Superglue tips
Baking soda sets superglue instantly or close to it. You can use this to fill large areas that you want to sand to shape in a hurry. This is also good for roughening up a smooth armature (like paperclip wire) to help putty adhere.
It is the water in air and on surfaces that starts the setting of superglue. This is also what makes it go off so often in the tube before you\'ve had a chance to use most of it! The best way I know of to slow this down is to seal the cap joint with a long, wound strip of Parafilm-M.
Superglue gets harder over time. When working on softer materials like resin it\'s best to sand it in the same session it\'s applied, not wait until the next day.
You can glue a joint with a larger surface area using superglue and epoxy - dots of superlue act like \'spot welds\' to hold the parts together while the epoxy sets, eventually providing most of the strength in the joint.
If you need to break apart a superglued joint it gets more brittle when cold, so pop the thing in the freezer for a couple of hours. Often it\'s best to twist things apart (if the parts allow) than to pull directly apart as superglue has poor shear strength but is much stronger in tension.
Superglue accelerators are made to help set joints instantly but this usually results in a weaker joint from what I\'ve read.
In a pinch superglue can be used to seal cuts. It\'s not totally sterile - they make medical-grade superglue for this - but if you\'re in a hurry it holds the edges together quite well and stops bleeding. Covered with a normal plaster I\'ve had wounds heal in record time using it for this, with minimal scarring.
Acetone is a decent superglue remover, although it usually doesn\'t dissolve it but will soften it, allowing it to be peeled off more easily. Acetone is often, but not always, the main ingredient in nail-polish removers. If you\'re using a lot of it ensure good ventilation.
Superglue is a good wood finish, providing a tough, waterproof coating. You can use this to make your own sculpting tools with a glassy-smooth surface, from shaped cocktail sticks for example, for very little money. It sets so fast too that if you break one you can often make a replacement and be using it before the putty you were using has set.
Einion
