Glue

[Greyhound]

I've been using Elmers glue and I have to wait 30 minutes to an hour for it to dry. Is there a faster drying glue that is easy to use

[thymekiller]

Yes. Superglue. It will also glue your fingers together and anything else it touches. Be VERY careful with it. It is also called cya. Some folks dont like to use it but I use it all the time. Dont try to glue tissiue with it.
The bad part is its very hard to sand. Like a rock. You can buy it in tubes at walmart or get the good stuff at your local hobby shop or buy it on-line. It helps ALOT to get the special tips to apply it.
When you glue with it, be SURE that the wood is where you want it or its hard to repair.
There are lots of different glues to use, and each one has good and bad. Duco cement is another favorite, but it is slow to dry. Duco is the most light-weight of them all. [ Again, wal-mart ]
Give a shout if you need links.

eric

[John G. Jedinak]

Smaller amounts of Elmers dry much quicker. With these models you don't need alot of glue. In a hurry....use a hair dryer...that will speed things up. Testors glue for balsa is another winner...Luck, JGJ

[Socketassault]

I use Elmer's Wood Glue. It dries a yellow brown wood color. I think it's also stronger than the white glue.

[Xanadu]

Your local hobby store will sell CA glues. Bit expensive, but they work very fast and will stick anything together (including your fingers).
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0093p?&C=RGC
Just a little drop is all you need, no more so take it easy on it.

Make sure you also buy a bottle of CA debonder, and keep it in reach with of when using the CA glues. This way when you do (and you will) stick your fingers together its right there for you to use to unstick them. Just drizzle it onto the stuck area, and you will be able to gently pull them apart. Might take a few moments to work, but it will.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wt ... LXK299&P=0


Buy the small tip applicator too for the glue, they are cheap and will allow you to use only drops which is all you really need.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wt ... LXMPN8&P=0

You will also notice that there is different "thickness" levels of CA glues. A good all around use one is medium. The thickness levels are designed for different applications, but medium is your best all around building one.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wt ... LXK287&P=0

You can also get a "kicker" for the glue. It sets the glue INSTANTLY once you spray it on, so makes for quick work, but also easy to glue your fingers too!
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wt ... LXMYL9&P=0

[kittyfritters]

If you get "kicker" to make C/A glue set instantly, be sure to get a small bottle with a fine tip to apply it. Spraying it on is wasteful and you don't want to be breathing the stuff. Use the cyanoacrylate glues only with good ventilation. Mny people are allergic to it and you can become allergic to it if you breath too much of it. Otherwise, it can make your model building very fast.

You might be interested in a story about my use of cyanoacrylate glue last June:

What with work and social obligations and my wife wanting to re-do the
back yard, I haven't done any further work on my Bf-109. All my model
building efforts have been moved to the garage, but working out there
been impossible for the past week with the temperature over 100
degrees (F) and sometimes reaching 112 degrees. However, yesterday my
wife was off from work and she had dinner ready when I got home. The
temperature was down to 81 degrees and with the early dinner, I had a
brief window of opportunity, so I grabbed by building box and building
board (Both kept in the air conditioned safety of the house.) and went
to the garage.

I put my board on the work bench, got the Bf-109 kit and plans out of
the opossum proof box, and thumb tacked the plans to the board.
Since this is an electric powered model, and the weight would not be
so critical, I decided to us C/A to assemble it. I had previously
sanded the parts sheets, punched lightening holes in the formers and
ribs, separated the parts from the sheets and put them in plastic
bags, one for fuselage and one for wing. I took out the fuselage bag
and started to work.

As I was pinning the keel to the plan I had the distinct impression of
being watched. Looking up from the work bench I saw Polly, our
resident opossum, and her two surviving joeys from this year's passel
watching me from the top shelf of the shelving unit behind the bench.
I said, "Hello" to them, an acknowledgement of their presence which
usually causes them to disappear. They did nothing and continued to
watch me so I returned to work.

To ensure that I had adequate ventilation I had opened the front door
to the garage. The white paper of the plans on the board directly
under the overhead fluorescent lights was the brightest thing in the
garage and this soon attracted June bugs. (Not expected since they
are usually a month late in this area.) The insects are annoying but
I simply brushed them away. They left the bench anyway as soon as I
began to spray C/A "kicker" on the joints to speed my work. I don't
blame them since I don't particularly care for the smell of the stuff
myself. The assembly job proceeded rapidly with the basic assembly of
keels and formers taking only a half-hour.

As the fuselage took shape I became aware of a crunching sound above
me. It seems that the June bugs, driven away by the odor of the C/A,
had made the fatal mistake of flying up to the top of the shelving
unit. I suspect that I will have my audience of opossums every night
that I work in the garage during June bug season since they are being
treated to a free dinner and a show.

[thymekiller]

Thats a good one. Gotta show that to the wife.

thymekiller

[MikeTaylor]

Some thoughts on glue, from a half century of gluing stuff...

Don't try to speed up drying of white glues - you want them to penetrate as deep into the end grain as possible. Patience is a virtue!

One of the lightest and also fastest drying white-type glue (actually, aliphatic resins) is Superphatic (Google it, my favorite on-line supplier no longer carries it, but good hobby shops do). It is very much like Titebond (one of the best there is for large projects), but without the heavy fillers that all carpenters' glues use. It also will wick deep into the wood because is is very thin, and it comes with a syringe applicator tip.

Don't use more than you need - if you see the glue forming fillets around the joints, you used way too much.

CA is fast, strong, and un-godly heavy - use it with care; the vapors ARE harmful, and it can almost double the weigh of a balsa framework.

Solvent glues - Duco, Sigment, Ambroid - these are what we grew up using. They used to warn us about them, but I forget why They work great, are light, and with proper technique are superb. (thin them and double glue the joints for the best results. You can't use them at all on foam, will dissolve many plastic parts, and suck at gluing CF.

[dbcisco]

...Solvent glues - Duco, Sigment, Ambroid - these are what we grew up using. They used to warn us about them, but I forget why ....

Because inhaling the fumes from typical model cement (and many other volatile chemicals) causes disorientation and hallucinations... as well as liver and brain damage.

[SteveM]

I think that is why he "forgot" why.

[thymekiller]

I should have mentioned venalation while useing it. This is why its good to get many opions.
This might be why I can read very well, but cant spell at all. Or it could be normal brain damage.

thymekiller

[thymekiller]

Try this link. I believe I will try the glue. Cya does stink.

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/adhesive.htm

thymekiller

[TJH]

I have been using Great Planes Pro Wood Glue and been having pretty good luck with that the last few years. I have seen it at many hobby shops and it is inexpensive. This is an aliphatic resin that sets up somewhat quicker than white glue however be sparing with it to control the weight.

[kittyfritters]

Some thoughts on glue, from a half century of gluing stuff...
...
One of the lightest and also fastest drying white-type glue (actually, aliphatic resins) is Superphatic (Google it, my favorite on-line supplier no longer carries it, but good hobby shops do). It is very much like Titebond (one of the best there is for large projects), but without the heavy fillers that all carpenters' glues use. It also will wick deep into the wood because is is very thin, and it comes with a syringe applicator tip.

I have been using Titebond III for a couple of years. It is thinner, and somewhat faster drying than Titebond or Titebond II glues, and is completely waterproof when dry. It dries to a dark brown color and is best applied with a precision applicator such as a MonoJect 512 glue syringe (precision oiler, irrigation syringe, whatever they want to call it.). Build with it carefully! Once it is set there is no undoing it.

Don't use more than you need - if you see the glue forming fillets around the joints, you used way too much.

Amen! First rule of gluing on models. If you need fillets or gussets at the joints, use balsa.

CA is fast, strong, and un-godly heavy - use it with care; the vapors ARE harmful, and it can almost double the weigh of a balsa framework.

Amen to that too! This is especially noticeable when building a smaller model. I have built the same model with the same weight of wood, the same tissue and accessories, and had the one built with Titebond III come in at 23 grams while the one built with C/A weighed 34 grams. Makes a REAL big difference in flying characteristics.

Solvent glues - Duco, Sigment, Ambroid - these are what we grew up using. They used to warn us about them, but I forget why They work great, are light, and with proper technique are superb. (thin them and double glue the joints for the best results. You can't use them at all on foam, will dissolve many plastic parts, and suck at gluing CF.

Gee! The fumes make you high and fry your brain. Good ventilation is a prerequisite for using most solvent based glues and other products. I have moved to Titebond III for most of my work because my wife has severe allergies to the solvents even with good ventilation. I also attach tissue with Uhu glue stick, shrink tissue with rubbing alcohol, fix my tissue with Krylon fixative (sprayed outdoors) and airbrush with water based acrylics for color because my wife cannot tolerate the fumes of dope even if I use it out in the garage.