Disaster in the Thrifty Household

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues...

Many times, I have written about my use of yellow glue from Elmer's and my preference for their needle-nose applicator/valve from the white glue bottle.  I routinely remove the chisel tip and replace it with the orange twist applicator instead.


I don't know how many have followed me in doing this, but I hit a problem with it today.

I was working on an Astron Explorer and used my usual tip and bottle of yellow wood glue to secure the motor mount assembly.  While it dried overnight, I moved on and began to mark and prepare to cut slots or ports in the three smaller tubes and two larger body tubes.  I also punched out the balsa fins, sanded the edges slightly, feathered the leading edge, and then sealed the balsa with sealant.  I set that aside to dry as well.

As I completed all this and prepared to begin again with the assembly tonight, I discovered my "valve" on the needle nose applicator wasn't opening.  I could squeeze the bottle, but no air nor glue was escaping from the tip.  I twisted the orange valve a couple of times to see if I could dislodge a plug, but nothing was working.

Now, having a plug in a bottle of Elmer's Carpentry glue is not a big deal. In fact, though I am always careful to close the chisel tip applicator whenever I'm done for the night, it's not uncommon for me to have a little excess still dribble out.

How shall I put this?  It's like a little more lava has gushed out of the top of the volcano when the plug fills the opening.  If you don't wipe it off on a paper towel or Kleenex, you're likely to see it dry out fairly quickly and turn somewhat translucent yellow as it hardens.

Discovering your problem the next day, all that you need do is flake the excess dried glue off the chisel applicator with a thumbnail, and you're basically left with just the orange applicator and the white "blade" plug inside the hole.  If the valve is STILL stuck, a little force pulling up to open the valve will work.  Typically, I empty or consume the $3 bottle before I have any problems with the valve.

But today, the needle nose plug seems to be clogged and won't open.  I twist the orange applicator back and forth, and then it happens....

After a little resistance, the orange piece begins to give, and I think that my problem is solved. OH NO!

I discovered with a bit of a shock that not just the orange applicator has spun, but the internal white valve has too... and the entire assembly has just torqued and torn out of the screw top cap!


What I am left with is a near full bottle of wood glue, with the tightly fastened screw cap that has a star break in the top , and a separate, clogged, ruined orange needle nose that has fallen free.  It's ruined.

As there's no repairing this valve, I have to move quickly to either use my glue or reseal the bottle somehow.

Fortunately, I have saved the chisel tip cap and will reuse it once I finish with the Q-tip and glue bottle.  But I haven't quite figured out if the screw-on cap is going to come loose from the open bottle.   So I hurry and glue whatever piece needs it, and then temporarily try to re-insert the needle-nose orange valve into the star-shaped hole to close off any air access to the glue inside.

At this point, I don't know if the valve was aged, and just let go... or if the wood glue plugged up the spiral valve and hardened... or if there was a chemical reaction between the remnants of the white glue and the yellow carpenters glue, and it attacked the plastic valve. I just don't know.

But I have one more bottle that has a needle-nose valve attached to it, and so I can work with  that without much delay on this project.

I think my working hypothesis is going to be that I must rinse out the needle-nose valve of wood glue whenever I'm done for the night, cause I fear the valve system in the needle nose is more delicate that the blunt chisel plug style that came with the bottle.

So, this is the Thrifty Rocketeer saying, "Always cap your glue" but also, "Rinse out your valve before storing it!"


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