UV glue pen complete with UV light

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/

Broken plastics are a fact of life these days. Plastics tend to break either through being dropped or misused, or through old age.

My weapon of choice in the war against waste and sending things to the landfill has beencyanoacrylate adhesive -- this stuff goes by many names, such asCrazy Glue, instant glue, power glue, or superglue -- and on the whole it's pretty good stuff.

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But it's far from perfect.

I find the performance of cyanoacrylate adhesives varies a lot. It sticks well to some things, but not so well to other things. Also, its repairs last well at room temperature, but using it to repair something that's going to be in a hot environment (such as a greenhouse) or cold environment (such as a refrigerator) can be disappointing.

And after decades of using cyanoacrylate to repair stuff, I'm still wary of it. It gets everywhere, and while its performance might be subpar on some materials, you can be certain that there's one thing it sticks to really well, and that's human skin.

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And you definitely don't want to get super glue in your eyes.

A few people have mentioned that I should try UV curing adhesive for repairing things, so I gave it a go.

And I'm impressed.

UV Glue Kit with Light

$13.98 at Amazon

Note: The kit above has different branding to the one I'm using (and comes with refills) but the resin and UV light are exactly the same.

Thiskit I'm recommending comes with a small UV light, so you don't need to worry about buying that separately.

Unlike cyanoacrylate where you apply the adhesive and you have seconds to work before it cures, the UV resin doesn't cure until you apply UV light to it (oer expose it to direct sunlight), so it gives you more time to work.

Curing UV resin with a small UV light

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/

Also, because the resin is thicker, you can use it to build up the repair better and more easily than with cyanoacrylate (you can add some baking soda to cyanoacrylate to achieve the same result, and it does make for a stronger bond, but again it can get messy).

UV resin also eliminates you accidentally gluing your face to whatever you're repairing. Don't think you can suddenly find your face glued to something? Think again!

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Another application that UV resin glue is ideally suited for is strengthening or reinforcing low-voltage wires. For example, take this charging cable for my amazingly useful label maker. The cable is looking a bit bent out of shape by constant stress. 

The strain relief on this cable isn't really relieving the strain on the wire

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/

Ideally, I'd pop some heat-shrink tubing over this, but I can't get any that will fit over the connector and shrink down far enough to hold onto the wire. 

But not to worry, I can apply some UV resin onto the stressed area (I apply a thin layers, cure it, and apply a few more layers rather than apply one thick layer).

Applying some UV resin onto the stressed area

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/

And then cure the resin using the UV light.

Curing UV resin

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/

And here it is after a few layers have been applied and cured. Job done!

Job done!

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/

I've experimented with UV resin adhesives on a number of different materials, with impressive results. They seem to work much better for repairing things that are going to be subjected to heat and cold, subjected to flexing, and it's great for building up material when something has broken when the plastic has shrunk (which happens over time).

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One drawback is that UV resin relies on UV light to cure, so wherever you apply it, you will need to be able to get the light on it to cure it. Bear this in mind as it makes it unsuitable for some applications.

For example, if you're sticking something down, adding the resin between two layers isn't going to work because the UV light can't get at the resin and it won't cure. 

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But overall, I'm impressed. It doesn't fully replace cyanoacrylate adhesive, but it's another very useful tool in the toolbox.

And it's fast become an indispensable tool.

See also

This$30 gadget claims to add years to your phone's lifespan. Here's howThis is the USB flash drive James Bond would useHow to strip wires like a pro (and my must-have tools)Stop! Your Apple charger may be a counterfeit, and this tiny gadget can tellThis$10 gadget is my favorite repair tool of all time

• This$30 gadget claims to add years to your phone's lifespan. Here's how
• This is the USB flash drive James Bond would use
• How to strip wires like a pro (and my must-have tools)
• Stop! Your Apple charger may be a counterfeit, and this tiny gadget can tell
• This$10 gadget is my favorite repair tool of all time