Russ and Marc may already be familar with this, but I recently had a scary accident with CA (cyanoacrylic).
I use some old automotive carpets as portable cushions for working on slot-cars and electronics.
Last week I had some CA spill out of the bottle while using a toothpick to apply a tiny drop to my Thunderslot. Concentrating on the glue job, I took a few seconds to right the CA bottle.
As I was reaching for it white smoke started billowing off the carpet, and I could feel the heat on my palm as it passed over the area. I used a rag to smother out the smoke to delay the spread so I had time to get my extinguisher!
Luckily I did not need the extinguisher, but the intense heat was felt through the rag! I was also lucky to not inhale any of the smoke.
Apparently the reaction was due to the carpet containing a mix of Cotton and poly-blends. If the carpet was pure plastic polymers the CA would have just created a flat spot where it glued the fibres together. It also explains why the blended shop rag I used also got super hot, I'm lucky it did not catch fire also.
SO-
-- do not use Q-Tips to apply or clean up CA/Superglue
-- do not wipe up CA with nose or bath tissue which may include some cotton for softness
-- do not clean up CA with any cotton based rages or other materials
-- do not use cotton based gloves when playing with superglue
-- remove superglue from your wife or girlfriend's night-stand :O
** Wear googles or lab glasses to prevent CA from causing Corneal scratches, Masks to prevent sinus and throat problems
STAY SAFE and peace-out, Capt Obvious and Major Buzzkill
