Everybody knows about super glue and what it is for. The most frequent use of superglue is to stick things to your fingers. In this it excels and is unrivaled.  The intention, however, is otherwise. Gamers and modelers have a love/hate relationship with super glue. Often it is the only thing that will bond that sword into the general’s hand. Even then, it is finicky and unpredictable. Temperature, humidity and the age of the glue greatly affect its curing time and the strength of its bonding power. Back in 1942 Dr. Harry Coover was working for Kodak Research Laboratories trying to develop optically clear synthetics for use in gun sights. He ruled out cyanoacrylates as too sticky and hard to work with. In fact they were damaging to other components. Due to capillary action, the stuff ran everywhere (sound familiar?) and destroyed more than it helped. In 1951 Coover had moved to Tennessee and had gone to work at the Eastman Company. It was here that he revisited cyanoacrylates while attempting to make optical equipment. In working on an apparatus, attempting to use the chemical to coat a lens, the stuff went everywhere and permanently and irreversibly glued the whole gizmo together. Damn! Finally realizing their unintentional good fortune, Coover and the Eastman Company finally marketed the substance in 1958 as Formula 910, eventually changing the name to “Super Glue”. The following year Dr. Coover went on television and lifted host, Garry Moore, off the floor using only one drop of the substance.  The rush was on. Today super glue is used in many industries including a heavy use in automotive and aircraft manufacturing. Large quantities are used in the manufacture of circuit boards. More and more, super glue is used in the medical field as stitch-less sutures. It has been sprayed on wounds to stop bleeding and is now used in microscopic quantities in ophthalmic surgery. It is also heavily used by hobbyists who mostly use it to glue their fingers together. Tip Here is your useful tip for the day. If you use super glue, be sure to buy the type that comes in the small bottle. The kind that comes in a tube is famously difficult to control and an un-named party has occasionally found himself glued to his work bench. The bottle type has a long applicator that often clogs, making the cap impossible to replace tightly. Spilling a bottle of super glue with a loose cap can make a mess that can only be remedied with a hammer and chisel. Here is the solution – throw the cap away and replace it with a simple push-pin. You will occasionally have to remove the push-pin with a pair of pliers. So what? Push-pins are cheap and plentiful. You can thank me later. Back to Dispatch July 2003 Table of Contents Back to Dispatch List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by HMGS Mid-South This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com