Fly tying warning!

[Diver Dan]

I was just looking around and reading fly fishing stuff and came across a story that should serve as a cautionary tale.

A guy was tying a fly. Like many of us, he used super glue occasionally. Anyway, he had an bottle he had not opened in a while. He tried to squeze it with no results. He then got out a needle and poked the opening to remove the clog. That's when the trouble started. As soon as he pulled the pin, it sprayed a nice stream of super glue right into his eye.

He held his eye lids open as he could and ran for the sink. He ran the water into his eye for several minutes while the wife called the Poison Control Center. They asked if his eye was glued shut, which gives me shudders to contemplate, but they said no.

They said to run it for at least 5 minutes (I think, may have been 10 ) in the stream of water. They then said he would have blurred vision in that eye for 10 days or more.

I can't imagine the trouble he would have been in if he had glued it shut. The moral of the story is when you unplug the super glue, don't point it at your face.

[dean_mt]

Its terrible scary stuff. I don't use it for fly tying for the reason that its too easy to foget to put the top back on immediately.

And if you have kids around, keep that stuff way up high!

[theboz]

That's a scary thought Dan. Think I've glued just about everything else with it by accident except the face. Even put it on an outhouse seat when I was a kid in Boy Scout Camp. Beat prank we ever played on one of the older kids . Had to waddle to the infirmary to have it removed! Still makes me smile!!

[stl_geoff]

Part of the reason I started making the switch to UV epoxy/glues

[pkins44]

Another thing I'm sure I will eventually do. Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't read warnings. Thanks for the heads up Diver. I can't imagine gluing my eyes shut. P.S. don't try to imagine you're eye glued shut while driving.

[jaybo41]

That's just awful. Hopefully the guy is OK. That'd be a horrible way to be visually impaired, especially considering how much fun tying can be. I don't use it often but when I tie tube flies, I use the Zap A Gap thin. I usually try and put the lid on immediately once I'm done with it but I'll make a mental note for sure. Thanks for the public service announcement.

Originally Posted by theboz

That's a scary thought Dan. Think I've glued just about everything else with it by accident except the face. Even put it on an outhouse seat when I was a kid in Boy Scout Camp. Beat prank we ever played on one of the older kids . Had to waddle to the infirmary to have it removed! Still makes me smile!!

Now that's hysterical!

[Diver Dan]

Back when I was working at the museum we used a lot of super glue. Never even gave a thought to squirting it into an eye.

I was glueing a fossil back together one day and had a tiny bit on my finger I was not aware of. I had an itch on my eyelid and yup, glued my finger to my eyelid. Had a friend/co-worker very carefully seperate them with a sharp X-Acto knife.

We were making a mold of a fossil skull another time and had a tooth bust up removing the mold. The same guy, on purpose, glued the last very tiny piece of the tooth to his finger to get it into place and then sawed it off with an X-Acto knife.

We used to buy the stuff by the case. We were glueing fingers together all the dang time. As instantly as it bonds skin, the guy who shot it into his eye is so lucky he didn't glue it shut. What a disaster that would have been. Need an eye patch smiley for that one.

[wt bash]

I've had just about every adhesive stuck to my head, hair, and face. Doing boat work, carpet work, and just messing around with models. Two of the worst were contact cement in my hair, I was painting open metal steps with it for a carpet installation, and the worst was the old poly resin while patching a crushed keel on my boat. It couldn't be turned over to do a proper repair so I had to make small "hot mixes" to slowly build up the patch. Working on my back I would get drips all over my face and hands. I learned the hard way to not try and wipe it off as you just spread the burn. When all was said and done I looked like I had chicken pox or dove head first into a bee hive.

[spiderninja]

All of a sudden, I'm happy that I have to wear glasses these days.

[sandfly]

super glue your eye shut, first thing hospital will do is put a warm wet compress on to break the super glue up, thats why I don't use it water breaks it down