N8RV

N8RV

Well Known Member
You know how you'll do something and your wife will say, "How did you know how to do that?" The usual response is, "I dunno. I just know." It's a guy thing.

Or, you're futzing with something under the cowling and one of your buddies wanders into your hangar, asks what you're doing and then says, "Wait -- you need a 3/8" snafflewhiffer for that. I have one in my hangar. Be right back ..." How did he know that?

Well, we pick up tidbits of info and tricks throughout life and often can't remember who first told us, but it just sticks. This tip is one of those. For some, the response will be, "Well, duh -- who doesn't know that?" But, for someone else (hopefully), the response will be, "Huh. I didn't know that. Cool!"

For the record, in the 13 years of building Smokey, I never drilled into my finger. Ever. I have managed to injure myself in other ways -- smaller cuts and scratches from un-deburred edges of aluminum and stainless steel (there's still a drop of Danny King's blood on my shop floor), but no drill holes.

This time of year, I seem to suffer from enough dry skin that the ends of my fingers are always splitting open, despite trying to keep lotion on them. It's probably a natural result of the dry air and my constant hand-washing (I'm a dentist). Regardless, when one of those splits occurs, the discomfort is obnoxious and lasts for days till the split heals.

I'd heard years ago that a small drop of cyanoacrylate (super glue) will act as a band-aid on these small cuts, and literally seal the split edges back together, but never tried it until recently. IT WORKS! (it should -- it was used during Vietnam for temporary wound closure and to slow bleeding)

Like I said, some of you have known about this for years. I just recently started doing it and it's a tiny miracle that allows me to go on with my buisness and not be nagged by the discomfort of small cuts.

One caution, however: Be sure to let it dry completely before you go about your business. If not, you're liable to jjjj get stuck jjjjjjjj to ... wait a minute jjjjjjjjjjj ... my finger's stuck jjjjjjjjj to the "J" key ... jjjjjjjjjjjjj jjjjjjjjj jjjjjjjjjj

:D
 
OUCH! I hate those nasty splits! I just sent your advice to my wife since she gets them too.

The things you learn on VAF.

Thanks!!
 
I glued our Doberman's belly....

....back together when I saw about a half inch diameter hole under her. I have no idea how she got it but it worked. Later, the vet said that although it was a good job, it would've been better to let it self-heal.

Yep, I glue split fingers too!

Best,
 
Being a heating and air conditioning person.............I use duct tape.
The more expensive brands, stay on the cuts, longer...

L.Adamson --- RV6A
 
CA does work wonders on small cuts.

And for the record, yes I have drilled into my own finger! (just once though) :D
 
Great for keeping together minor slice wounds too. The kind that hurt like heck that a band-aid doesn't hold together very well. Or keeping a broken fingernail together until it grows out enough to cut off.
 
Works well on deep cuts to, the ones that wont stop bleeding, for faster drying follow the CA with a little ?kicker? and you?ll be back to work in short order!
 
Some other stuff that works well for small cuts and abrasions is "new-skin" which is an antiseptic liquid bandage that you paint on that cures into a flexible film over a cut or abrasion. It wears off just about the time the area is healed up. Might be the same stuff but with antiseptic, although it doesn't list CA as an ingredient.

greg
 
Used in emergency rooms

"Super glue" has been used in emergency rooms for years to replace stitches. Had to take my son numerous times when he was in high school (basketball). I think the name was Dermabond.
 
yep, done this for a while, between rock climbing and working outside most of my life. one thing you can do to help speed the healing up (or reduce the risk of the split going deeper) is to super glue it together, wait for it to be fully cured, and then sand a lot of the rough skin right off with an emery board (fingernail file) or whatever sandpaper you have handy. Seems the tough dried up skin outer layers pull the lower layers apart, producing the splitting tendency.
 
larrynew said:
"Super glue" has been used in emergency rooms for years to replace stitches. Had to take my son numerous times when he was in high school (basketball). I think the name was Dermabond.
Click to expand...

Indeed, before I posted anything about using CA to fix cuts, I did a little Google search. According to Wikipedia:

"The inventor of cyanoacrylates, Harry Coover, said in 1966 that a CA spray was used in the Vietnam War to retard bleeding in wounded soldiers until they could be brought to a hospital. Butyl cyanoacrylate has been used medically since the 1970s outside the US, but due to its potential to irritate the skin, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not approve its use as a medical adhesive until 1998 with Dermabond.[5] Research has demonstrated the use of cyanoacrylate in wound closure as being safer and more functional than traditional suturing (stitches).[6] The adhesive has demonstrated superior performance in the time required to close a wound, incidence of infection (suture canals through the skin's epidermal, dermal, and subcutaneous fat layers introduce extra routes of contamination),[6] and final cosmetic appearance.[7][8]"

I suppose that there may be some folks who are sensitive to using plain CA on their skin, so don't use it if that's the case. Or buy some Dermabond. :)
 
Greg Arehart said:
Some other stuff that works well for small cuts and abrasions is "new-skin" which is an antiseptic liquid bandage that you paint on that cures into a flexible film over a cut or abrasion. It wears off just about the time the area is healed up. Might be the same stuff but with antiseptic, although it doesn't list CA as an ingredient.

greg
Click to expand...

That "new-skin" stuff hurts worse than the orriginal cut, but it does work.

For the record, I did dirll into a finger, through the nail, and that DOES HURT!
 
Caution

The medical CA is much different. Please make sure your really need to do that. In most cases some Neosporin and a band aid is the best practice. Here's why.

I've been in RC since I was 7, (55 now). My dad worked for a company that is now Honeywell. He had some Kodak Eastman 910. The first commercially available CA, vintage, 1967 or 68. (for industry use only back then.) Great stuff. I was probably one the first ever to get to use this magical stuff with balsa wood!!!!

Fast forward to a couple of years ago. Modeler at large AMA chartered club started his model. Somewhere in the process it got away from him and the prop cut him on the inside of his thigh. BAD. Not life threatening, but bad. Instead of practicing some basic compression with towels somebody CA's his wound.

Well, due to the severity of the wound, it required surgery. The first process was to surgically remove all the CA so they could fix the muscle damage. The result was a nasty scar that was not fixable. Those who have got it on skin know that often skin comes with it if you try to peal it off.

The surgeon made it clear that CA should not be used for many reasons. Compression works best. The medical CA is self dissolving and used to minimize scarring in a controlled surgical environment.

On a funny note, there was a guy going around robbing convenience stores by Super glueing the clerks hands to the counter. Pretty cleaver!!!
 
my friends son had open heart surgery at 3 days old. they used the medical stuff to close his skin back up. amazing to me.
 
Russ McCutcheon said:
Works well on deep cuts to, the ones that wont stop bleeding, for faster drying follow the CA with a little “kicker” and you’ll be back to work in short order!
Click to expand...

Be careful with that though!! Model airplane "kicker" or CA accelerant will cause a nasty burn because of the high-temperature chemical reaction that happens when it hits the CA. I got some under a fingernail once while building a model airplane, and it actually blistered, it got so hot!
 
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just a little warning about CA. guess what the cyno is from? yes, cyanide. is a drop to fix a cut going to kill you, no way but the stuff is deadly in vapor form.

I build CA fuming chambers for the forensic lab industry. treat the stuff like any other dangerous chemical.

also, make sure the cut is clean before you glue it, the glue seals in any thing in the wound.

bob burns
 
The composition is more akin to Perspex, which is Poly Methyl Methacrylate.

Have a look here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate

On the drilling front, I have always been fastidious about drilling fingers etc, so it was with some dismay when late at night, the drill bit popped through the piece and went up, underneath my fingernail....... Thankfully, I had a drill stop on :eek::eek::eek:

The initial reaction was - bugger, I will have to stop building and clear this up, however, then the pain started to kick in and I ended up being consoled with a large Glenlivet.
 
Drilled finger

I've been doing aircraft sheet metal for over 20yrs now, I've been dumb enough to have drilled myself twice now, once when I was an apprentice with a #30 drill into my thumb knuckle and the best one was a #10 drill right threw my pointer finger, about an inch threw to be exact, no real damage, the plus side is I got a week off work. I cant remember if I yanked the drill out of hit the button and pulled it back threw.. Ouch..
Your not a real sheetie until you have drilled yourself..

Another trick with super glue, we all know how annoying it is to have old super glue on our fingers, it takes days of chewing and scraping to get it off, if you happen to get it on your fingers, stick a rag over the glue area, let if harden then simply peal the rag off like you would the backing on a band air. It works..

Cheers,
 
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