When I want CA glue to penetrate, I do one of two things. I will prime
the crack with thin glue, and then chase that with a bead of the
thicker glue. The thin glue wicks the thicker stuff down into the
crack, and the thick glue sets up slower. The other thing I do is to
mix some of the thick and thin together. The mix penetrates well, but
must sit level for a while so it can soak in. It also may take a couple
of applications before the crack is full. Top off with fine saw dust.
robo hippy














George wrote:
"Anonymous" wrote in message
newsan.2005.01.10.22.40.31.66667@notarealserver. com...
I read what Russ has to say and I agree that CA has no place in
segmented
/ larger turnings. However, even Russ agrees that it is suitable
for
hardening spalted / soft woods and that is my current concern.

I am already using thin CA straight from the bottle. I was / am
hoping
someone knows how to thin it without losing too much strength so
that I
might have a reasonable assurance that its hardening properties
extend all
the way down to the brass tube of a pen. I have plenty of
accelerator,
perhaps someone knows of a retardant?


You're sort of fighting nature here. Wood is made to move water
along the
grain, not across it. The stomata which allow movement across the
grain are
small, and have a tendency to close with loss of cytoplasm. You'd
stand a
better chance of getting what you want by feeding fluid into the end
grain
of the pen. Might even use heat or a vacuum to help.

As to slowing the cure, acid woods like oak and cherry do it, and the
accelerant supplies OH(-) ions, as does the moisture that cures it.
So get
something to provide an excess of H(+) and see what happens.