My brother game me a gallon of acetone. I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas for hobby uses for this product. (track cleaner? Paint thinner?) The only use listed on the can is fiberglass cleaner and thinner.
Being in the boat building and repair business, I’ve been around acetone and the only thing I would recomend it for is to clean your paint brushes with or remove CA from fingers…not your RR empire.
It is powerful stuff, so it has its uses. Better autobody shops will wipe down a finished quarterpanel with acetone before they prime and paint. It does a super-duper job of prepping metal for paints or other coverings. So, I would bet it is murder on anything that wasn’t on your rails when the factory shipped 'em. That must include the plastic ties. It wouldn’t do your trains much good, except to perhaps clean the tire surfaces, phosphor bronze surfaces and their mates meant to transmit power, and maybe all the little pivots and divots in the running gear. You wouldn’t want any of it to get on your paint or decals.
Any brass or rail that you were about to solder could probably stand a lick with a q-tip steeped in acetone.
I use it to remove the varnish from Brass locos prior to painting…
David B
Loathar,
Acetone is a terrific degreaser. We use it at work as our 2nd cleaning solvent for metals. We start with Trichloroethylene, then use Acetone, then finish up with Methanol. The Acetone removes the Trichlor and the Methanol removes the Acetone, as well as any water.
Acetone is pretty astringent. Although it would do a good job degreasing your rails, it will also mar the plastic ties on your track. Cloth would also break down fairly quickly. If you do use it, be sure to wear Nitrile or chemical resistant gloves.
Tom
You can take off your nail polish. [swg]
I’ve heard some people say they use it as a solvent cement for styrene, but I’ve never had much luck with it.
Did he give you safety glasses with it?
It’s as good as most the “plastic cements” sold in the hobby shops and is a lot less expensive.
Because it evaporates very quickly, it works best when the parts to be “glued” are held in their proper position and the acetone applied with a small “wet” brush.
Or a small hypodermic tipped bottle, and let the capillary action do the work. It’s been a long time since I gave it a try, so I’ll give it another shot.
I use it to get my fingers unstuck from super glue, like when the cap that screws back on the little tube don’t fit real well and the tube sticks really good to your fingers. I use the little tubes when I am building kits in hotels during my travels. My last project was a B&O station by LaserArt. I carry a bottle that had nail polish remover in it. I tape the tops on the bottles so they won’t unscrew in my luggage. I have carried small bottles of liquid cement, acetone, paint, etc. along with small hand tools about about 8 or 10 times a year for many years, have had my suitcase inspected many times by TSA and have never lost anything to them. I use the acetone outside when necessary to use, as it is very bad for you to inhale or get much absorbed by the skin. Safe modeling is fun. Don’t even get it near some plastics like stryene, while others like polycast or plexiglass are not that quick to disolve with it.
Paul
Dayton and Mad River RR
Acetone or MEK are the principal ingredients in liquid styrene cement. You must be very careful to not get acetone on plastic because it will melt it. I accidentally dropped a small plastic handled brush into a can of acetone, and the handle was completely dissolved within a few minutes. Acetone is an excellent track cleaner but use it very sparingly on a rag stretched over your fingertip, and don’t touch plastic crossties.
You can use acetone to dissolve scraps of styrene to make a putty for filling seams and sinkholes in plastic models.
Some good uses! Thanks. I’ll have to try it as a styrene cement. I figured I should keep it away from plastics. He gave it to me just to degrease some parts.