blueleader
New Member
In the mid-70s when living in South Africa through Model Railroader magazine and local hobby shops I discovered an alphacyanoacrylate glue trade named Zap. This marvelous product joined items solidly in just two seconds. It was important to get the items lined up properly before putting them together. Because Zap set so quickly and solidly users had to be careful to avoid sticking fingers together or to the items being joined. I recently again wanted to buy some Zap or similar adhesive but am unable to find an adhesive anywhere near as effective as the 1970s Zap.
I searched various hardware and model shops. Most have cyanoacrylate adhesives but these all require the parts to be held together for about 30 seconds and their joint strength is inferior. It seems so-called superglue has been seriously devalued. Some years ago I wrote to Model Railroader magazine pointing this out. Andy Sperandeo agreed that now I had mentioned it superglue did indeed seem to be less effective than three decades ago.
I suspect this dilution of superglues is due to liability concerns. Probably careless Americans stuck their fingers together or to the parts and then, with the typical American attitude that careless people never accept responsibility for their own deficiencies and who can we blame and extort money from, sued the makers and were awarded theft level “damages” by anti-big business juries. The result is that all users, including the careful and responsible, are penalized by not having the genuine effective product available any more.
Do not think I am imagining this scenario. In 1978, when we moved to Canada from South Africa, Flymo lawnmowers were readily available in hardware stores and chains such as Eaton’s, Sears and The Bay. In April 1999 when I wanted to buy a Flymo, they were no longer available in Canada. I phoned Flymo in the UK and was advised that their lawnmowers were no longer supplied to the North American market because careless Americans ran over their feet and then extorted psuedo-damages from the maker. Similarly in 2007 when I wanted a Ricoh digital camera I was advised by the company that it no longer supplied cameras to North America because of returns and warranty abuse, etc. by Americans - which includes Canadians. What a sad situation!
Anyway, I still need some proper superglue to 1970s standards. Is anyone able to name such a product that is available in 2012? Have any magazines done comparisons of superglues to expose this situation and inform consumers of the extended adhesive times and devalued performance of superglues? If my comments apply only to consumer versions of superglue is there an industrial version that would meet 1970s standards? I will appreciate any advice to solve this problem.
I searched various hardware and model shops. Most have cyanoacrylate adhesives but these all require the parts to be held together for about 30 seconds and their joint strength is inferior. It seems so-called superglue has been seriously devalued. Some years ago I wrote to Model Railroader magazine pointing this out. Andy Sperandeo agreed that now I had mentioned it superglue did indeed seem to be less effective than three decades ago.
I suspect this dilution of superglues is due to liability concerns. Probably careless Americans stuck their fingers together or to the parts and then, with the typical American attitude that careless people never accept responsibility for their own deficiencies and who can we blame and extort money from, sued the makers and were awarded theft level “damages” by anti-big business juries. The result is that all users, including the careful and responsible, are penalized by not having the genuine effective product available any more.
Do not think I am imagining this scenario. In 1978, when we moved to Canada from South Africa, Flymo lawnmowers were readily available in hardware stores and chains such as Eaton’s, Sears and The Bay. In April 1999 when I wanted to buy a Flymo, they were no longer available in Canada. I phoned Flymo in the UK and was advised that their lawnmowers were no longer supplied to the North American market because careless Americans ran over their feet and then extorted psuedo-damages from the maker. Similarly in 2007 when I wanted a Ricoh digital camera I was advised by the company that it no longer supplied cameras to North America because of returns and warranty abuse, etc. by Americans - which includes Canadians. What a sad situation!
Anyway, I still need some proper superglue to 1970s standards. Is anyone able to name such a product that is available in 2012? Have any magazines done comparisons of superglues to expose this situation and inform consumers of the extended adhesive times and devalued performance of superglues? If my comments apply only to consumer versions of superglue is there an industrial version that would meet 1970s standards? I will appreciate any advice to solve this problem.
