Has Super Glue changed?

[bobsdad]

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.

 

[chief38]

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

 

[handejector]

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.

 

[m1gunner]

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....

 

[Marshwheeling]

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.

 

[old bear]

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.

 

[charlie sherrill]

I hear it's good "sniffing" glue.

 

[2fingers]

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

 

[jlrhiner]

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.

 

[VPNAVY]

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

 

[Stainless44]

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.

 

[Hillbilly77]

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.

 

[cmort666]

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.

 

[David LaPell]

It still smells the same to me.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

I hear it's good "sniffing" glue.

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

 

[to9]

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 .

 

[wbraswell]

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.

 

[Rule3]

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

 

[Fredo Batali]

"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

 

[MrAmbassador]

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.