glue applicators - the lowly bamboo toothpick

[cteno4]

ok heres a handy little tip/tool thats really inexpensive. bamboo tooth picks make a great super glue applicator. usually using tooth picks with the runny cyanoacrylate glues usually ends up with nothing being transfered or a big drop. but if you take a bamboo tooth pick and carefully split the tip a few mm down with an xacto knife. now the little Y at the end holds a nice small amount of glue with the capillary action and it also transfers much more gracefully than a drop on a pointy tip.

 

bamboo toothpicks work better as this as they are easier to split than other wood toothpicks. $1 box at the local dollar store.

 

another cyanoacrylate glue trick is to use a small square of wax paper to put a drop of glue on. the glue is really polar and the was paper very non polar so it does not stick to it, wick up, etc and balls up like mercury to dip your toothpick into. also lasts a long time on the was paper, just eventually evaporates away.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[cteno4]

an update. ive used split end tooth picks (and sewing needle eyes forever for applying tiny bits of glue onto parts. well now ive found the dental micro applicators and they are wonderful with CA glue. beats the pants off all other applicators. you can get them for as little as $2-3 for 100 on ebay if you lurk auctions. more here

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/7866-micro-applicators/

 

cheers

 

jeff