A tip about Acetone

[Mike Griffin]

Wasn't exactly sure where to post this since there is no "tips" section as such but I will go ahead and put it here.  Many of us I am sure already do this but if we have some new guys looking in, maybe this will help.

I hate CA glue because of what it does to my fingers, my nose and my eyes  and that is why I use Elmer's for most of my gluing.  However, all of the viscosities of the CA glues are sometimes necessary depending on the application. 

If you are snipping off the end of the nozzle on the CA bottles, they are eventually going to get clogged and a hard accumulation will dry on the tip.  What I do is fill a small mason jar (about a pint jar) with Acetone and throw the nozzles and caps in the acetone and by the next morning they are completely clear of old glue and look like brand new.  Also, I buy Pipettes by the hundreds and use to use it once and throw it away as they are not terribly expensive, but you can do the same thing with them and just soak the tips is Acetone for a while to clear out the clogged glue.

As a side note, My wife is constantly raiding my supply of Acetone to soak her fingers in to remove her acrylic nails.  I had CA dried all over my fingertips tonight so I soaked my fingers in some Acetone and it took it all off.  It is a good idea, if you soak your fingers to remove the CA, to wash them good and put some lotion on your hands.  You will notice that your skin turn really white as the Acetone dries out the skin.

Anyway,if this helps one person, it was worth the post.

Mike

[Will Hinton]

Man Mike, I would never deliberately use acetone on my skin for any amount of time, nor would i have an open container setting while soaking tips or pipettes.  This stuff can do some serious harm if you should happen to be one of those who is susceptible to it, like some folks are to CA's.  We're not all in that category, but by the time you find out you are, you might have done some very unpleasant damage.
As an old pesticide applicator, I'm very leery of all chemicals until I read "the sheets".

[Randy Cuberly]

Man Mike, I would never deliberately use acetone on my skin for any amount of time, nor would i have an open container setting while soaking tips or pipettes.  This stuff can do some serious harm if you should happen to be one of those who is susceptible to it, like some folks are to CA's.  We're not all in that category, but by the time you find out you are, you might have done some very unpleasant damage.
As an old pesticide applicator, I'm very leery of all chemicals until I read "the sheets".

Well, according to the MSDS the primary hazard is that it's Flammable...I think we all knew that...also repeated exposure may cause skin dryness or cracking, and the vapors may cause drowsiness or dizziness, primarily due to oxygen displacement.

Doesn't seem to be nearly as hazardous as most of the crap we modelers constantly expose ourselves to.

Seriously this is not a serious Toxin, like a lot of the paints we commonly use.  It certainly does dry out skin...I use Jergens lotion for that!  Don't get the lotion on your unpainted airplane though or it will be extremely hazardous to paint application...

Will, I don't mean to be a smart alec and your advice is good.  There are a lot of things we use that are toxic under some conditions and some under all conditions.  One caution is with epoxies...a lot of the hardeners used in epoxies are very toxic and contact with the skin should be avoided.
Using acetone or other solvents to remove the epoxy can actually make this worse because the toxic chemical penetrates the skin easier after dilution with the acetone.  Wear gloves always with this stuff and if you do get some on you pinch blot it off several times and wash it thouroughly with a strong soap...

Randy Cuberly

[Randy Ryan]

You're right Randy. I use acetone for allot of stuff, I even keep a squeeze bottle of it handy. I saturate a corner of a rag to take off Cya, re-wet as necessary.

[Mike Griffin]

Hi Will,

Of course you have to use a little common sense here.  When I soak the nozzles and tops off of the glue bottles, I screw the lid on it.  I keep the jar full of acetone and nozzles and rotate them as they clean.  I always work in a well ventilated area and I soak the pipettes tips for a couple of hours and then put the lid on the jar.

Mike

[Brian Hampton]

Acetone in fuel inhibits the hygroscopic property of methanol which apparently is why Shell add 3% acetone to their drums of methanol.

[Dan Berry]

Acetone is nowhere near as dangerous as being on the road near a bunch of fools with a cel phone. Or a car full of teenagers.
Or within 500 miles of a member of congress (no caps,unworthy).

[Geoff Goodworth]

I use a small jar to clean the nozzles on the top of the CA bottles but I store the applicator tubes in a 35mm film canister filled with acetone. Works perfectly. For safety reasons, I extract the applicator tub from the acetone with tweezers and dry it on kitchen paper. Then I check that the tube is clear.

Brian H, I haven't heard about the hygroscopic inhibition—but I don't doubt it. However, as I understand it, the acetone in Shell A was as much an ignition aid. Also, the MSDS says that the added 'hydrocarbon' was 3–5% depending on the season which suggests to me that they added more at manufacture in winter.

I worked with a retired Aussie speedway solo champion several years ago and he seemed surprised that I didn't know about the ignition aid properties. He told me that when he was racing, all the top riders knew how much acetone to add to their methanol on cold nights. He even said that when they raced in Canberra, it was often necessary to add acetone to Shell A for the first tank or maybe two.

[Brett Buck]

Brian H, I haven't heard about the hygroscopic inhibition—but I don't doubt it. However, as I understand it, the acetone in Shell A was as much an ignition aid. Also, the MSDS says that the added 'hydrocarbon' was 3–5% depending on the season which suggests to me that they added more at manufacture in winter.

    If nothing else, it keeps the oil in solution, when it is marginal otherwise.

    Brett

[John Leidle]

  Thanks for the idea Mike, I was soaking a item just the other day & never thought to soak a CA tip. 
                   John

[bob whitney]

dont forget that it will obsorb water in your fuel or gas tank

[Will Hinton]

Randy, I didn't take anything you posted as smart alec, just good information.  To be truthful, I had never checked the MSDS sheets for acetone, which is unusual because after handling "hot" stuff for a while one gets sort of paranoid about chemicals and the MSDS is the first line of defense.
Mike, I use pipettes exclusively for CA's, and end up pitching them much sooner than I should if I would just use your technique and soak them!  Thanks for that, becuase getting them is a pain around here - I always order them from my luthier supply place.  (stewmac.com)  I can't believe it never occurred to me before !  Duh.

[Lauri Malila]

Nitro works even better. For cleaning CA I mean. I have lately had some Loctite cyano that did not dissolve in acetone. Nitro did the job.
But most often acetone is enough.

Lauri

[55chevr]

Nitromethane is industrial cleaning fluid.  I would assume it is a strong solvent since it melts rubber.

[Norm Furutani]

I keep a pint can of acetone on my bench for general clean-up. One day the old Standard Brands can sprung a leak and I had to toss it. I hate the new hardware store pop top cans so I went on a search. Found a new convenient size bottle at the local super market (Albertson's) next to the nail polish remover. Make sure it's marked 100% acetone. Keep the lid on or it won't be 100% for very long!

Norm

[Charles Carter]

Something I recently discovered is that a local nail supply store for nail salons sell a gallon of acetone( 100%) for only $8.00.  I am planning to clean my spray guns with it instead of expensive lacquer thinner.


Charles Carter

[Will Hinton]

My local automotive finishing supplies store sells cheap "clean up" lacquer thinner for $12.00, but $8.00 is a whole lot better!  Thanks for the tip.

[Joseph Patterson]

     I know one thing acetone will do is dry-up Poison Ivy. Cleared my fingers up quick. Burned like hell, but was cured!! Still a question about the cure being worse than the disease??
        Doug

[phil c]

I used 1-2 tsp of acetone in some fuel that was running a bit roughly, especially in below 55deg. weather.  Cleared the problem right up.

[Curare]

I did a lot of reading on acetone an additive to fuel some years ago. The end result was that it didn't do much good, but at the same time it didn't do any harm. Other additives like nitromethane and the good old nitrobenzene had FAR greater effects.

I regularly use neat nitro to unclog my tips, but a word of warning. If you splash this stuff around on monokote it will stain it. It doesn't appear to affect its strength but you can certainly see where you've been!!!

[John Sunderland]

I work in the finishing industry. Osha regs require that we use acetone rather than lacquer thinner for thinning spray products these days because it has less VOCs or some such jargon and it works very well with every brand of lacquer I have used it with. While the smell is strong, if you stick your nose in it, it does not hang in the air like lacquer thinner does and is said to be less toxic than other thinners/solvents. My exposure over the years has been quite liberal despite the use of a mask while spraying...hazard of the trade I suppose. It is an excellent spray gun cleaner too.I have never tried thinning dope with it but I am sure somebody probably has. I also use lots of CA for furniture repair and industrial size bottles dont deliver the glue as neatly as one can with good tips on the smaller bottles we use for modeling....so I often use acetone to get the spillage up when disturbing the finish is not a concern and I use it to get it off of my hands as well. No cancer.....yet!

[Randy Cuberly]

Acetone dries much too fast to be an effective thinner for dope.  Not a good choice for dope or lacquer thinner.  Osha is singleminded and only has health issues in mind not effectiveness of a product.  Use Dope thinner and wear a respirator designed for chemical and vapor considerations.
You'll be sorry if you use Acetone for a dope thinner.
It's great for cleaning brushes and spray equipment.

Randy Cuberly

[Randy Cuberly]

One time, when I was a boy, the fuel line came off my squeeze bulb when I was fueling my CG Cosmic Wind AND it got on my private parts.  I could not believe how bad that hurt.   

Gasoline is worse.  In 1966 at the Isle of MAN Manx GP I had a small leak in the gas cap and it eventually soaked my leathers all the way down the front.  After about 45 minutes it began to burn and got gradually worse.  I finished but had to be helped off the motorcycle and spent the next two days in bed covered in calamine lotion.  Gasoline is baad stuff!  That was aviation gas used in the Norton Manx.
At that time I was convinced that I'd never be "normal" again...all right no wisecracks!!!

Randy Cuberly

[Geoff Goodworth]

Rusty and Randy, the phenomenon that you experienced is known as the nurse's revenge in hospitals here in Oz. I was about 17 when I had to have an operation that kept me off my feet for several weeks. Consequently, there were many sessions with rubbing alcohol on hips and buttocks to prevent bed sores. Pinned down like that and only 17, I started to become a bit stir crazy but if I gave too much cheek, the nurses would 'spill' the robbing alcohol while I was laying on my stomach.