hyperdermic (sp) needles?

hmmm not a bad idea Thom... I might have to try that out for myself... I either use wire, an old airbrush needle or a toothpic depending on the size of the piece I need to glue... but yours sounds right on track!

I use a modified sewing needle, this little goodie works great and only cost a couple of bucks to make.

Take a Sharps (small size) or Betweens (little bit bigger then small size) sewing needle and hold it in a vise or pliers.

Take a side cutter (not your spruce cutter ) and place the cutter just a little below the top of the needle where the eye starts to open and snip it off.

This should leave you with a nice little "U" or "V" shaped end.

Clean up any burrs with a needle file (no pun intended) or sanding stick.

Now you can either take a small diameter dowel about six inches long (15 cm) and drill a hole in one end a little bigger then the body of the needle, insert needle into hole and apply CA or a two part epoxy to it.

Other way is to hold it in a pin-vise. I like the dowel idea better myself, now just dip the "U" / "V" end into the CA and apply to parts.

To clean scrap with an old #11 blade or use some CA De-Bonder.

BTW this is similar to what Micro-Mark sells for around $8.00 for that much I have made about a dozen or so different ones of different sizes.

HTH
Cheers Thom

I'm like you, I've tried different ways to apply CA.The best I've come up with is taking a piece of fine wire (like a strand from light cord wire) and making a loop at the end.You can make this loop as big or as small as you want/need.Put a drop or two on a disposable surface.Dip the looped end in the CA and apply it where needed.It controls the amount and adds a little precision to where you want.Hopes this helps.

thanks rick. I never thought about a peice of wire...good idea! I have tried a #11 blade but I seem to get too much glue on the tip and therefore glue everywhere but the seem when applying it.

The nature of CA is that it will stick to almost anything, certainly metals & most plastics. The bottle applicators are made of nylon & even those can stick if you aren't careful. I'm afraid that hypodermic needles just won't work with CA. They can be used on some of the liquid adhesives such as Tenax7R, but in this area you need a prescription to buy them. I apply CA with a small diameter length of wire, which I think works a little better than a toothpick, & I've seen posts where some modelers use the tip of an old #11 X-Acto knife blade.

Regards, Rick