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 h
