What can I use to keep CA from sticking to a jig?

Posted By wildbill001 on 11/26/2008 11:29 AM
I've built a wooden jig to make some parts with. I have to use CA to glue to various parts together with but don't want to end up glueing them to the jig. Is there anything I can put on the jig to keep the CA from sticking the parts to the jig?

Right now I'm being(in your best Elmer Fudd voice) very, very, very careful when I do the glue up.



Thanks!

Bill

Try this FIRST on a scrap piece of wood of the same type as your jig so you don't mess up your jig. Wet the wood so it absorbs in, but wipe off the excess. Now try doing some CA'ing on this piece of wood and see if you have a problem with your work sticking to the wood. Though I've never tried this, I'm betting you won't.


CA is not compatable with water. If you want to "seal" the end of a piece of string, you can apply a drop of CA. But, it will normally "wick" up the string. But if you put a drop of water on the string, leaving the tip dry, it will not wick past the start of the water thereby sealing the tip, but leaving the string supple. I'm thinking this same principal can be applied to your wood.

Posted By Dave F on 11/27/2008 2:21 PM
Cyanoacrylate is an acrylic resin which rapidly polymerises in the presence of water (specifically hydroxide ions), forming long, strong chains, joining the bonded surfaces together. If you wet your wooden jig first then add CA you will rapidly bond everything to the jig. In essence, water acts as the bonding accelerator. Once the glue has polymerised and cured, the reaction is over, it is impermaeble to water, thus the "sealing" effect on the string mentioned above.

Basically, if you are looking for a surface that CA will not bond with it needs to be non-porus, anhydrous and inert. Smooth, dry and non reactive.

Basically your choices are metal, teflon or delrin.




My thinking here is that he is not intentionally bonding to the jig, but is more worried about the excess and ooze. As you note, the water causes the CA to instantly bond, but it seems to me to create a white crystaline-layer with no real strength that would impeed further bonding and allow him to lift the work out of the jig. Guess I'll need to try this myself and see what actually occurs.

That's why I said to try it on a scrap piece.