CA glue wells

[NOBLNG]

I recently bought the glue loopers for super thin CA. They work great, but you have to put a drop or two of CA in something to dip the looper in. I am running out of bottlecaps.😕 It wants to wick around the cap and doesn’t really want to form a deep enough puddle to dip into. So I have some 3/16” thick plexiglass that I drilled some 5/32” holes about halfway through on my drill press.  Each hole holds a drop of glue and maintains a nice deep puddle for dipping. I should be able to put close to 150 glue wells in this 1-1/2”x6” piece.

Edited October 8, 2021 by NOBLNG

[Chariots of Fire]

How often do you have to clean up the looper?  I use an old disecting needle much the same way you use the looper but I have to scrape off the excess CA every so often or it tends to build up.

[NOBLNG]

36 minutes ago, Chariots of Fire said:

How often do you have to clean up the looper?  I use an old disecting needle much the same way you use the looper but I have to scrape off the excess CA every so often or it tends to build up.

Quite often, but I use a butane lighter and the dried CA burns off in two seconds. I did previously make a couple from needles and they did work, but not as good as these. And those I had to dip into the bottle of CA….a disaster waiting to happen I thought!😬

Edit: I likely don’t need 150 holes. I can probably soak up the un-used CA with a Q-tip and clean up the well with the drill bit. It’s been close to an hour since my original post and the CA is still liquid and useable….unlike the bottlecaps.

Edited October 8, 2021 by NOBLNG

[peteski]

Just like painting techniques, many of us seem to have similar but different ways working with CA adhesive.

I make my own applicators from sewing needles with handles made from 1/8" Plexiglas rod.  When they clog I just scrape them off with a used #11 blade.  The Microbrushes are fro applying accelerator.

 

To hold a small amounts of glue I place a piece of kitchen aluminum foil over a dental cup and press it in to make a concave "well".  When that gets nasty, I peel off the foil and make a fresh one.

Edited October 9, 2021 by peteski

[Bills72sj]

I go low budget. 6" strip of 2" wide blue masking tape applied to the right side of my desk. A drop of whatever glue I am using onto the tape then a round toothpick as an applicator. When the tape is covered in old dots I peel it up and use another piece. I sometimes scrape the toothpicks clean again and some times I just toss them. The tape also comes in handy when I am trying to convince the chrome to flow out of a Molotow pen that has been unused too long.

[NOBLNG]

16 hours ago, peteski said:

Just like painting techniques, many of us seem to have similar but different ways working with CA adhesive.

To hold a small amounts of glue I place a piece of kitchen aluminum foil over a dental cup and press it in to make a concave "well".  When that gets nasty, I peel off the foil and make a fresh one.

Ever accidentally poke a hole in the foil?

15 hours ago, Bills72sj said:

I go low budget. 6" strip of 2" wide blue masking tape applied to the right side of my desk. A drop of whatever glue I am using onto the tape then a round toothpick as an applicator. When the tape is covered in old dots I peel it up and use another piece. I sometimes scrape the toothpicks clean again and some times I just toss them. The tape also comes in handy when I am trying to convince the chrome to flow out of a Molotow pen that has been unused too long.

Doesn’t the toothpick soak up the CA?

Turns out the Q-tip cleans out the well nicely and doesn’t even leave any cotton strands behind, so I made a smaller re-useable one.  

[peteski]

37 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

Ever accidentally poke a hole in the foil?

Not that I recall.  While it doesn't make much difference, but I use the heavy duty kitchen foil. Even if I did poke a hole, the glue doesn't have far to go (just down  into the glass well).

[Bills72sj]

13 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Doesn’t the toothpick soak up the CA?

 

Not that I have ever noticed. The toothpick does not have much porosity if any. More glue is wasted left on the piece of tape.

[Bainford]

On 10/9/2021 at 4:26 PM, NOBLNG said:

 

Doesn’t the toothpick soak up the CA?

Only on the first application, then it's sealed.

Cool tip on the CA wells. I use on overturned margarine container lid as a pallet for all glues, paints, and fillers as needed, though I can see some advantages to the wells. I also use the skinny end of flat toothpicks to apply, often with ends manipulated with an exacto blade to hold the glue, but I have been curious about the loopy applicators. I'll have to give one a go. Pete's method of modified sewing needles looks good, too. I apply kicker with a small pipette, but Pete's microbrush method will have some uses also.