another CA curing question

Digger1 · Post by **Digger1** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:16 pm

I asked this before but got flak about it.

Will normal CA glue that you buy at the hobby store in the milky white bottle with the silver label cure rapidly if exposed to UV?

If so, what frequency so I can look for a UV light in the nanometer range?

Lt. Z0mBe · Post by **Lt. Z0mBe** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:53 am

Mike,

CA is catalyzed by exposure to moisture. It's basically an acrylic resin. I don't think UV light speeds the curing process. If anything, UV would degrade the cured acrylic bond over time I would think. as it attacks the long polymer chains.

I checked the wikipedia article here and found no mention of UV:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate

I hope this helps.

Kenny

Digger1 · Post by **Digger1** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 7:19 am

Modern Marvels had an episode about ashesives. "Sticky Stff" I think it was called. Anyway, they showed a cyanoacrylite being cured instantly by a UV light so I got thinking

Post by **TER-OR** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:17 pm

There are lots of epoxies which are UV-cured. Modern tooth fillings are probably the most common UV-cured product.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:57 pm

There are UV cured CA's but they are limited to the medical industry so far. Not all CA's are light sensitive and in fact it takes some chemical jiggery to make CA light curing.