gluing rigging

That's a great tip, thanks!

jtilley

One excellent use for CA: put a drop of it on the end of a line you're about to rig, wipe it (fast) on a piece of tissue, and slice it off at a sharp angle. The line now has a built-in needle - just the thing for shoving through a hole in a block or deadeye.

Yes, I sure second this! I do this whenever I am using stranded thread.  Doesn't work on monofilament, but I only use monofilament on small scale ships where I don't really do much rigging.

As a general practice, I try to use nothing on rigging but Elmer's white glue. It shrinks as it dries, and can be softened up if necessary with a drop of water. On standing it sometimes dries looking a little shiny. That can be taken care of with a little paint - NOT acrylic (which would soften up the glue).

CA adhesive will work ok, and I personally don't worry much about its longevity. (I've got a model that's about 35 years old and has a lot of CA in it. The stuff is holding just fine.) I don't care for the stiff, shiny look of line that has ca on it.

One excellent use for CA: put a drop of it on the end of a line you're about to rig, wipe it (fast) on a piece of tissue, and slice it off at a sharp angle. The line now has a built-in needle - just the thing for shoving through a hole in a block or deadeye.

You might try plain old water, with maybe 1/10th part Elmers.

I was mucking about on ebay, and found it., apparently it's for jewelery work.,on another web site they reckon it's the good stuff., as it dries rubbery soaks in and has a needle applicator.,might give it a go

I think the hypo glue you are talking about is just regular glue like testors that comes in a special applicator that is a tube with a long very thin applicator. Allows you to put very, very tiny amounts of glue on. I use CA, most often, the thin type. I like it because it really soaks into the cordage and doesn't glob up. You have to be careful though because it will "wick" along a line. Its also perfect for making that "needle point" at the end of a line for threading. Caveat - experiment first.

I assume you are using glue to prevent knots from unraveling. I use thinned white glue on running rigging, black enamel on standing, tarred rigging.