You probably know this already, but for those that don't, Superglue is excellent at holding down small parts. It is easily disolved with Acetone.

I had to make some 10mm dia X 25mm long brass inserts- my vacuum on the lathe would just not hold it so I made a 50mm dia ally X 20mm long disk with a hole in the middle which the brass inserts push fitted into. I superglued the insert in place off machine then machined it when set (used an activator).

Leaving the assembly to soak in Acetone I was pleasantly surprised to see it turn into a gooey paste within an hour.

Just thought I'd mention!

You probably know this already, but for those that don't, Superglue is excellent at holding down small parts. It is easily disolved with Acetone.

I had to make some 10mm dia X 25mm long brass inserts- my vacuum on the lathe would just not hold it so I made a 50mm dia ally X 20mm long disk with a hole in the middle which the brass inserts push fitted into. I superglued the insert in place off machine then machined it when set (used an activator).

Leaving the assembly to soak in Acetone I was pleasantly surprised to see it turn into a gooey paste within an hour.

Just thought I'd mention!


From some old RC days, I seem to remember that boiling water is also radical against superglue. (100 degree celsius beeing out of spec for most of them). It was ideal to free rubber tires from alloy wheels.

You can also build up a kind of a weld of the stuff if you need to, I use it for glueing gemstones onto a dop for faceting, I build up a little blob on the stone, then spray accelerant onto the dop then place it onto the stone, the blob of glue sets instantly.

Then you add a bit more accelerant, and drip glue on to form a weld of glue.

I also use heat to remove quickly, a little naked flame on the dop (brass or stainless) and the glue just drops off the stone.

Russell.

if you use a flame on dried superglue then the fumes created contain cyanide. don't breath them.

Dear ImanCarrot,

Thanks for the acetone idea on superglue hold-downs. My problem is that, although I've breathed a whole load of IPA and "trike" in my time, I just loathe acetone. Acetone just gives me a head-ache. And errh, no, I am not fishing for an "Elf and Safety" lecture from anybody... Spare me.

Best wishes,
Martin

Hehe "Trike", I remember using that at a certain Glasgow firm.

Trichloro Ethane, lovely stuff for degreasing... even the fat from under your skin (I kid you not).

We'd get a gallon can at the end of a shift and tip it over a sink and wash our hands under it. There must have been about 30 operators at that time... wonder where all the stuff went down the sink.

Mind you, it was better than the stuff we used to use- Napthalene.

I was an apprentice at the time by the way and didn't know any better :)