mister glue

Refrigerator Magnets to a New Level

Refrigerator Magnets to a New Level

Sneak Peak

Sneak peak of how to videos.  Create your very own refrigerator magnets.  I used corks, shells, beach stones and a locket with some very strong mini-magnets.  

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Mister Glue is Back

Mister Glue is Back

My apologies to those who have been wanting Mister Glue and unable to purchase.  We have it now.  Over the next few weeks we will also have our Uncure and Accelerator.  Once these are also available,Purchase Here you will be able to purchase packages with various products.  Please feel free to email me me with any questions you may have.  

All purchasing is done through PayPal.  One does not have to have a PayPal account to use it.  Again, any issues, please contact me.  martin@misterglue.com

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Cyanoacrylate Glue for Woodworking

Cyanoacrylate Glue for Woodworking

Mister Glue (Cyanoacrylate) for Woodworking.

Cyanoacrylate glues have been around for 50 - 60 years or more.  Many woodworkers know their benefits and different types of CAs that are used with various types of woodworking. From wood scroll to repairing gun stocks.

Used in the wood shop this cyanoacrylate, read: super glue, has any number of uses. Used on its own, it is set up speed is amazing, used with the accelerator/activator it is incredibly fast and strong.  

There is a wide range of viscosities with cyanoacrylates (CA glues).  Mister Glue has a low viscosity (it is very thin), so can work for many woodworking projects,: wood scrolling, wood turning projects and repairing cracks.  Because this super glue is not thick, it won’t fill gaps but we have an excellent solution for that.  

(If you want a technical definition or chemical make up of cyanoacrylate glue take a look at Encyclopedia Britannica)

It has obvious uses for fine work where the use of clamps is unworkable.

A few of the issues with Mister Glue and like types of super glue is that they react to and set up with the presence of moisture and often wood is just too dry.  Other factors such as natural oils in the wood or wood that has been treated, sap, etc - all of these thing can affect set and cure rate and whether it will cure at all.  Mister Glue, and again, other super glue/cyanoacrylate type glues, will not bond well to cured super glue or some other types of cyanoacrylate.  So, get it right the first time or you could have problems.  Doing repairs over other glues,  yellow and white wood glues, is usually not a problem.  Which is handy.  

Gluing Very Dry Wood

When you are dealing with particularly dry wood, one of the issues is that the wood is so ‘thirsty’ glue will soak right in so there is nothing left on the surface to do any bonding.  Additionally, it is so dry there is zero moisture for it to react with.  

This fix for the moisture thing works but can be tricky.  The accelerator activates the glue but does not really work well on very dry wood as a primer.  So, as a solution to this, I’ve taken a spray bottle and moistened the surface.  You DO NOT want a wet surface.  That won’t fly.  Do this: Spray the surface that you are going to work with.  Let some soak in and wipe off any excess.  Let the wood dry.  Like, you don’t put paint on wet primer.  You can prime both sides but seriously, let the surfaces get dry before you apply the glue.  

Once dry, put Mister Glue’s Accelerator/Activator  on one side.  Do that first, as the Accelerator needs a little open time.  The glue doesn’t, so apply it to the other side next.  Place the two surfaces together and make sure you get them exactly the way you want.  Once you press the two surface together, they will set up.  No play time, especially with the Activator.  

If you are unsure about getting the two surfaces together properly quickly, then try it this way instead: Put the glue on one side, after the surfaces have been primed, and THEN press the two surfaces together.   Doing this way, you will have a very little, but some time, to move your two pieces into place.  Once you have that, you run a bead of the Accelerator/Activator along the seam.  That will instantly set and make the glue stronger.

I’ve heard issues with some CA glues, where there are problems over time because they are brittle and as such they break down.  My brother in law is a carpenter:  There was an issue with one sub-contractor where his carpenters were using a CA (cyanoacrylate) glue for many of their finishing joints because of set up time.  A year later many of these joints would fail as the cured glue would eventually get dry and brittle.  

The Solution

Mister Glue, being an industrial glue, remains flexible.  The impurities and solvents have been thoroughly distilled out.  So, if you are doing finishing work, for example a pre-finished crown at a mitre joint it won’t be a problem later.  Mister Glue, when curing, will not shrink or expand.  It is also completely waterproof.

End Joints

End Joints can be difficult. One can most times use Mister Glue for these.  Not always.  It is a very fine glue and needs a tight fitted joint.  Two rough ends will not glue together well with Mister Glue.  Not much of anything will do that.  If the ends are finished and fit together snugly, then place Mister Glue’s Activator one side, Mister Glue on the other then press them firmly together. 

Note: It is better if you don’t stain first.  Better to apply Mister Glue to the raw unstained wood.  Mister Glue will bond to finished wood but stronger without.

Capillary Action of Mister Glue

Due to the low viscosity of Mister Glue it can be used to repair cracks in wood.  If you are turning and a crack in the wood comes to light, add a few drops of Mister Glue to the crack. It will wick in.  Press firmly together and in seconds it will be set up and you are back in business.  No waiting for an hour for it to set up.  

You don’t have to replace a whole gunstock, just put a drop in the crack, press it together for 10-20 seconds.  Once set, if you want, you can sand the edge smooth.  

You can even run a bead along a closed joint. Mister Glue will easily wick in and bond the two pieces together. 

This also becomes very useful in wood scroll.  Reinforce a section that has been cut a little too close or thin.  A few drops will soak in nicely and strengthen it quite well.

Small Wood Craft Work

If, for example, you are working on a project that has numerous pieces that need to be fitted together, Mister Glue is ideal.  There is no wait time between sections. You don’t have to wait hours for one section to set up and cure before doing the next.  

Fillers

As mentioned, Mister Glue has a very low viscosity, it is quite thin and runny so won’t fill gaps.  Use sawdust as your filler.  In a wood shop, you should have plenty of sawdust laying around.  From fine to not so fine.  You can’t mold it into shape after you have applied the glue.  Place the sawdust in the crack, crevice or hole you need filled, then add the glue. If it is deep, you may need to build it up in layers.  For example if you are having to realign a screw hole.  Pack a small bit of sawdust in, then a drop or two of glue. Build it up this way until flush.  You can sand or tool even then align the drill hole properly for the screw.  

Two pieces that are not quite together but need to be: do the same thing, sprinkle in some sawdust and add glue.  I’ve used baking soda the same way where I needed a very fine material for a wobbly chair leg.  There wasn’t enough space for sawdust, I needed something quite fine.  I worked some baking soda into the gap, jiggled it so that it really worked in and added glue.  Never came apart!  

Feel free to experiment with different materials: Coffee grinds or other materials to help match colour.  I’ve used the baking soda with porcelain and resin figurines with amazing results.  Broken plastic car parts that are no longer available have been repaired using various fillers with great success.  

A Few Cautions

One, don’t try spreading the glue before you place the two pieces together.  That is important!  Just put enough on the surface so that it will spread when you press the two pieces together.  Touching it beforehand and trying to spread around can ruin the bond. Use the minimum needed for the surface.  As always with this glue, the tighter, closer the fit, the better the bond.

A second point is to please use this and other cyanoacrylates in a well ventilated space.  If you are going to be using it a lot, have a small fan going to keep the fumes away as much as possible.  I’ve run into more people that are involved in the Remote Control world (planes, trains and automobiles), that cannot use cyanoacrylates anymore because they did not heed this rule.  They built up intolerances and could no longer be around it, These are people that had been using this type of glue every day for many, many years.  It is classified as an ‘irritant’, not a poison.  Just be cautious.  Some will use googles.  I also keep the cap loosely on the bottle if the bottle is going to be open for a while.

Thirdly, keep some Mister Glue DeBonder handy.  This product is made for cyanoacrylate (Mister Glue) glues.  You can use acetone to remove these types of glue as well, but you may get a little ticked off, as it takes much, much longer.  It is also useful to keep around in case your fingers get glued together.  If you do get some of the glue on your fingers or hands, it may be irritating but will wear off fairly quickly.  

Clogging Tip

Try NOT, if you can help it, to touch the tip to the surface you are gluing.  Occasionally, you will forget to make sure the tip of the spout is cleared before you put it away.  This can clog the tip or make the tip bond to the cap.  You can peel off any hardened glue with your finger nails.  If the tip comes off with the cap, you may need some needle nose pliers to pry it loose.  Try and burp the bottle before recapping and keep it upright to prevent these things from happening. 

Refrigerator

At room temperature, Mister Glue should last a year.  Kept in the refrigerator you should get several years. I prefer the freezer.  The product won’t freeze.  Just let come back to room temperature before opening.  

More Care of Mister Glue

Buy Now!!

#misterglue 

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Laminate Flooring

Laminate Flooring

Attaching Stair Nose for Golden Select Laminate Flooring

We put new laminate flooring in the bedroom.  Finished it up yesterday.  It was time to get rid of the ancient broadloom; it wasn’t so healthy anymore.  We went to Costco and purchased enough of their Golden Select for the room and the two steps leading from the bedroom to the main living area.  

Laying in the floor was pretty straight forward; it was a little tricky getting the first two or three rows lined up properly but smooth sailing after that.  When we got to the doorway... I’d never done anything like this before so it took us a little to figure it out...get it cut correctly and slide into place.

And then there were the steps.  First thought was to do without a stair nose but we didn’t think we could make it work so my wife searched the exact brand online, I ordered and it was here in 48 hours.  Exact colour match.

I didn’t like any choices for attaching it.  Gluing was really the only option as we didn’t want nails showing and the system it came with, well, it didn’t seem that it would hold very well.  

 I thought about different glues.  Wood glues and most others weren’t fast enough and I had no way, really, to clamp it down. I’m not a woodworker so, I admit there be ways I’m unfamiliar with.  

Anyway, I decided the best bet was using Mister Glue.  I have lots and know it works and this gave me another way to show it off. I honestly didn’t know how amazingly well it would work in this situation.  

I’ve been using, selling, etc., Mister Glue for 20 years and am still sometimes stunned at how solid the bond can be.  

You can watch the video below.  Within a few short seconds of putting the two pieces together, they would not come apart for anything.  

I will outline the sequence here in case the video is not clear.  

First of all, wood that has been sitting around for a while can be incredibly dry.  I’ve done small projects with Mister Glue where I put the Accelerator on one side then applied Mister Glue to the other, put the pieces together and… nothing!  The glue had soaked completely into the wood before I could get the parts together.

So, the first thing, as this wood was incredibly dry, was to lightly mist the surfaces with water.  You don't want the wood wet; just enough so that the glue does not soak in.  If you feel you have applied too much then just let sit for a bit to soak in.

A note here about cyanoacrylates, of which Mister Glue is one: they react to surface moisture.  They can pull from the air if necessary but on materials like terra cotta or wood that is very dried out, you may need to add a bit of moisture.  

The second step is to apply the Accelerator to one side. One side only.  For this application it took several minutes.  The brush is very small.  My suggested (afterwards) pouring some into a small bowl and using a small paint brush.  There is no rush.  You want to let it be exposed to air for at least 30 seconds anyway. In this case some parts were exposed a few minutes.  Didn’t seem to be a problem at all!

I applied the Accelerator to the ‘upper’ side.  The glue is runny so best to apply on the ‘bottom’.  

Apply Mister Glue to the other side.  The opposite side from where you applied the Accelerator.  I checked ahead of time to see where the contact areas were so that I only applied glue there.  No point applying the glue to areas that are not going to be touching the other side.  

Put a thin bead along each area.  You want enough that when you  press the two surfaces together they will squeeze the glue to cover the whole surface.   But you don’t want too much squeezing out.  

The tighter the fit, the better the bond!  So make sure that the two pieces fit well before applying the glue.  And make sure you know how you are going to fit the pieces together.  No second chances.  Practice first!

This stuff is way, way too fast!  

Once together, you are NOT getting it apart!

You can see how quickly it set in the video.  I start banging my hand and fist against it trying to move within a few seconds.  It didn’t budge.

This was so simple and so quick to bond.  It is incredibly solid.  This was needed because that edge is going to take a heck of a beating over the next 20-30 years or so.  

I’ve glued wood together and tried separating it after some hours and the wood generally tears.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions. 

The order page has numerous options for different combinations: glue, accelerator and Uncure.

Posted by Martin in blog, MISTER GLUE USES, Wood Glue, 0 comments
Woodworking and Mister Glue

Woodworking and Mister Glue

Preparation

Make sure that, like using any other types of glue products, the surfaces that you are going to glue together are cleaned properly.  Also, you can paint over Mister Glue and other types of cyanoacrylates but usually they will not stain. So, you need to protect other surfaces.  This glue is pretty runny, so it can drip onto other surfaces if you are not careful.

So, clean and protect wood surfaces. 

Application

I’ve included three videos on this page.  You can see in the video where I stand on the two boards after glueing them together with Mister Glue, that I’ve only let it set for a minute or so.  I’m actually pressing the boards together with my feet for only 23 seconds.  The set time is generally 20-30 seconds.  Full cure time is several hours.  I’ve glued boards together like that where I didn’t think it worked so set aside and gone back a few hours or a day later and could not get the two pieces apart to save my life. 

So, standing on the two planks right after gluing together looks like fun and all but it is one of those “Don’t try this at home!” types of thing. 

In the case of the two boards, I had to mist them with water and let that moisture soak in before applying the Accelerator to one side and Mister Glue to the other.

Also, please note, that when I applied the glue to the board that I was standing on, that I did not spread the glue after running a bead on the wood.  Spreading it first after applying the glue and before putting the two surfaces together in technical terms is a ‘no-no’!  Don’t do it.  It will weaken the glue.  Just put enough on the wood so that it will spread.  You do want the surface mostly covered but the thinner the bond the stronger.

With Mister Glue’s Accelerator it is not really spreadable on wood.  Brush it  on with the small applicator and it soaks in.  If you were to use on a slick surface, you could spread to cover the surface.  Apply the Accelerator to one side and apply it first.  You want to allow 20-30 seconds exposed to air before you press the glue sided surface to it.  And with Mister Glue you don’t want to wait. 

Note: A point here on adding a bit of moisture.  Some will caution and warn against having too much water/moisture around cyanoacrylates (Mister Glue, Super Glue) but remember they need some moisture to operate.  BUT very small amounts.  I sprayed the board with a mist then wiped with a paper towel.  It would not have hurt to leave a bit if the surface is too moist. 

Mister Glue should be treated in many ways the same as any other cyanoacrylate.  Superglue, Crazy Glue you can find in stores.  Other products like Pasco Fix and Mister Glue you will generally find at various types of trade shows or online.  The latter will not dry out in the bottle and will last for years as long as they are kept in the freezer (ideally) or the refrigerator.  The later are generally stronger and won’t break down over time as they have had the solvents removed. Mister Glue and products like it and Pasco Fix are made in Germany and are distilled several times to remove any solvents.  This is why they won’t dry in the bottle and why the bond won’t go brittle after a time. 

Cyanoacrylates react to very small amounts of moisture in or on the surface of the materials that you are attempting to bond together.  Super glue types of glue are also extremely fast to bond. 

Mister Glue Wicks In Wood Joints

One of the biggest problems with Mister Glue and other cyanoacrylates is because of the speed of bonding, there is often very little time to reposition the two surfaces.  In this second video below you can see how I’ve gotten around this.  I’ve placed the two pieces of wood together in a table vise and applied the glue to the edge and let it wick in.  Which it does extremely well as you can see from the resulting bond.  In this video, I probably should have, but didn’t, put a bit of moisture on the surfaces beforehand. 

Mister Glue on its own will not fill gaps.  It is too thin, too runny.  But it works in combination with all types of materials as a filler.  In the  video below you can see how I’ve built up a loose screw hole with layers of sawdust and Mister Glue.  With no discernible wait time, I put a screw in the glue/sawdust filled hole and right afterwards tried to wrench it out.  No go.  It was solid.  One could take a bit more time with this and tamp down each bit of sawdust before adding glue.  In this particular case not a huge amount of glue was used.

If you have some really fine sawdust, use it for repairing a loose spindle in a chair.  Or a chair leg. I’ve used both sawdust and baking soda for this.  The spindle or leg is wobbly.  Feed some fine sawdust or baking soda into the gap.  Just keep shaking it in there, working it in until the gap is completely filled.  Then add a few drops of Mister Glue all the way around.  It will wick in very nicely.  Within seconds you have a solid, no longer wobbly chair or table.  The wood fill done this way will not shrink or crack over time.

You are not likely going to do use this glue to fill large areas.  But it is great for harder to reach areas and small cracks and splits.  You can use to build up a small area that has been chipped or gouged.  You can tool and sand afterwards.  If you are going to use this way, for gouge or some such, shape the wood filler as much as possible beforehand.  It goes hard almost instantly so there is no use trying to shape it with your fingers as you would some putty types glues.  And your fingers would likely be rather solidly glued to the item you are trying to repair, anyway. 

As mentioned earlier, although it can be painted, the wood fill made this way with Mister Glue will not usually take a stain.

Use a Finishing Glue

There is a very decent article on Canadian Woodworking Magazine on using this type of glue for finishing surfaces as it does dry clear.  Mister Glue has a ‘thin’ viscosity so works well for this.

General Info On Mister Glue

Mister Glue is water resistant so if you are bonding wood that will be exposed to the weather it works well.

A couple of extra points.  I have read on some websites that one should not put cyanoacrylates back in the freezer or refrigerator after opening.  As long as you burp the bottle a tap it down so there is no glue left in the spout, all should be good. Occasionally, the spout clogs with some dried glue.  Peel it off with your fingers.  Take care not to glue your fingers together.  You will get a little on your fingers when you do this but that will come off fairly quickly and will do you no harm in the meantime.  If you have been careless and the cap removes the spout when you take it off, use a pair of needle nose pliers to take the spout out of the cap.  Then get a narrow screwdriver or knife in there to scrape out any dried glue. If the cap seems to be glued on use a pair of pliers squeezing to gently crack the glue inside. This should enable you to get the cap off. Again, clean off any dried glue and be more careful next time.

There is more on care of Mister Glue here.

And you can purchase at our Shop page.

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