Replies

1. 
   roy.unit8c | Feb 08, 2022 01:01pm | #1

   I haven't used a glue syringe yet. I also would like to hear what others recommend from a list I found in a search:
   StewMac - 19-gauge needles, $2.60: Rockler - $29.99 (set) or $4.99; Crystal FX - (Hobby Lobby), $4.99; TayTools - 5-piece, 15cc, $9.99; BStean - $8.89; Tool Ink Solutions - $2.50; Kester - 30-G Syringe, $19.22

2. 
   pantalones868 | Feb 08, 2022 03:52pm | #2

   I get my syringes from the dentist. Well my wife runs an office but I have several different kinds from metal tip to plastic.. most don't have brand names or logos.. one I do have that I use a lot is called a monoject 412. Has a pretty fine end but being plastic one can cut the end to make it larger. I saw an ad online, 50 for $25 and a different brand but similar, 100 for $32. I doubt dentist's pay even that much but they buy them 500 or more at a time. Fine metal tips can work glue into tiny spots but they get gunked and hard to clean. I try sometimes but they mostly get tossed after one use. They do save your butt sometimes. Plastics are much easier to get more than one use out of. Anyway,it seems for medical purposes these things are pretty cheap, the same thing from the hobby/ craft people are a lot more. Free syringes though under any freeway over pass!

1. 
   user7596380 | Feb 08, 2022 04:33pm | #3

   As to cleaning metal-tipped syringes, have you thought of using Music Wire? It's available in (or from) Hobby Supply shops (or websites) in a multitude of diameters. Its stiff so it doesn't give when your trying to push it through the hole in the needle. It just shoves the gunk ahead of it through to the end. Unless, of course, you've waited until it's set up as hard as a rock.

3. 
   lordulrich | Feb 08, 2022 08:03pm | #4

   I went to the local farm store and got the largest gauge needles and some pretty big syringes they had with the veterinary supplies. I keep a extra syringe and cup of water to flush glue out of the needle if it will sit for more than a few minutes. I also find the titebond II extend, it is a lot thinner and flow better, both out of the needle and into the grove.

4. 
   rob_ss | Feb 09, 2022 12:05am | #5

   The best options for needles are a SMALL syringe (no more than 10ml) and a LARGE BLUNT FILL needle. 18g blunt fills are very good at directing glue and have a much better opening than the needles. You can get boxes of 100 for peanuts from most medical suppliers (or see if your local doc will order them - they cost about NZD5 or so + tax for a box of 100.
   Small syringes are better as you can produce much higher pressures - the larger the syringe the bigger the area of the plunger so your force is spread out more. I use a 5ml for most glue work and refill as needed. Pro tip - there are TWO types of common syringe fitting - the 'luer' type which requires a needle to be useful and the 'slip' tip which can be got into any slot over about 1/8" wide and is easy to clean up, but short (1/2" long). You can put a needle on either.
   Slip tips + needles can in theory part under high pressure, and that would be messy, but I've never seen it happen.

5. 
   pantalones868 | Feb 09, 2022 02:34am | #6

   For sneaking glue into really tight spots where you want to leave no trace or want to get in deep I have used really fine needles and yes, I have used musical instrument wire but on a really fine needle even those secondary treble strings from a 12 string guitar sometimes don't fit. Guitar string wire of all sizes I have plenty of and I have a set of files for cleaning welding torch tips. On a bigger diameter syringe they work really well even if the glue has begun to set up. Thing is, most of these syringe devises are disposable. They are designed and priced for single use. The glue not only becomes a problem in the needle but gets into the plunger as well. Then you take them apart clean everything and sometimes putting them back together the rubber part of the plunger gives you trouble. I've kept them going or rescued them many times... but why? Bought as a box of 50 or 100 they're only 50 cents a piece and that many might last you years. 15 minutes of my time is worth at least 60 cents. 100 for $5 New Zealand...national health....well here USA we might pay 5 times that but it's still peanuts!

1. 
   rob_ss | Feb 09, 2022 04:01am | #7

   :-) Believe it or not, that's the full commercial price without any subsidy at all. I run a couple of medical centres so pretty much know the price of everything. It is such a shame that everything medical in the USA is so stupidly priced, when most everything else seems to be so cheap compared with much of the rest of the Western World.

6. 
   user-2428806 | Feb 09, 2022 09:09pm | #8

   I buy these from Amazon for string inlay. $9 for 12 pieces
   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073JNTBXJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

7. 
   richeytgr | Feb 10, 2022 12:36pm | #9

   Thank you everyone for your comments. Very helpful.

8. FWW Editor
   ben_strano | Feb 10, 2022 01:44pm | #10

   The biggest thing for me is cleaning the needles out immediately. If I'm using PVA glue I do this with a cup or water or two and flush the needles until the water runs clear. Kevin Rodel drove this point home in his video workshop: https://www.finewoodworking.com/2017/08/16/ep-9-completing-stringing

   I do the same with epoxy and acetone, but sometimes I just write them off. CA glue... write anything it touches off.

9. 
   woodshedding | Feb 10, 2022 06:50pm | #11

   +1 on the medical syringes. I use 3ml for small projects and 10ml if I'll need more glue. 18g needles have little street value. They're too big for anything but filling syringes and aspirating things so most doctors should not have a problem getting them for you. It's the kind of needle you anesthetize someone with a smaller needle before pushing that big sucker in. I think of them as single use.