CA is the best general adhesive we've found for working in plastics - it glues wood, fiber, all common binding plastics, and composites. For ivoroid, tortoid, and other cellulose nitrate materials (black, white, and cream cellulose nitrate) glue well with Duco because they are soluble in acetone (Duco is just gelled acetone - nothing else in the way of hotter solvents). For vinyl, ABS, and ABS/PVC alloys like Bolteron which do NOT glue well with Duco, IPS Weldon 4784 (Low VOC version of Weldon 16), or StewMac's version, Bind-All, has the hotter solvents needed to reliably glue these materials.

We do not use or recommend contact-adhesive-type binding cements like LMII's FCA or the adhesive Martin has been using on their guitars for the last 6-7 years. Besides seening our own separations on FCA-glued binding, we have a constant stream of newer Martins in with ivoroid, tortoid, and even wood bindings separating...and the culprit appears to be the FCA-like adhesive used.

CA is the best general adhesive we've found for working in plastics - glues wood, fiber, all common binding plastics, and composites. Our experience with big box store CA like Loktite and Gorilla has been terrible - poor cure consistency, etc. GluBoost products are the best we've found, followed by BSI and Mercury. For binding, we tack with BSI thin and glue with GluBoost thin (nice, long open time and a little higher viscosity avoids runs inside the body).

For ivoroid, tortoid, and other cellulose nitrate materials (black, white, and cream cellulose nitrate) glue well with Duco because they are soluble in acetone (Duco is just gelled acetone - nothing else in the way of hotter solvents). For vinyl, ABS, and ABS/PVC alloys like Bolteron which do NOT glue well with Duco, IPS Weldon 4784 (Low VOC version of Weldon 16), or StewMac's version, Bind-All, has the hotter solvents needed to reliably glue these materials.

We do not use or recommend contact-adhesive-type binding cements like LMII's FCA or the adhesive Martin has been using on their guitars for the last 6-7 years. Besides seeing our own separations on FCA-glued binding in years past when we experimented with it, we have a constant stream of newer Martins in with ivoroid, tortoid, and even wood bindings separating...and the culprit appears to be the FCA-like adhesive used.

Will CA work for celluloid?

Some luthiers will use Titebond for these repairs, but having had to repair a few of those repairs due to Titebond's issues with adhering to plastics, cured Titebond, and pretty much anything other than clean, bare wood, we use BSI Super-Gold CA based on what I understand was a recommendation from Mr. John Arnold. Super-Gold is an odorless CA formulated for use on clear plastics, and has much less in the way of burn-in on instrument lacquer than standard CAs. Application with a micro-pipette allows accurate control during application, with little/no need need for touch-up, and has proven to be a permanent solution for repairs to separated/loosening binding and purfling.

Because BSI Super-Gold's burn-in on lacquer is less than with standard CAs, we can usually apply, lightly accelerate, scrape, and lightly sand/buff...all without tape or other barrier materials, and with less concern that the glue will damage finish should it run a bit. On a recent, more complex 40-style Martin binding and purfling repair, we did find ourselves used the GluBoost vinyl tape/wax crayon kit for controlling any surface creep with some super thin CA (we needed a few inches of wicking...more than usually needed), but for most repairs with standard thin CAs and especially for BSI Super-Gold, not something which we normally consider necessary.

Thanks, this has been very helpful.
If I order The BSI Super Gold and some of the Gluboost thin, do I need accelerator from each manufacturer, or is the accelerator interchangeable? I only 1 accelerator is needed, which is better, BSI or Gluboost?

Mr. Burkett:

My apologies for not responding earlier, but it seems as though you have chosen well in terms of options. GluBoost is a wholly unique formulation that avoids the issues with water vapor entrainment in curing CA that presents as a milky or whitish appearance and surface texturing due to an uncontrolled cure of CA adhesives. We use GluBoost where those issues might crop up, and the BSI product where there is less of an issue with appearance or texture.

Note that these CA accelerants have very different carrier chemistry...the BSI product may be applied liberally to a surface without fear of the petrochemical-based, naphtha-like carrier etching or softening shellac or lacquer finishes, while the GluBoost accelerator may damage finishes if applied such that the carrier pools on the surface. This has proven to be far less of an issue than might be imagined, as the cost of the GluBoost product ensures that a careful modulation of the spray head and a light touch becomes second nature once the first $40/month overhead charge for CA accelerant is noted. As always, if the CA used can be allowed to cure without acceleration (shell work is an excellent example of when NOT to force-cure CA), that may be the best option where the extended cure time does not represent a significant hit on either productivity or process.

In summary - GluBoost for anything finish- or show surface-related, and BSI for jigs, fixtures, or other work where some translucence will not be an issue.