I’ve tried both MEK and Xylene (xylol) and they both work ok. Xylene evaporates a bit slower than MEK, so that may be an option for some.
Pint and quart cans are available from the usual suspects. I pour a small amount into an old Ambroid or Tenax bottle with the brush applicator. Just remember to put the cap back on and tighten it. [8o|]
That really surprises me you can’t find it in any store around you, unless you live in the boonies. Even if you don’t have a hobby shop, usually you can find it in a craft store or the toy section at Walmart by the plastic models. On a side note, I used to use Testors exclusively, but have since switched to Plastruct mostly.
Assuming there aren’t any stores that carry suitable glue around you, then bite the bullet and order a couple of containers online. I use the Model Master cement (as Richhotrain mentioned) and one container will last an awful long time - literally years, and I’ve built a lot of models.
I recently had need of some lacquer thinner for painting and for stripping paint from a brass locomotive. The bastardised version of lacquer thinner, despite no longer being useful as a cement for styrene, does still work for thinning paint and for paint removal. However, instead of going to my nearby Canadian Tire store, I went to the Sherwin-Williams distributor where I had bought the MEK, mentioned previously in this thread.
The salesperson couldn’t tell me if the thinner was the original formula or the semi-useless revised version, but since I needed it for paint, I purchased a gallon. When I got home, I decided to test it on some styrene, just to see if it had any effect, and applied a bit to two pieces of scrap material. After pressing the pieces together, I worked on the brass locomotive for a while, then went back to the two bits of styrene. I was pleasantly surprised to find them fairly securely bonded together.
The can also shows the chemical make-up of this particular lacquer thinner, (the first one I’ve ever seen offering that info) but not the proportions.
I suppose that’s one way to look at it. However, I payed about $20.00 for 127.8oz. of lacquer thinner, the equivalent of, obviously, 128.7 one ounce bottles of Testors. Using Ed’s price of about $5.00 per bottle, it would cost $639.00 for the equivalent of that gallon from Testors, or, for a one ounce bottle of lacquer thinner, 15.6 cents. And even if you opted for the MEK, at $40.00/gallon, 31.2 cents per bottle.
The Sherwin-Williams distributor sells these chemicals only as gallons or larger (commercial-size) con
I can’t tell you what Wayne would say, but I use MEK for other things that I need a stong solvent for, in my garage, working with lawn tractors, or whatever, and I transfer product from gallon can to smaller containers, including bottles, (which are clearly labeled) outside, using a small funnel. No problem.
When I want to re-fill the little square Testors bottle, with the brush-in-cap, I use a piece of tubing left over from a plumbing project. It’s a water supply line, with a plastic compression-type fitting on top, as shown in the photo below.
I place the open Testors bottle atop the can, then dip the tube into the MEK, place my thumb tightly over the hole in the top of the fitting, and carefully lift it out of the can, placing the bottom end of the tubing into the bottle and then simply remove my thumb from the tubing to release the MEK into the jar.
The MEK, lacquer thinner, methyl hydrate, 99% alcohol, acetone, perclorethylene, Pollyscale’s Easy-Lift-Off, SuperClean, contact cement and contact cement thinner, along with a lot more paint than is visible in the photo, is all kept in cupboards under the workbench in this small room. This was formerly my paint shop, which is now in my detached garage. All of these chemicals are stored in closed containers when not in use - it’s no different than storing canned goods in your kitchen cupboard, and doesn’t need to take up a lot of space.
If you’re concerned about vapours and odour in your home when transferring the solvents from can to jar, do it outdoors.
It isn’t just the expense and inconvenience of paying $6 a bottle plus $7 shipping, it is the pain in the buttocks of paying $6 a bottle plus $7 shipping for a little bitty tiny 1-ounce bottle. Why pay such an exorbitant amount when you can buy the same stuff at the local paint store for ten or twelve bucks a quart?
But that’s the thing . . . is it the same stuff? I’ve used Plastruct Pro Weld and Bondene for years with good results. Does anyone here know exactly what the chemical composition of tho
Yes, that’s what I do. But it takes two hands to handle the can, and another to steady the funnel. Somehow the math doesn’t quite work out and I end up slopping thinner all over the basement floor.
Maxman, that’s why I do it outside. I have also used the turkey baster. I also like Wayne’s large pipette method. I have a couple of misc. lengths of that water line around here.
I don’t have any structures under construction, but when I do, I’ll experiment with mixing acetone to slow down the evaporation rate. Although, acetone evaporates very quickly too. Right now, for the small detail parts I’m using while building some tank cars, etc., I’m happy with the MEK and CA.
Related to this discussion of cements, why on this green earth can’t the manufacturers indicate on the packaging of their models, what type of plastic they used, so we can use a compatable cement for repairs or modifications?
