you get the applicator? I don't recall seeing them at my hobby store.

Wilson4824

they come from Bob Smith indust. they about 40 cents each.. I work at a hobbytown in southern indiana and cant keep them in stock.

Sunny_B

Great tip. I love using the applicators, but they are only good for one use. They would be ideal If I knew a way to clean and reuse them. Any ideas?
Sunny_B

MajorTomski

Sig also makes a line of applicators. Avalable at Hobby Lobby stores.

landeck

My Feedback: (1)

I reuse them many times. Before I take the applicator off, I hold the bottle straight up and press it to clear most of the ca out of the it. Then I wipe the applicator with a paper towel before removing it from the bottle. I then blow through the applicator using a compressed air can you can buy at any office supply store. They are used for blowing dust off keyboards. Then I throughly wipe off the bottle tip before replacing the cap. Once it in awhile I need to cut a short amount off the applicator if it has become clogged.

Bruce

anuthabubba

My Feedback: (102)

You can keep them open during use by squeezing the bottle when you pick it up and maintaining that pressure to help regulate the flow while applying the CA. Before sitting the container down, release the pressure to suck the CA out of the tip, therefore keeping the applicator clean. I usually 'pump' the bottle a few times to be sure the tip is cleared.

Never had the problem of the tips not fitting on the bottles though.

Terry in LP

Luftwaffe Oberst

Just ask for them next time you are at your LHS. I use the applicators all the time for those hard to reach places and when I attatch CA Hinges when I build ARF aircraft. I trashed my Kyosho Focke Wulf when my applicator tip had a small crack that I didn't see, and when I went to attatch my flaps with the CA Hinges, it poured right on my wing!

On painted Warbirds, that means strip and re-paint... kind of reverses the meaning of ARF in my book. I was so mad, and when I finally calmed down and got my blood pressure under control, I thought of this idea and it works. Sometimes for me I have a difficult time trying to be smarter than the project I'm working on. [X(] Scary eh?

Most all Hobby Shops have them and they are cheap. It's amazing how a 1 cent item can save a whole project. [8D]

Pete

Luftwaffe Oberst

When I'm done using the applicators, I take it off the bottle (after I'm sure I got all the CA tapped back in the bottle.) Then I take a rag and some Great Planes Debonder and place some on the CA bottle tip, and after a few seconds I wipe it off, repeating the prosess until I get all the dried glue off of it.

I've re-used my applicator tips a few times, make sure there's no bubbles in the tip before removing it from the CA bottle, I usually squirt some debonder through it over the trash can and it seems to keep it clear for re-use.

I'm a penny pincher too Sunny, nothing wrong with it in these hard times. I used to just throw the applicators away, but now I keep re-using them using the method I wrote about above.

Also, I've cliped the tip with sissors and reused the applicators. I think you will find that most all the clogs are at the tip.

Pete

Luftwaffe Oberst

Yes, some seem to crack and some don't. It might be the manufacture, not sure. My LHS owner told me he never had a problem with them either, but again told me that many have called him on the phone complaining that the applicator didn't want to fit, and a few cracked.

With my idea Terry, it wouldn't be a bad thing to slide a piece of fuel tubing over it for safe measures. All it takes is one time, and you will be tempted to mutter unpleasent things like I did.

Pete

Sidekick

Hi Guys,
All these tips are real good too,but when you find the tips clogged up, soak them in an empty medicine bottle.3/4 fill it with Acetone, next day everything is clear as brand new.I put the clogged one in the bottle/jar etc then use a new one. When that one clogges, into the bottle it goes, then next one etc, etc an so on.
Never have to throw any away.
Sidekick.

Live Wire

Make sure the bottle is not plastic[:@]

Villa

It is best to wear safety glasses when using CA glue. Years ago I read that a drop in your eye can cause blindness. I once was forcing something on the CA bottle, something happened and a drop of CA hit my glasses. I am super careful now and never use force.

Charlee Smith

It is the catalyst for polyester resin that can cause blindness if you get it in your eye. No one has gone blind from getting CA in their eye, but it is a good idea to wear glasses, especially when using thin CA.

Aerobatx

My Feedback: (1)

Great Planes makes them, pack of 5, $1.19 GPMR6033.

opjose

Strange.

With the thin tube applicators ( the ones with almost a hair like thickness ) I NEVER take them off the bottle, and the applicator never ( or almost never ) clogs!

They are designed so that there is so little CA exposed to the air, that it never gets an opportunity to evaporate and harden.

I leave these on the bottle with no cap. Whenever I reach for the CA, it is ready to go and flows freely.

And I use these on BIG 8oz CA bottles w/o problem.

Bigger applicators will clog, but the capillary type ones are fantastic.

I've had the problem with the bottom cracking, but thanks to the mentioned suggestion of applying tubing ( GREAT IDEA! ), that should be a thing of the past.

Luftwaffe Oberst

True, but when I'm done with the build, I like to pop them off and store the CA away in a dark cool place and re-use the tips later if I can, and if and when it clogs I just snip the tip off. Plus the super thin CA can clog up if you knock the glue over a few times ( I have been a bit graceful at times, not paying attention) and don't properly tap or air pressure the glue back down the applicator. I guess the other trick is to properly keep the applicator clean each time you use it so it won't clog the next time you want to use it..


All and all, this thread was for those who are like me who are sick and tired of struggling with a applicator on the CA bottle. Applicators are cheap enough to just throw them away at the end of a build. JMHO


Pete

Tango Juliet

Great tip! I thought I was the only Moron that couldn't get CA tips to fit properly without cracking. I had completely given up on using Thin CA because of it.

faulknej

My Feedback: (9)

I use them over and over for a long time. Just stand the bottle upright after use, and gently squeeze the bottle a few times. The CA runs back into the bottle, and the tip doesn't clog. Occasionally the very tip hardens up, just cut of1/16 of it and go again.

Edited: Oops, guess I should have read Landeck's post, he said the same thing I did.

Rodney

Easy, just keep a jar of acetone handy (with a tight fitting top) and drop the used tips into it. The acetone will dissolve the CA and keep the tips clean and ready for the next use.

opjose

After a 3 month plane building hiatus, I went back to a 4oz bottle of thin CA to which I had put on a capilary tip....

The CA flowed out nicely, w/o my having to do anything.

I think that it is important not to retract CA that has been exposed to air, back into the tip accidentally.

That may have been why I saw no clogs over time.