super glue tips?

[shcrimps]

i love making nano rockscapes and using superglue + rock dust to make transitions smoother, however kinda hard to do with gel superglue. any recommendations for liquid ones that would be easier to work with for this application?

 

[Saltyreef]

i love making nano rockscapes and using superglue + rock dust to make transitions smoother, however kinda hard to do with gel superglue. any recommendations for liquid ones that would be easier to work with for this application?

Gluemasters superglue. Their bottles are much easier to work with, they sell it in different viscocities too.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

If you are gluing rockscapes, regular old super glue and baking powder. Put down a glob of jb water weld. Put a fat bead of super glue around the water weld. Smooth the rocks together, sprinkle some baking powder on it. Give it a bit more glue and a bit more baking powder sprinkle and it's set. 5-10 seconds total. By the time your super glue breaks, if it ever does, your epoxy (water weld) is cured up permanently.

Don't do this in a running tank though. Baking powder is high in phosphates. It should all be encapsulated by the super glue however. You could try small rocks like this using baking soda, I never have. I don't know if it will act as a hardener like baking powder does.

This is the one I use because the tip allows everything to flow back into the bottle keeping the tip from clogging .

That's in a cycling tank now. It was built that way.

 

[shcrimps]

If you are gluing rockscapes, regular old super glue and baking powder. Put down a glob of jb water weld. Put a fat bead of super glue around the water weld. Smooth the rocks together, sprinkle some baking powder on it. Give it a bit more glue and a bit more baking powder sprinkle and it's set. 5-10 seconds total. By the time your super glue breaks, if it ever does, your epoxy (water weld) is cured up permanently.

Don't do this in a running tank though. Baking powder is high in phosphates. It should all be encapsulated by the super glue however. You could try small rocks like this using baking soda, I never have. I don't know if it will act as a hardener like baking powder does.

This is the one I use because the tip allows everything to flow back into the bottle keeping the tip from clogging .

That's in a cycling tank now. It was built that way.

baking soda just adds to strength/texture?
i have a coffee grinder from the thrift i use to turn softer dry rock rubble into dust and i mix sand in sometimes too

 

[shcrimps]

Gluemasters superglue. Their bottles are much easier to work with, they sell it in different viscocities too.

thank you !

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

baking soda just adds to strength/texture?
i have a coffee grinder from the thrift i use to turn softer dry rock rubble into dust and i mix sand in sometimes too

It is a catalyst that cures it near instantly. Try it on a couple of scraps of something. Dust one scrap with baking soda, apply the glue, dust the top of the glue with a pinch of baking soda, smoosh the objects together.

What oozes out, dust that with a pinch of baking soda. after you do this you will see why I recommend it.

I go a step further and do one more application of super glue then dust that with baking soda to fortify the connection. Not sure that I need to but it makes me feel better about the fastening while the epoxy cures.

 

[WestMI-Reefer]

It is a catalyst that cures it near instantly. Try it on a couple of scraps of something. Dust one scrap with baking powder, apply the glue, dust the top of the glue with a pinch of baking powder, smoosh the objects together.

What oozes out, dust that with a pinch of baking powder. after you do this you will see why I recommend it.

I go a step further and do one more application of super glue then dust that with baking soda to fortify the connection. Not sure that I need to but it makes me feel better about the fastening while the epoxy cures.

I never knew that. Thanks, Thats a much nicer catalyst to work with than the other super glue quick set I know of, acetone/alcohol

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I never knew that. Thanks, Thats a much nicer catalyst to work with than the other super glue quick set I know of, acetone/alcohol

Its cheap fast and effective. I like that I can keep layering it on and each additional application of superglue smooths itself and the baking soda out on its own. I'd expect that gluing bits of ground up rock to that afterward would be a breeze. I still use acetone and alcohol as well. But, I prefer the baking soda method.

 

[WestMI-Reefer]

Its cheap fast and effective. I like that I can keep layering it on and each additional application of superglue smooths itself and the baking powder out on its own. I'd expect that gluing bits of ground up rock to that afterward would be a breeze. I still use acetone and alcohol as well. But, I prefer the baking powder method.

Now you got me wondering about baking soda, which you mentioned earlier. That would be pretty safe in the tank too, for glueing down frags for example..? Someones gotta try that

 

[Gtinnel]

I’ve used regular thin superglue with both baking soda and rock dust, and both work well. For the superglue I just use the cheapest thin superglue that I can buy. I generally get mine from Harbor Freight and 10 small tubes cost $3.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Now you got me wondering about baking soda, which you mentioned earlier. That would be pretty safe in the tank too, for glueing down frags for example..? Someones gotta try that

There was a thread on it some time back. Just a few posts. Dude tried to glue down a mushroom with it. it didn't work. I suspect because it was a mushroom. I've glued a hammer, torch, and trumpet in place this way. I did also use a small piece of JB water-weld in the center of the skeleton where it was hidden. Both are still there and thriving 2 years later.

Tell you what I am going to do tonight. Start a thread using baking soda to glue a bubblegum monti digitata to a plug. I will update the thread weekly until it is agreed it worked or didn't work.

Edit: Too much sativa. Gonna do it now.
Edit #2: I kept saying baking powder. I meant baking soda. I edited all occurrences of this error that I could still edit.

 

[shcrimps]

It is a catalyst that cures it near instantly. Try it on a couple of scraps of something. Dust one scrap with baking soda, apply the glue, dust the top of the glue with a pinch of baking soda, smoosh the objects together.

What oozes out, dust that with a pinch of baking soda. after you do this you will see why I recommend it.

I go a step further and do one more application of super glue then dust that with baking soda to fortify the connection. Not sure that I need to but it makes me feel better about the fastening while the epoxy cures.

oh nice i didn’t know that
thank you

 

[Gtinnel]

There was a thread on it some time back. Just a few posts. Dude tried to glue down a mushroom with it. it didn't work. I suspect because it was a mushroom. I've glued a hammer, torch, and trumpet in place this way. I did also use a small piece of JB water-weld in the center of the skeleton where it was hidden. Both are still there and thriving 2 years later.

Tell you what I am going to do tonight. Start a thread using baking soda to glue a bubblegum monti digitata to a plug. I will update the thread weekly until it is agreed it worked or didn't work.

Edit: Too much sativa. Gonna do it now.
Edit #2: I kept saying baking powder. I meant baking soda. I edited all occurrences of this error that I could still edit.

The only thing I would worry about with using baking soda and superglue to glue a frag down is that it produces a lot of heat. If the flesh of the coral is near the baking soda I wouldn’t be surprised if the heat killed it.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

The only thing I would worry about with using baking soda and superglue to glue a frag down is that it produces a lot of heat. If the flesh of the coral is near the baking soda I wouldn’t be surprised if the heat killed it.

That's why I'm trying it on a digitata. See what happens to the skin.

 

[WestMI-Reefer]

That's why I'm trying it on a digitata. See what happens to the skin.

Keep us informed on your findings!

 

[doubleshot00]

Superglue then epoxy the superglue works great and not messy. Great for scaping wet rocknor gluing down big frags.

 

[MoshJosh]

i love making nano rockscapes and using superglue + rock dust to make transitions smoother, however kinda hard to do with gel superglue. any recommendations for liquid ones that would be easier to work with for this application?

Gorilla Super Glue and Gorilla Super Glue Gel. . .

Buy a bottle of each, gel for attaching the rocks and the "regular"/thin for hiding the transitions.

Also, 2 part epoxy is great for larger scapes (nano you could probably get away with super glue alone, but bigger stuff I would always use epoxy). I like to get the scape where I want it with a few layers of gel super glue, let it dry, then epoxy over all the joints.

 

[lmfbs]

Now you got me wondering about baking soda, which you mentioned earlier. That would be pretty safe in the tank too, for glueing down frags for example..? Someones gotta try that

I use baking soda to quickset glue. It works really well.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I use baking soda to quickset glue. It works really well.

IM trying to see if we can also use it to set corals. works great on rock and lps. I'm trying on A monti digitata to see if it burns the skin. Planned on doing it last night. But It appears I need a third hand when its time to sprinkle the baking soda on it. I am printing a small triangular block that will hold my plug while I glue and sprinkle the baking soda onto the glue.

However, I did try a couple different times on a digitata frag. 18 hrs later it looks fine, It just fell of the plug.

 

[Gtinnel]

IM trying to see if we can also use it to set corals. works great on rock and lps. I'm trying on A monti digitata to see if it burns the skin. Planned on doing it last night. But It appears I need a third hand when its time to sprinkle the baking soda on it. I am printing a small triangular block that will hold my plug while I glue and sprinkle the baking soda onto the glue.

However, I did try a couple different times on a digitata frag. 18 hrs later it looks fine, It just fell of the plug.

I don’t know if it makes a difference to how well it holds, but when using super glue and baking soda I’ve always made a small pile of baking soda and dripped thin superglue onto it. Instead of sprinkling the baking soda onto the glue.