I hate gluing frags!!

[sillygoose]

:mad2: I spent a lot of this weekend gluing frags and my fingers are raw from pealing off layers of skin with unintended bits of super glue. The frags are very cool. I've got some decent glue. (It is from Oceans Wonders and it is super thick super glue. It's way better than the regular gel available around town.) But still I am like a bull in a china shop when I try to glue stuff in my tank. I get more glue on me than the frag and glue myself to my reef while my frag falls.

Does anyone has some tricks or tips that work for them?

 

[woowoodengy]

try this stuff R33Fbuilders has a great review on it
http://premiumaquatics.com/store/me...e_Code=PA&Product_Code=TER-12GL&Category_Code
here is a coupon code RB12GLUE which will take $3 off the price.

 

[scubabum1983]

box of nitrile gloves keeps me from sticking my hands together and spending a month getting it off my nails.

 

[Tanque Verde]

I like the superglue gel that comes in the blue pyramid shaped bottle from ACE or HD. Not perfect but a vastly superior application to ordinary superglue.

 

[sillygoose]

thanks all - some good suggestions...

however do any of you have any tricks to avoid sticking yourself to your rock work while placing the frag. I guess I need a release strategy. I'll be holding the little rock or plug in place and the superglue squeezes to the edges and then I'm stuck. When I try to let go, I end up pulling the frag off with me. Do the nitrile gloves help that?

 

[Tanque Verde]

Try to minimize your excess glue by
1) not using so much (the blue pyramid shaped bottle I mentioned above allows for a precise, thin line of glue)
2) using a toothpick or similar tool to smooth out the superglue before placing the frag down. A smaller bubble of glue makes for less dispersal.

Also, you can use some sort of forceps, tweezers, etc, to hold the rock rather than your fingers.

Finally, to get back to your original problem, rather than peeling it off your fingers, I recall that nail polish remover will dissolve some of the glue off your fingers.

 

[aquaph8]

I like the superglue gel that comes in the blue pyramid shaped bottle from ACE or HD. Not perfect but a vastly superior application to ordinary superglue.

+1 I got this stuff 2 days ago and its so much better. My tubes always dried up and I ended up blowing the glue out he side of the tube.

 

[prickles]

I always use nitrile gloves.

 

[sillygoose]

Is there anything special about nitrile as compared to latex or vinyl?

 

[prickles]

I believe they are thicker, and I can actually get ones that are large enough to fit from costco. You have to be careful with gloves since many are powdered to soak up sweat.

You will be amazed at how often you come up with a reason to use them if you buy one of those 2 packs from costco. Cleaning products, weed killer, dog do, washing cars, polishing shoes....basically anything that leaves marks or scent on my hands is now not an issue!

 

[2006]

Try this:

1. wet your fingers
2. roll ball of reef epoxy
3. dab of superglue on top of epoxy
4. press frag into superglue/epoxy
5. dab of superglue on bottom of epoxy
6. press into live rock

 

[scubabum1983]

I put them on some days like 50 times a day at work. grab the powder free if you can. less white mess. nitrile are used in the medical field because people have allergies to latex. i find nitrile keep a tighter fit to your hand and are thinner so its easier to use your fingertips and i find it easier to get pulses and work on cuts and feel bone breaks.. latex are easier to get into with moist hands. nitrile with sweaty hands you will move up a size. when you buy nitrile go up a size from what you would normally use in a latex.its all a matter of what you like. but imo get powder free if you go latex.

 

[phenom5]

+1 to the blue pyramid bottle super glue. If solely for the fact that I can reuse it without the tip getting clogged up after it sits for a few weeks.

Also +1 on the super glue-epoxy-super glue sandwich. Best way to secure frags, especially underwater.