jupiteruke
Well-known member
We all know how bad CA glue fumes are, eye and nose stinging, etc. I use CA glue for all sorts of stuff, and as a pore filler, but I do all the 'major' jobs outside, with the wind behind me. I had an interesting experience today.
I have some curly redwood I am going to use for a top. Because curly redwood is weak, and prone to micro-cracks, I decided to take the advice I had read recently about dealing with micro-cracks in woods like ziricote, and coat one side of the redwood (what will be the outside) with thin CA glue to stabilize things and to deal with at least one micro-crack I could find/feel. So I coated the top outside, with the wind behind me, and let it rest. After 15 minutes I needed the outside workspace for other things, so I laid the top, which seemed pretty dry but still smelled a little, over on the the concrete patio slab. Took it inside in a couple of hours later.
This morning, when the sprinklers came on and wet the concrete, there was the pattern of the top, including the curls! There was also a 'bloom' off the end in what was the down-wind direction. Enough CA glue has volatilized from what seemed like a pretty dry top to seal the concrete surface so that the water does not wet it. The volatilized glue even penetrated the curls, even though there is no evidence of glue soak-through on the redwood itself except for where it came through the micro-cracks. Moral - don't take that CA pore fill job back inside even when it 'seems' dry. Wait a couple of hours at least.
I have some curly redwood I am going to use for a top. Because curly redwood is weak, and prone to micro-cracks, I decided to take the advice I had read recently about dealing with micro-cracks in woods like ziricote, and coat one side of the redwood (what will be the outside) with thin CA glue to stabilize things and to deal with at least one micro-crack I could find/feel. So I coated the top outside, with the wind behind me, and let it rest. After 15 minutes I needed the outside workspace for other things, so I laid the top, which seemed pretty dry but still smelled a little, over on the the concrete patio slab. Took it inside in a couple of hours later.
This morning, when the sprinklers came on and wet the concrete, there was the pattern of the top, including the curls! There was also a 'bloom' off the end in what was the down-wind direction. Enough CA glue has volatilized from what seemed like a pretty dry top to seal the concrete surface so that the water does not wet it. The volatilized glue even penetrated the curls, even though there is no evidence of glue soak-through on the redwood itself except for where it came through the micro-cracks. Moral - don't take that CA pore fill job back inside even when it 'seems' dry. Wait a couple of hours at least.