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Acetone: What's it good for?

Travis Johnson

Travis Johnson

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I was trying to get a gallon of Ispoproopyl alcohol but got mixed up and ended up getting a gallon of Acetone instead. It was easier to do then you think. Both drums were side by side, and they are both clear in color, and the chemical shed smells like a bunch of chemicals such as MEK, alcohol and Acetone, so I really couldn't tell.

Okay, okay...I was having a senior moment and did not look close enough as I was in a hurry...Either way, our machine shop is not allowed to have this chemical, I got to get rid of it.

So my question is,does Acetone have any good use in a woodworking shop?
 
Acetone is real good for cleaning up uncured epoxy, and will (slowly) loosen fingers that have been super-glued together. (Don't ask me how I know about the fingers bit.) :rolleyes: It's also useful for wiping down oily woods like cocobolo before gluing.

And after a busy Saturday afternoon of playing Tea Party with Alyson, it will remove fingernail polish. :D

That gallon would last me a long time. I bought a pint a few years ago and still have over half the can.
 
Maybe not woodworking, but acetone can be used for sealing small wires and wiring coils and can act as a glue in some cases. To make that sealant/glue, you start with a small amount of acetone and then dissolve styrofoam (sp?) peanuts into it until you have the consistency you want. Then it's simply a matter of brushing it on. I think some airplane modelers use it as fabric dope on their models.

cheers eh?
 
Travis, Vaughn has already given you some uses for it. It will easily remove glue residue left by labels. There are some pen turners who use it for something rather unorthodox. Some (like me) use it to dissolve plexiglass. This acetone/plexi mixture can be used for two things. Some use it as a finish instead of CA. Others (like me) use it as a wood stabilizer. It works very well for punky woods.
 
If you get epoxy or poly glue on your hands, it works good to get it off but wash your hands afterwards. The acetone will dry, chap, and crack your skin in a hurry.
 
Yeah, that plexiglass/acetone thing sounds cool. More details as to amounts and such, please.

Surprised no one mentioned using it to remove fingernail polish spills for concrete. Since it dissolves darn near everything else, using it to remove fingernail polish from furniture and such might be a little counter productive.

And no we really really shouldn't tell Travis about using it to blow things up.:rofl:
 
Acetone dissolves acrylic (plexiglass) pretty well and it does do well as a finish if you can work out the application. There's no real "formula" that I've come up with. I took about a 6" square of 1/8" thick acrylic and busted it into as many pieces as I could (the more surface area the faster it dissolves). It took a good week or more to dissolve, but it did eventually. Then I thinned it out to about the consistency of a thin-ish medium CA - a little thinner than water, really. Then apply it just like CA finish.

I stumbled upon it over at IAP and gave it a try because I actually cannot use CA for a finish due to side effects. CA gave me cold-like symptoms for 3-4 days following every use. Really sucky!


NOTE: It really must be acrylic, not polycarbonate (lexan).
 
The list goers on and on.... clean up polymer resins, Will disolve yogurt containers and you can use the "Goo" as a finish or laminating like Fiberglass. Will remove ink markings. I've used it to "Glue" pieces of Plexiglass. There are a sundry of uses besides making Crystal Meth, which is why most industriess don't want it on site as it invites the bad guys if they find out there is plenty available.
 
As mentioned, I use it before gluing or applying a finish to oily wood. I use it on ironwood all the time, it strips the oil right off, and flashes off in an instant.
 
Acetone Uses

Mixed with soap flakes or styrofoam, works as a pretty good substitute for napalm!

Hadn't heard about the plexiglass thing - sounds worth a try. I usually keep a can around for paint removal and heavy-duty cleaning. Just don't clean rubber or plastic with it or else you have no more rubber or plastic, just goo.

JimC
 
I used it just this past week, Herself decided "we" needed to paint the bathroom doors, especially the one she stands in front of when she sprays Hair spray, etc. She had painted last time w/o cleaning the hairspray off and the resulting crackle finish was discusting. So, I took the doors down and stretched across the saw horses and using a Green Scotchbrite and Acetone, I took off (or desolved the old ruined Latex paint) the results were smooth / clean surface and some really stained fingers. Seems once you use Acetone to disolve paint, then it becomes an Acetone based finish and won't wash off... :eek: Next door I wore my Blue Nitrile gloves. All in all, it makes a great cleanup for old Latex paint spills and screwups. :thumb:
 
Saw a pic of a pen with that plexiglass finish on it on another forum today. I was impressed, to say the least. Of course that fella does some amazing pens and I'm sure he takes special care with his finishing so that might have had something to do with it. I'm gonna give it a shot and see if I can get anywhere near the finish he got.
 
Just completed another use for Acetone.... this afternoon I was glueing Splines in a set of finger joints to re attach two pieces of a wood roof Bow for a Model T. I used epoxy and as usual my gloves and mixed on a piece of wax paper, was all done and admiring my gracefule self when I leaned on the bench and stuck my hairy arm in the epoxy. ECCH! :eek: Grab the can of Acetone and cleaned up my mess and rescued the hair on my arm. :thumb:

The uses go on & on & On... or at least my clumsy self creates uses... :rofl:
 
Acetone

I have acetone and denatured alcohol in the shop. I use both as cleaners. When one does not work the other does. Alcohol is of course a shellac solvent.

Acetone cleans up the hardest things to clean. I dries real fast and it dries real dry.

Be careful with storage, many of those things are HIGHLY flamable.

I am definately going to try the plastic disolved in acetone as a finish.

As a kid my dad showed my how to use MEK to disolve styrene and make my own glue. I used to be able to get small gless bottles of it at the hobby shore. Don't know if you can still get it.
 
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