Any glue I should stay away from with resin?

[Mike C.]

What glue should I avoid using when joining resin to resin? Or resin to styrene for that matter?

[Mark]

You can't use regular styrene cement, or other solvent cenents because they won't dissolve the surface of the resin like they do with styrene.  The solvent cement essentially softens the edges of the parts being joined together, and, once it evaporates, the two parts become one.  That won't happen with resin.  So you are left with super glues, or epoxies.  Between those, I'd opt for super glue. 

Cleaning mold release materials off of the resin before doing ANY work on resin parts is a must!  This includes gluing, trimming, grinding, filing, and sanding.  Once you start sanding or grinding "dirty" resin, you're just embedding those contaminants into the resin. 

[peteski]

The subject line to me seems to indicate that you are worried that some glue will attack resin. No glues we use in our hobbies will negatively affect resin, so no need to "stay away". Polyurethane (urethane) resin is compatible with all hobby glues.  But as Mark mentioned, some solvent-type glues designed for polystyrene or ABS will simply not work with urethane.

[Mike C.]

That answers alot of my concerns. Thanks Pete.

[Dave G.]

Because I have Zap super glue and accelerator that's personally what can suggest using. But there are many brands that may/probably work as well. I also like Zap because it seems to me to have better shelf life than some other brands. It could be just the fact I buy it where there is fast turn over so it's fresher from the get go ( hasn't been sitting on a shelf for 6 months already when I purchase it).

[Mike C.]

I've been using that stuff on the right. I got it the last time I was at Hobby Lobby. I'm pretty happy with it but I learned not to use it on clear stuff . not pretty.

 

[peteski]

Bob Smith Industries (BSI) produces a full line of CA adhesives.  That's what I use. It is often branded as the hobby shop's brand.  The accelerator is very mild (does not mar paint or plastic) unlike other brands which use acetone as its solvent.  BSI also makes odorless "Gold" CA which will not fog clear parts (but is more expensive than plain CA glue).

Edited February 14, 2022 by peteski

[Dave G.]

"Bob Smith Industries (BSI) produced a ful line of CA adhesives. "

 

That's a great price for that BSI if it's current pricing at all. BSI is a well respected name in RC aircraft. So is Zap for that matter. But Bob Smith was years on the competition circuit in Model aircraft events.

[peteski]

5 minutes ago, Dave G. said:

"Bob Smith Industries (BSI) produced a ful line of CA adhesives. "

That's a great price for that BSI if it's current pricing at all. BSI is a well respected name in RC aircraft. So is Zap for that matter. But Bob Smith was years on the competition circuit in Model aircraft events.

LOL!  No. I wish. That was the price on November 2016. I date my glue bottles when I buy them.  The 11-16 is the "date code".

[afx]

I really like the Bob Smith adhesives as well.

[Mark]

Locally, I haven't got access to the BSI products anymore.  The LHS that sold them closed in 2017, and the other one doesn't sell them (though they do carry a good selection otherwise).  There is one shop here that caters 100% to radio control, they might just have them though.

For super glue, I use the Loctite product.  Available everywhere, cap design seals well and stretches the life of the unused glue.  And it works.

[martinfan5]

23 hours ago, peteski said:

  BSI also makes odorless "Gold" CA which will not fog clear parts (but is more expensive than plain CA glue).

 

In my experince, has a very short shelf life after opening, I got a bottle to try and about 6 months after opening it had dried.

[peteski]

2 hours ago, martinfan5 said:

In my experince, has a very short shelf life after opening, I got a bottle to try and about 6 months after opening it had dried.

CA glues harden (not dry), but either way the end result is unusable glue.

I haven't bought the Gold odorless version for quite some time, but I don't recall it hardening faster than other BSI CA adhesives I use.  But then again I have a ritual I go through to extend life of all my CA glues (by keeping moisture out of the bottles).  The problem with the Gold CA is that I was using very little of it relative to other CA types, so I do recall that proportionally more of it went bad than other CAs.

Keeping the CA bottles (tightly sealed) in a fridge also extends its life.

[martinfan5]

6 hours ago, peteski said:

CA glues harden (not dry), but either way the end result is unusable glue.

I haven't bought the Gold odorless version for quite some time, but I don't recall it hardening faster than other BSI CA adhesives I use.  But then again I have a ritual I go through to extend life of all my CA glues (by keeping moisture out of the bottles).  The problem with the Gold CA is that I was using very little of it relative to other CA types, so I do recall that proportionally more of it went bad than other CAs.

Keeping the CA bottles (tightly sealed) in a fridge also extends its life.

That's why I said in "my experience"  it went bad , dried if you will within less than a year, it was kept in cool temps and the cap on tight,  so for the average user, that doesnt go thru rituals to excavate the air out of the bottles after every use, you may want to use something else, and in my extensive testing,  the BSI Foam Safe was not all that great to use, for clear parts,  Formula's 560 Canopy Glue worked so much better, faster tack time and fast curing time over the Foam Safe.

Same with myself, I was not using it in the same quantities as other glues, I think I might of used it twice, and BSI glues, even the your name here bottles are pricey, I think I paid over $10 for the smallest bottle( long before C19)

I would probably forget I stored the bottles in the fridge

Of course, YMMV and all that good stuff.

[Charlie Lowell]

I knew an old wood turner about 20 years ago that swore by leaving bottles of CA with the lids off after opening them. He claimed they'd last nearly forever. 

That said, I keep my CA in the freezer. I've got quite a few bottles that are easily 15 years old. The "thick" is just recently getting very thick, like gap filling. The medium is more like thick now. The thin, however, is still very thin.

I've recently designed and 3d printed some resin parts for a current build and what you all have said so far has been very helpful.

[peteski]

14 hours ago, Charlie Lowell said:

I knew an old wood turner about 20 years ago that swore by leaving bottles of CA with the lids off after opening them. He claimed they'd last nearly forever. 

That said, I keep my CA in the freezer. I've got quite a few bottles that are easily 15 years old.

It is the moisture in the air that causes chemical reaction in liquid CA causing it to polymerize (harden) I just like using fancy words.

Cold air (like in the freezer) contains very little moisture, so that environment extends CA's life, plus the cold temperature slows down chemical reactions.