Explosive Cyanoacrylate?

Kevin Cross

Kevin Cross

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Sep 13, 2006
Messages
865
So I have been out of the shop for about five days because one of our bulldogs ran across the yard and took out my wife's leg with a beautiful chop block. Now she has this big brace and crutches and they are saying definately MCL and maybe ACL too. So I have been playing nurse.

Anyway, I got down in the basement today and went to get to work. First I thought I would clean up the work bench a bit. I grabbed a can of danish oil to put it back in the cabinet over the work bench and it did not move. Neither did the bottle of etchant next to it or the level on the bench top. I tried to open the cabinet and it was stuck shut too. What the heck??? Used a hammer and screwdriver to pry the cabinet door open and moore mess. At the back of the cabinet I had had a new 8 oz bottle of thin cyanoacrylate. Note the past tense. There was about a half in split in the bottle right at the bottom where it has burst and dumped the entire bottle in the cabinet and down over the workbench!

I spent almost an hour chipping, prying cracking and breaking things loose. I was able to save most things but I really hope that my granite slab was positioned just where I wanted it cause it is going to be there for the duration!

The good part was this definately put me in a really good mood to grind up some steel so the rest of the afternoon went pretty well.

So how was your Saturday? Anything blow up on you?
 
I think cyanoacrylate adhesives do not resist water well. Try covering your problem areas with wet towels. I glued two fingers together once. I held them under running water for 20 minutes, and they came apart. Immersion might work even better.
 
Your thread title is awfully misleading, LOL.

Acetone is the best solvent for removing CA. As an occasional balsa model aircraft builder (been a while, sadly), I've glued my fingers to a fuselage or wing many a time. Get some pure acetone, or if you're in a pinch, some nail remover with acetone. It may take a while to dissolve it all, but it will likely come up.

Tiguy, CA is actually cured by the moisture in the air. Your fingers likely came apart as a result of them shriveling up under the water, etc.

Also, be mindful if you use CA near cotton products. Do NOT wear cotton gloves while handling CA! The two materials produce an exothermic reaction (ie., they release heat, sometimes enough for spontaneous combustion) when combined! You can use some on a little cotton thread to bind wire to wood dowels (for making small building tools or pushrods in model aircraft), but that's about it.

Good luck!
 
Got a Woodcraft store nearby? Get some debonder and it'll come right up. If not, you can order it from Jantz or just about any other place that sells adhesives.
 
Thank you all, Looks like I'm off to the store today to get some debonder.
Kevin
 
My question is not how to clean it, but why did it happen in the first place? And how can this sort of thing be avoided in the future?
 
I store CA glue in a glass jar in the fridge or freezer.

It seems to keep longer and also keeps it contained.
 
"Cures by moisture in the air " ? I thought it cured by absence of air ?

Checked -you're right .I wonder why they always said never remove the air from the container ?
 
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If it was unopened and got hot and expanded, it would split the bottle.
 
The recommendation to run water on the affected area came from the label on the tube of cyanoacrylate. I wouldn't advise anyone to glue a boat together with that stuff.
 
Yes, gents, store CA in the fridge. In the medical device industry we store all our reserve stock in refrigerators to insure that they are effective through their expiration date. Mete, I am thinking that maybe you have used Loctite CA and threadlockers in the past. The LocTite threadlocker is anaerobic and cures by reaction with 'active' metals.

As far as the bottle exploding/cracking, I'm not sure. I have handled literally hundreds or thousands of bottles and haven't seen this happen. Was it unusually hot in the basement? Did you possibly get other chemicals onto the bottle?
 
The taxidermist that mounted my last rack opened the frig door to get glue , and I said da%$ what some super glue. He said he buys it by the gross box, keeps it in the frig and it will last over a year. Jerry
 
If you follow forensics they use a CA cloud to bring up hidden Prints... IE: It gasses off when heated and Boom exploding bottle. I store mine laying sideways to keep the air infiltration to a min.
 
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