Why does Superglue stick just about anything and everything apart from what you actually want it to adhere to?

Trying to fix my glasses last night - loose screw - lens keeps falling out. So I decide to glue the blasted thing. Apply glue to both surfaces, wait a sec, then press firmly together.

Bonds in seconds says the advert. My ar$e. The only thing that bonded in seconds was my finger to the glass of the lens, as some of the glue seeped out.

And, on realising that I was now attached to the glasses, I released the pressure on the parts that I'd intended to stick together. PING!!! Lens falls out, still attached to my finger.

ARGH!!!

 

ha ha!

I believe superglue (cyano acrylate) was actually developed to bond skin in the first place to replace sutures. It glues your skin quicker because it is more absorbent than what you are trying to glue.

 

Me thinks theres a thread within a thread here, pure coincidence that it was your glasses you were trying to fix ah!... down to the opticians for you young DP.

 

I've heard that too - developed for war wounds as it was ("is" in my case) faster to use than fiddly stitches.

They use it in the Dog Soldiers movie on Sean Pertwee after he's been attacked. Funny scene, in a black sense, when they're frantically pushing his intestines back inside him.

 

RW - too true, being almost blind didn't help either, especially with the teeny-tiny screws on glasses frames! Had to put on my prescription shades to try to see anything, which made things somewhat less difficult!

 

It is still used in A&E afaik.

Steve

 

try roughing the surfaces first. Usually helps..

Andy

 

Blimey Sidhead, what Hospital do you work at???

 

Lol, I used some the other day to try and glue Mouses gear **** top onto the base. Ended up with fingers stuck together and spots of it all over the plastic interior. Luckily it cleaned off the car, and a few days later, I still have some on my fingers.

It did however mend the gear ****

Thanks Phill

 

Aah, takes me back to my school days when you used to have to check the bog seats. One guy from our school had to be wheeled out of school to A&E with the seat still attached

The good old days.......

 

It's catalysed by water and inhibited by oxygen. Hence why it doesn't stick to the sides in it's (sealed) bottle. And why it sticks your skin quicker than it sticks plastic/metal.

The slightest bit of grease will also prevent it sticking, so you need to clean the glasses thoroughly where you intend to glue them, and make sure the surfaces stay in tight contact without any movement.

Rich.

 

as rich said, moisture sets the stuff off - hence your hands stick together

 

Does that mean you can glue water together?

 

Cut a lump off my foot last year waterskiing and they used glue to pull it all back together.
Fantastic stuff, I was back on the water the same day.
With stitches it would have taken weeks to mend

 

who's they? the local hospital or some lads from the boatyard?