Double the wood, half the weight!!!????

[dholdgreve]

Oh ya, and stay away from the accelerator if at all possible. Most will evaporate, but not all of it. what remains will add weight to your structure. And by all means, try not to remove or reglue any pieces or joints. This will double the weight of glue on that joint.

OK, I know this is really a purist, elitist thing to say... but try not to build when it is single digits outside unless your facility happens to have a humidifier. C/A glue is catalyzed by moisture in the air... when it is really cold outside, the air can't hold very much moisture. This translates to very low humidity inside as well (something less than 15%)... When the humidity gets this low it takes much longer for the C/A to set up unless you hit it with accelerator, which can add weight. Instead of using the accelerator, try heavy breathing (seriously!) on the joint. the moisture in your breath will be closer to 85% humidity because it is being exhaled at a balmy 98.6 degrees... nearly tropical! I think you'll find hat your glue will set just as fast as when accelerator is used, with no residual weight gain (of the tower, that is)

[JonB]

Oh ya, and stay away from the accelerator if at all possible. Most will evaporate, but not all of it. what remains will add weight to your structure. And by all means, try not to remove or reglue any pieces or joints. This will double the weight of glue on that joint.

OK, I know this is really a purist, elitist thing to say... but try not to build when it is single digits outside unless your facility happens to have a humidifier. C/A glue is catalyzed by moisture in the air... when it is really cold outside, the air can't hold very much moisture. This translates to very low humidity inside as well (something less than 15%)... When the humidity gets this low it takes much longer for the C/A to set up unless you hit it with accelerator, which can add weight. Instead of using the accelerator, try heavy breathing (seriously!) on the joint. the moisture in your breath will be closer to 85% humidity because it is being exhaled at a balmy 98.6 degrees... nearly tropical! I think you'll find hat your glue will set just as fast as when accelerator is used, with no residual weight gain (of the tower, that is)

This is an great observation that I never thought of being that we are in Florida. We live in ~80% humidity at all times so the glue always dries quickly.

Also, if your hobby shop does not have micro-tip adapters, go ask your bio (or biotech) teacher for micropipette tips. They probably have a large bag of disposable, non-sterile tips that work REALLY well for CA (depending on size of the tip).