Glue Recommendations

[Hedgewarden]

I bought a set of Silver Foxes, 2.5. In general, I like them. But I believe they were built on Monday.

A number of rubber tips on the standoffs are loose - as in "falling off". At least one nock is loose (less of a problem if I leave the leading edges assembled.) And now I noticed some C-clips are wandering.

In the past, I've repaired a wandering C-clip on a cheap stunt kite with instant super glue. It worked, but it is difficult/impossible to accurately position the clip before the glue grabs. On an el-cheapo, hitting within a quarter inch might be OK. But on my new "significant others", well, perfection and durability is required.

I've seen reference to a super glue gel that is slow setting. I also am trying some "Bond 527" multi-purpose cement to reset the rubber tips.

Which glues/cements have you found work well, and which have failed your expectations?

-Howard

"No, no - this is my FIRST childhood."

[windofchange]

Look for Zap-A-Gap CA+ Glue. It will glue your fingers together in a matter of seconds but seems to delay about 5-6 seconds before it starts bonding to the Carbon/Fiberglass.

[mattiefrank]

JEEZ. I WISH THAT I WOULD HAVE SEEN THIS POST LAST NIGHT.

I was putting in some new c clips and,just going to tack the ferrule onto the upper part of the leading edge.

Being rather new,i didnt really pay attention to the wind speeds.I JUST KNEW THE WIND WAS BLOWING HARD AND,MY KITES WILL FLY. Turns out it was like a steady 20 - 30 MPH.With gust in the high 40s.

Luckily for me,the aluminum ferrule broke and,not my leading edge.

So i was given the parts by my local shop and,went to install them last night.

I used super glue and, JEEZ ONCE I PUT THAT C CLIP ON,IT WAS OVER.IT WASNT BEING MOVED.

Super glue has never grabbed ANYTHING like that before.And,yeah its off about a 1/4 inch.

I assumed i was gonna be able to slide it into place.WRONG. It seems to set instantly on this carbon.AMAZING.

I went ahead and,checked and,a few of the things on the kite were loose.So i went ahead and,CAREFULLY tacked them into place.But i was almost panicked everytime, because i knew i only had 1 SHOT at it.

Wish i had saw this first,so i could have been more prepared.

[windofchange]

Yea, straight super glue can bond instantly, we find the gel glue does delay some and allows you to position the parts in place easier. You still gotta be pretty quick with it though or it may get ya.

Zap-a-gap can be found pretty easily in nearly every kite shop and almost ever hobby/RC shop as well.

As a last effort, you can sometimes find gel super glue at home depot or other home furnishing stores. I have used some from Locktite that worked very well. The cost was pretty offensive at the mega-mart stores but it served for the pinch we were in at the time.

Hope this helps.

[John Barresi]

Zap-A-Gap has been a mainstay in the kiting community since before I came around in the early 90's.

Good stuff.

[Jeepster]

One of the things that will cause CA adhesives to set or "go off" is moisture. That's why you want to be very careful not to get it on your hands ... the moisture on your hands will cause it to set much faster than expected. Seems like it sets instantaneously on your hands. That also means that if you can keep the parts to be glued together as dry as possible - maybe a heat gun to drive off the moisture - you'll have more time to move the parts about. Not a lot more time, but a few more seconds is all that is needed sometimes.

The moisture difference between Nevada and Washington will affect the set up times. So, experimenting on something disposable, before gluing together your non-replaceable parts, is not a bad idea.

If you make a mistake, acetone is a reasonable debonder ... make sure it doesn't affect the parts. It's time consuming, but acetone can work to debond many parts.

Zap is one of the top companies in CA adhesives ... you might look at Flex Zap as an alternative. Or, if it doesn't have to be permanent, the canopy glue is another alternative. It is like a flexible Elmers glue that dries clear. Take a look here:

http://zap.supergluecorp.com/zapglues.html

Cheers,

Tom