Cyanoacrylate Glue Dust

[Cliff]

I was researching CA glue for application in segmented turning.  I've read that it's too brittle to make a long lasting wood joint bond because the wood moves and the glue doesn't.   Star bond makes what they call semi flexible but I haven't a clue what that means.   That's like laundry soap ads that claim their soap leans better.  Better than what? Better than a bucket of vomit and india ink?

I suppose I could just ask them what semi flexible means.

 

Any one have joints i with CA glue that last ten or more years in random humidity?

 

Anyway I digress

 

I was on a web site here:

http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/woodworking_blog/index.php/cyanoacrylate-everything-you-need-to-know/?patch_your_sistem?

Where some information I believe might be a little out of date is offered about Cyano' glue

One of the posters down the page told a horror story about a segmented turner who did a project in cyano glue and the night he turned ht his lungs closed up on him and it was off to the Emergency Room gasping for life.

 

Something about how the respiratory system reacts to it. Maybe some folks are more sensitive than others.

 

And there's this

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19188201

where it says in pertinent part:

"Workers exposed to ethyl cyanoacrylate glue had significantly increased risk of cough, breathlessness and nasal symptoms. There was dose-dependent reduction in spirometric lung function with wood dust level."

 

I've read that people who expose themselves to a lot of the stuff can become allergic to it too.

 

I wonder what micron level one should use  on respirator filters when equipping one's respirator for turning the stuff.

 

[lew]

I have read that the accelerator may be carcinogenic. But I read that on the Internet.

 

As for the allergic breathing reaction, I haven't experienced that. I have had vision problems after using it- burning/blurry vision but nothing permanent.

 

And the joints separating, I made some tumbling block table trivets and used CA to eliminate some of the clamping hassles. All are still holding after 3 years. 

[Gene Howe]

I've been using it for several years and have not developed any adverse symptoms or reactions. 

There was a time when I was using several 2 oz bottles a week while making a run of toys. The CA held the pieces together while the yellow glue dried.

To my knowledge, no joints failed.

[Cliff]

lew said:

 

 

I have had vision problems after using it- burning/blurry vision but nothing permanent.

 

That would be a really large concern for me. Might I suggest an MSA  chemical filter of  activated carbon for your respirator in the future

 

I made some tumbling block table trivets and used CA to eliminate some of the clamping hassles. All are still holding after 3 years.

 

Well now that's interesting.  What kind of CA glue?  Brand? Viscosity? etc.  What about humidity? Is this central Arizona where the humidity almost  never changes or a more changeable humidity location like the north west or north east? .

[Gene Howe]

Don't think Lew is in central AZ  but I'm in N. AZ where the humidity varies only slightly. Unless it rains....a rare occurrence. But the toys I made were shipped all over the US and some to Japan. They may have came apart, but no one complained to me.

[lew]

lew said:

 

 

 

That would be a really large concern for me. Might I suggest an MSA  chemical filter of  activated carbon for your respirator in the future

 

 

 

 

Well now that's interesting.  What kind of CA glue?  Brand? Viscosity? etc.  What about humidity? Is this central Arizona where the humidity almost  never changes or a more changeable humidity location like the north west or north east? .

 Cliff,

I doubt that the respirator type mask would have helped with the eye burning. I think a full face, pressurized mask would be the answer. 

 

As for the humidity- think Gettysburg, PA. And the CA was just something from Hobby Lobby and it was the thick type.

[Cliff]

I doubt that the respirator type mask would have helped with the eye burning.

 

Yah this is true, but fact is you proved to yourself that you react negatively so it follows without much room for doubt  that  breathing the stuff into the soft spongy moist alveoli of your lungs is a thing one should take meaningful precautions to avoid.

 

Your eyes can wash themselves clean and you can even use an eye cup - - remember those?  A Boric acid solution (1/8 Tsp in one cup cooled boiled water) is what Grammy used to use  and it's still the gold standard.  Or you can just keep an eye irrigation solution from the store on hand   it's already pre-sterile and mixed.

 

Now that I think about it I am considering just  keeping a couple of those kits on hand in the shop cos I do get crud in my eyes often enough and it'd be nice to have a way to address it without the bother and general soaking incurred when I use a garden hose.