When Super Glue (cyanoacrylate glue) first became available to the public, I seem to remember using it, with no trouble, to glue plastic to plastic. It seemed like it glued about anything to anything. Am I imagining things? Within the last year or so, it seems that most brands of super glue will not successfully glue plastic to plastic. (And sometimes ceramic to ceramic). I'm talking about repairing hard plastic items like eye glass frames, electrical fixtures and things like that. Have they changed the composition of the super glues? Am I the only one who thinks they have noticed a change? Am I hallucinating?
I do know that things like Zap, 2 part epoxy, etc. will do the job, but I'm just trying to find out if what I think I have observed is real.

I don't think you are hallucinating at all. I have to say that over the years that Super & Crazy glue has been on the market I have never had much luck with it - even years ago. The ONLY product I have had marginal success with is the commercial version made by the Locktite Corp. That it the best of the lot, but I find even that fails on a regular basis.

If I want a permanent bond i go directly to JB Weld. It is more of a pain to use because you have to mix it in two equal parts and it takes a full 24 hours to cure, but once it does it's FOREVER!!! I have NEVER EVER had JB Weld fail - not even outdoors in extreme weather.

For the most part I have given up on the super glues. At best they are a "band-aid" waiting to fall off.

Chief38

I remember that it did not work on plastic. I remember that it did not work as well as other glues in many applications for me.
I do remember that it saved me the hassle and expense of getting sewed up a couple of times. Works great for a big gash if you have help to hold it closed.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

I carry it in my field kit as liquid sutures. While I haven
t had the need to put a Gorilla back together, I have patched up my hunting dog in the field on more than one occasion.

BTW, I thought the proper stuff for HE was that new product....Gorilla Glue....

Actually, super glue is quite good at patching up cuts. I think it works well in some applications, but I don't necessarily know what those are, so it often does not work for me. I carry JB Weld for fixing broken motorcycle cases and such in the field.

One of the most convenient commercial glues is Gorilla Glue. It foams up as it dries, ad sometimes you have to scrape off an unsightly excess, but it sticks a lot of disparate materials together. Dunno about pottery, but I used it to repair the hands and little birdie on my backyard statue of St. Francis.

Another durable repair for pottery is Sugru.
Designer makers | sugru | Hack Things Better
It is far from invisible, and you have to be able to get into a kind of funky esthetic with the stuff. I have used it to repair or alter the feel of knife and tool handles, fixed leather motorcycle seat covers, put bumps on my Maglite to keep it from rolling, stuck a handle back on a coffee cup, and repaired leather and cordura bags. It is a little like RTV, except you can work it with your hands, form it into useful shapes, and use it in some structural ways that RTV is incapable of.

Sugru is kind of expensive, but not prohibitively so. They have an interesting marketing plan that encourages you to play with it and think up uses for it. Some of mine have been satisfactory, and pretty cool, to my mind. Others have been just dorky, and of course, I have had a few failures. This stuff is not going to transform tha world, but it is interesting.

I've been told that the only acceptable use for Super or Crazy glue is to squirt a big shot of it into the lock of a difficult co-workers office door on a Friday afternoon, giving it all weekend to set up. Then watch the fun on Monday morning.

I hear it's good "sniffing" glue.

Old Bear: Loc-Tite Red works real well for that app also. Don't ask how I know.

Yes on the glues changing. The first time I used Crazy Glue I glued my fingers together, my elbow to my forehead and one eyelid to my ear. Last tube the wife bought wouldn't stick on anything.

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

Yuppa bobsdad - it (Super Glue) ain't what it use to be!

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.:God Bless America:.

I don't think I've ever had Super Glue work on anything I've attempted.

I've started using two part epoxy stuff instead.

I remember years ago super glue worked so good you couldn't even get the #*@$! cap off the bottle.

The new stuff is pretty much worthless, I guess unless you're bleeding.

I don't think it's as good as it used to be either.

A few years ago, I bought a thermos type coffee carafe with a hand pump. Apparently the pump linkage always breaks. I couldn't even get the linkage to stick together, never mind hold up under usage.

I recently broke the coupling that holds the sections of the mounting pole for my floor fan. I tried the so-called "epoxy" which didn't work, followed by superglue. Neither held. I eventually trimmed down the plastic in the sections and inserted a section of dowel rod (purchased originally as prop rods for handguns in my safe) and that worked better than the original plastic coupling.

Current plastic consumer parts are garbage and the repair materials are no better.

It still smells the same to me.

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Vaya con Dios

Maybe so but for sniffing you can't beat that old testors model cement

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Forum consigliere

Ok Guys now what . ? I tryed glueing plastic stuff together , it did not work. So I tried sniffing it . I now have to breath through my mouth .

The two things it used to do best were glue your fingers to whatever you were trying to repair and glue it's own top on forever.
Caj, back in the 60s, Testor's had an airplane glue, that I think was for the fancy wood and fabric models, that was labeled "Dope". It disappeared shortly after it was found that teens were sniffing the stuff.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

For plastics, super glue and it's other names is useless. They sell a two part now that has a catalyst that works much better,

Locktite Plastics Bonder works well. I have used this.

I think Plastic Surgery or something is another

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Still Running Against the Wind

"Super Glue" works really well on oily wood stocks that are cracked and it's permanent! It bonds through the oil etc. I have way more surplus military rifles than I need and have repaired quite a few cracked handguards and stocks with absolutely zero failures. The "gel" formula works very well on larger cracks. Clamping the repair is mandatory for a good bond YMMV.

De Oppresso Liber

The original cyanoacrylates (the chemical name for the glue) were discovered in 1942 in a search for materials to make clear plastic gun sights for the war.

I've always found super glue very effective at gluing together two things I don't want glued together.

yeah .. its yet another product that went from hero to zero.
you can still get the good stuff from any RC airplane shop, but that stuff in most mainstream stores sold its soul many years ago

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it just needs more voltage

Yep, I built many airplanes using the stuff. There are different viscocities for different applications and you can buy an accelerant to speed up the cure on the thicker stuff. You can also use baking soda as a filler.

As for plastics, you need a glue that contains a plastic solvent that actually lightly melts the two parts together for the best weld.

And boy did I spend a lot of time buidling plastic planes with that Testors stuff. Don't remember much though.........

Hobie

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Laissez les bons temps roulez!

Same here ... I retired a few planes that evolved from Balsa into 5 min epoxy / CA structures. these things gradually get too heavy to fly right after they exceed a certain balsa to glue ratio.

I recall using some testors "glue" on a few plastic models that was entirely solvent, making the plastic itself into the adhesive resin. it worked fairly well as long as you maintained judicious usage to avoid excessive dimensional changes to the pieces.

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it just needs more voltage

An Army doctor used it or something like it on my son's hand instead on stitching up a nasty cut he had. Told my 11 year old it was the same stuff he used on wounded soldiers in Afghanistan...

try using something porous between plastic to plastic.
a piece of paper towel, or kleenex will greatly strengthen
the bond.

I have found that Gorilla Glue brand of s/g works great for
just about anything(even plastic). It is also reusable.
I have been using the same small tube for several months now,
with the cap on and off 6 or 7 times.

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I fish, therefore I lie

I remember when super glue was as useful as duct tape and bailing wire. I suspect the reason: The EPA required some/most industries to go to a water base solvent from the good chemical solvents. That changed a lot of things, especially primes and paints. Again out government looking out for our interests. Only my opinion.

Crazy glue gel works really well on metal to metal. I use it for some art/ jewelry applications where I would solder if I had a shop to use acyteline torch. It holds even when abused, like be dropping on concrete. It doesn't seem to work on anything else though. It will still glue your fingers together, or to metal. The wife just laughs. No help from her.

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Hold on. SWAT's at my door.

Super Glue on plastics,,works on some,,not on others. Depends on the composition of the plastic. Not so much the superglue itself.
Any of the softer, pliable plastic materials,,it usually won't hold.
The older, harder plastics,,the type that will crack and break,,it usually will do a great job on. It will melt the surface on these and bond them together.
If you have extra glue on your fingers, you'll leave raised glue finger prints on the plastic if you're careless. If you're real careless you'll leave some skin on the plastic along with the fingerprint.

I've been told a form of the glue was developed for medical use in closing wounds and incisions. It does do a good job of it, but I don't know if it was ever actually AMA type approved and all that.Maybe dis-approved..

It's been used to lift finger prints off of items than normally cannot be dusted for prints. 'Fuming' with the glue in a closed system will reveal prints many times that can be saved.
Probably better , more 21st century methods around now though!

I use it a lot for minor repairs. It wicks into hairline cracks in wood like penetrating oil so it's great for those repairs.
It lacks shear strength though, so that has to be taken into account when doing the repair.
It does a nice job of gluing leather, cloth and rubber.
Especially handy to tack set the edges of leather covering on recoil pads. Instant set and no bleed through.

I did have one instance of 'there should be some more in this tube',,when all the time it was squeezing out into my hand.
Took a long very painful time to undo that clenched hand and the little white tube glued into it.

Superglue was what they used on my knees to close the cuts. Worked great.

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

I use the standard off the shelf superglue/crazyglue for instant bond and for things I only want to temporarily bond and knock apart later. Like spacers for vise jaws.

For things I want to permanently bond I use Loctite 380 (BlackMax) or Loctite 4203. I order these from McMaster Carr.

It is best to pre-clean the surfaces with isopropyl alcohol. The type from the drugstore is fine. Acetone and methanol alcohol leave a residue that interferes with bonding.

I have recently been using Gorilla brand Super glue and I am quite impressed. It is somewhat distressing they only fill the bottle half full.

Keep the bottles and tubes stored tip up. let the glue drain out of the applicator tip and thoroughly wipe the remaining glue from the tip before replacing the cap. You should have no trouble next time you want to use it. If the cap should become "spoiled" I cap the applicator tip with an aluminum pushpin. Store the glue away from moisture.

Keep a bottle of acetone around while you are using it. Once upon a time I was superglueing thin steel wear strips onto a plate disc grinder by applying the glue to the strips and then pressing them onto the cast steel tool mount and waiting till the glue set. Unbeknownst to me some of the glue seeped from under the strips and seriously glued my thumb to the machine. I had to drag a 375 pound machine across the shop floor to a paint cabinet to obtain acetone for my escape.

Since that incident I have always thought superglue could be used as improvised handcuffs!

if you want something that blows "super glues" away then try the 2 part Ethyl cyanoacrylate's, great for plastics, metal, ceramic, rubber, etc

you use the glue on one surface and an activator on the other and it bonds within seconds, a very strong bond at that, you can find these online or at some local woodworking stores

examples...

titebond instant bond

fastcap 2p-10

I used to buy super glue for use in the Emergency Department. Then we were told the government didn't list that as an approved use. Now instead of spending $1.25 for a tube and not charging the patient we have to buy an FDA approved item at $25 - $30 a tube. Same result but higher bill for the patient.

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Charles Randolph