Faster Than Super Glue

Yesterday, I had a bit of a scary moment.  I needed to glue something together, so I found my bottle of Hot Stuff (fast setting cyanoacrylate adhesive, commonly known as Super Glue).  I took off the black cap, put the tip to the piece I was gluing, and squeezed.  Nothing.  I wasn’t in the shop and didn’t feel like going back down to unplug the tip, so I unscrewed the lid.  I know that this stuff is very viscous, so I figured that I could pour some into the underside of the tip, then dip the part into the glue.

So I did that, and as I dipped the part in, I inadvertently tipped the bottle and poured about 1/2 oz over my hands and onto the concrete ground. Thinking quickly, I put everything down and spread my fingers apart.  By flexing my fingers, I could tell as soon as the glue had set.  It gave off some heat, but not much.

Now that the glue on my hands had dried (my left hand was well-covered and I couldn’t move my last two fingers), I pulled my right hand into my sleeve so I didn’t glue my hand to the part and put the part in place.

Then I stood up.  And found that my shoe had been glued to the concrete sidewalk. But the concrete, being porous, didn’t create a strong bond so I was lucky.  I put the cap on the Hot Stuff and tried to pick up the bottle.  Only it too was stuck to the side walk.  A little brute force and it gave way.

I used a rag to wipe up the Hot Stuff I’d spilled on the sidewalk as best as I could (it had pooled, so it didn’t dry instantly).  I went inside and soaked my hands in hot water and scrubbed and flexed my fingers.  After ten minutes, there was a huge improvement in my ability to use my hands.  Currently, I still have a thin layer on parts of my hands, but full flexibility.  Whew!

One thought on “Faster Than Super Glue

  1. What a sticky situation! Good thinking in not getting your hand stuck to the workpiece and in spreading your fingers. The first time I glued my fingers together was a bit scary; I think I used acetone to separate them.

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