Rod builders

I am a beginner on rod building matters, I have built a few for my personal use and have some experience with epoxy adhesives.
I have been learning more about epoxies from posts on the Guild and Rodbuilding websites for over 6 months and have read all the posts related to the subject.

Here are my questions:

1) When mention is made to using alcohol for cleaning epoxy...what type of alcohol is used? Pure alcohol used in labs, or common alcohol (70%) found everywhere?
2) Alcohol vs. Acetone:
Which is best?
Which is more environmentally safe?
Which are the most important precautionary measures handling each one (other than flammable ones)?

Thank you

Hola Ricardo,

Plain white vinegar works extremely well for cleaning uncured epoxy. It also will soften, to a small degree, freshly cured epoxy. Make sure to wear nitrile gloves when solvating any epoxy.

Ricardo
When it comes to alcohol vs acetone, alcohol is the winner. As a general rule of thumb -- never, repeat NEVER use acetone on a fishing rod. The combination of physical rubbing and acetone can ruin a rod. Acetone will actualy leach out the cured resins holding the rod together. Because acetone evaporates so rapidly, folks seem to think that no damage is being done, but carefully controlled research testing reveals damage to a rod whenever acetone is applied to the resins binding the rod together -- be it Polyester or Epoxy. The finishes on most rods will resist the acetone to a certain degree, but cleaning ie. rubbing can damage the exterior finish and allow the acetone to contact the underlying resins and the damage is done.

You have your choice in alcohols between the easily obtainable IPO alcohols, which are the common rubbing alcohols in either 70% or 90% concentration -- or the Denatured alcohols easily obtained in any hardware store. The denatured (DNA) alcohols have a bit more diluent properties so I personally use them exclusively, but either one will do the job. The important thing to make a practise of when using alcohols -- or any solvent -- for cleaning is, Never allow your solvent to dry on the part being cleaned. ALWAYS wipe the area dry.

For most cleaning jobs, solvents are far over rated, and more often than not do more damage than good. The usage of Scotchbrite abrasives can do a far better job of preparing a surface for bonding or painting than can any of the solvents. Use Scotchbrite type-S-7448 grey, ultra fine. Some surfaces are best wiped with alcohol then follow with a scotchbrite abrade for optimum conditions.

Ralph

Thanks for the comments

Some cans/containers of alcohol and acetone are colored and/or marked the same!

Store them in separate places to avoid bad juju injuries!!!!!

I agree with Dick and Ralph about using acetone.. For a experment put a broken peace of rod in actone anr 1 in alcohol and 1 in acetone for a few minutesYou well besurprised at what happens