Can I use acetone for cleaning a blank off before wrapping? For cleaning up excess epoxy? I've been using denatured alcohol but need to pick up some acetone for thinning the flexcoat and was wondering if the acetone could do double duty. I know not to try using it in the alcohol burner!

It is more likely to strip off the finish than denatured alcohol. It is somewhat more toxic and harsher on the skin. Both are highly flammable, as you know. Stick to the denatured alcohol, or isoprpyl alcohol.

Tom gave you good advice. Also in some cases acetone has caused a blank to fail, because it ate in to the resins
Good Wraps Bob

Glad I asked.

Wait a minute, wait a minute.

Anything disolvable such as a rod blank, will dissolve if left in far too long in alcohol as well. In all my time in rod building I have never heard of a blank failure being contributed to acetone. Any improper use of any product can cause a thing to break or fail. But that doesn't give license to condemn a product with proper use.

Marty, I use acetone almost every time to remove traces of unwanted finish from blanks without ill affect. And I've done it using spray directly on the blank as well as wetting a paper towel and rubbing it on the blank. The occasions where it is a problem is if the blank is painted, and even then it's a matter of how much and how hard you rub.

The only caution I urge is to minimize contact with your skin, which is why I spray it on to a paper towel.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2005 07:53PM by Patrick Vernacchio.

I agree with Patrick, acetone when used properly is safe. With any solvent, I suspect, that any blank material, if soaked long enough, it will dissolve. But how long is "long enough"?

A couple years ago when all that talk about how "damaging" acetone is to a blank was going around I decided to conduct a little expirement on my own to see how harmful acetone really was to a blank. Some were suggesting that simply wiping a blank with the stuff would cause it to fail. I cut some blank pieces into 2"-3" chunks, and saved a few pieces for baseline testing, and dropped the rest in three separate jars of acetone.

I left the blank pieces in the first jar for one hour, in the second jar they remained for two hours, in the third jar they remained for three hours.

The pieces that were left in an acetone bath for one hour had their finished surface "blushed" or turned slightly opaque by the acetone. The exposed ends of the pieces showed some discoloration, but no loosened or frayed fibers. When I attempted to crush these pieces I found no difference in rigidity between the ones that were soaked and the ones that were not. When I let these pieces dry out the original color of the finish returned, and to the naked eye I could not see any outward signs of damage.

The pieces that soaked for two hours had more pronounced effects similar to the pieces in the the one hour batch. The blank finish (coating) had softened and I could easily scrape it off with my fingernail. The ends of the pieces showed more pronounced discoloration of the fiber/resin material. Again, however, when I tried to crush the pieces I found not difference in rigidity, they seemed as firm and stiff as the pieces in the one hour batch, and the unsoaked (baseline) ones.

The pieces that soaked for three hours had even more pronounced effects. The finish had also softened and I could also easily scrape it off with my fingernail, in some areas it had begun to "bubble" or raise off the blank surface. The ends of the pieces also showed pronounced discoloration of the fiber/resin material similar to the two hour batch. Again, when I tried to crush the pieces I found not difference in rigidity, they seemed as firm and stiff as the pieces in the one and two hour batches, and the unsiaked ones.

I was going to try the same expirement with MEK but I had seen enough after this test and did not go any further. The acetone >> MAY << have remained active after the pieces were removed from the bath and the excess had evaporated, but I did crush some remaining pieces the day after with similar results. I did not have pieces to test after the 2nd day, but I suspect results would have been similar.

This expirement was quite unscientific, but it answered some questions for me. Though I mainly use alcohol, I'll use acetone when necessary without fear of damaging a blank.

Lou

I worked in the steel industry for 35 yrs , and our saftey personell always told us :
Not to let acetone....... Touch our skin, get in our eyes, and most of all DO NOT
INHALE THE FUMES....... Bodily damage or death may ocur

Aceton can attack your blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and liver and even your brain cells. So use it in a well ventilated area and ware protective gear.. I now have a skin problem be cause I did not hed warning lables.
Good Wraps Bob