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My box of punchings fell over and now they are being stored in rainbow colors.

My center pin box has fallen over a few times too. I’m getting used to measuring each pin now after doing it so many times. I don’t get upset anymore when it does fall over and pins are scattered everywhere. Pretty sad.

If anybody has a good system for clumsy people like me, please let me know.

Keep small bar towels handy at all times. Punchings and pins are easier to pick up on a towel than a hard surface.

All the best. (Small bar towels are also great in the car, rou know the rest of the srory)

And with liquids, always put the top firmly back on the bottle immediately!

Especially the liquid graphite
Ian

Hah! Yes!

And don't ever, ever, ever leave a bottle of CA open with lid off on any surface anywhere, no matter how secure you THINK it might be. Always put the top on.

Peter Grey Piano Doctor

And when you DO spill the CA bottle all over your hand, make sure to keep your fingers spread apart!

David,

That is NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE, as my first reaction is to try to clean it up, almost invariably the fingers come together in the process.

Actually let me tell you what happened a few weeks back: We all know the exothermic reaction that occurs with cotton and CA...well it turns out that those blue "shop towels" are a mixture of paper and fabric (probably cotton). I probably don't need to go into detail as to what actually happened, but when the shop towel started sticking to my thumb it was getting very HOT very fast, so my instinctive reaction was to rip it off ASAP. Well in the process, skin came with it. Ouchie ouch ouch! That took quite a while to heal.

No wonder in 1942 they shelved the "discovery" since they didn't know what to do with it.

Peter Grey Piano Doctor

Yes, it reacts strongly with cellulose! I've seen paper tissue smoking, but not catching fire. Paper tissues are ninety-odd percent cellulose.

A few years ago I spilled some over my fingers and did actually have the presence of mind to keep my fingers spread apart while it dried. The reaction with my skin was also exothermic - I felt my skin heating, but not to the point of being burnt. I recalled David Dryburgh in a presentation at MARC in 2011 saying that the natural fats/oils (sebum) and perspiration in the skin, would cause the CA to flake off fairly readily. So I kept my fingers apart, and the CA dried, and I was quickly able to pick most of it off.

Going completely OT: Another possible application of CA occurred to me today: On YouTube you can see videos of people using it as a wood finish on small occasional tables, turned pens, etc, to produce a high gloss lacquer-like finish. It can also be seen used with baking soda to form a hard compound for certain guitar repairs. So.....

I had some water ingress round the chimneyhead on the roof of my house and it ran down the chimney breast in the loft, and wet the plaster of the chimney-breast in my living room, causing an area of wallpaper to peel, revealing black mold. (some also ran along beams and stained the drywall ceiling). I've had the builders in to fix the leak, and am making good the interior decoration. After I had used something else, it occurred to me to wonder if CA could be used as a size on plaster. It would have this going for it: 1) it bonds very well with certain powder sunstances to make a hard durable material: 2) It is activated by moisture so would react with any remaining dampness in the plaster and: 3) it reacts with cellulose, so any remnants of wallpaper paste left after I cleaned the black mold off the wall, would react well with the CA.

I have used it on sheetrock and plaster cracks as a reinforcement. Then finish over. Works great.

Also when one has used a screw or nail to hang a picture, clock, or whatever on the wall, and not found a stud to support it properly, gradually the thing gets loose and floppy endangering the security of the hung item. An application of CA to the hole (with the screw or nail in it) produces a very solid joint that will last a long time, and still does not hamper complete repair of the hole later on if this is desired. (In fact one could use the CA on the initial installation just as well as a prophylactic).

Many creative uses around the house (and elsewhere) for CA.

Peter Grey Piano Doctor

I've used ca as a wood finish repairing a guitar that had a hole punched in the side. It was brilliant as it glued and finished. Applied thin and sanded back and eventually polished up. I then made a handle for a knife and finished it in the same way.
We had a very good kitchen knife that had that black rubbery surface handle. It went all sticky with age. So I wiped it with thin ca a few layers, polished it back. Perfect.
I've also used ca with baking powder. Care is needed as the result is very hard. Very difficult to sand, I ended up having to file it down.
Good stuff ca except when something might pull apart, it seems to have no strength in that dimension.
Nick