My new favorite alcohol.....Denatured! a good tip.

jonnymac44

jonnymac44

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Sep 27, 2007
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Sometimes what comes from nature is best......other times DE-natured is best.

Case in point. whenever I epoxy up handle slabs to a knife, I use cotton swabs and first acetone, then 90 percent concentration rubbing alcohol to remove the epoxy that squeezes out in front of the finished handle slabs. I've found that the acetone cuts through the epoxy, and then the rubbing alcohol cleans away most of the haze of the acetone and epoxy. This has always worked well but I haven't been totally pleased, especially with satin finish blades. It seems that sometimes, no matter how diligent I am I can end up with the slightest haze left over on the steel from the process. Most users wouldn't notice but it has always driven me crazy.

The other day while restocking some shop supplies at the local hardware store I was picking up a jug of acetone and noticed the denatured alcohol right next to it. A good buddy of mine is a commercial plumber and all of a sudden I remembered him saying a couple years ago while we were remodeling my bathroom that he loves denatured alcohol because it leaves surfaces so damn clean, such as satin finished faucet fixtures when cleaning up silicone sealers, and it hit me!

I picked up a jug of denatured alcohol and gave it a try on the last couple satin finished blades that I glued up. Amazing results! No haze at all, all epoxy and acetone residue wiped away CLEAN!

Many of may already know all about this but for those still struggling to get things perfectly clean with rubbing alcohol, I suggest you give it a shot. The denatured is a fair amount more expensive but very worth it in the long run.

Happy gluing!
 
Funny you brought this up. I tried using that last batch I did and it worked out well. I'm a painter by trade and I use it from time to time on other things. A+
 
You can't stop trying new things, you never know what will work for you.


De natured alcohol and rubbing alcohol may be the same thing. (both mean don't drink it)

Maybe it's the extra purity, or you are being more liberal with it since you have a big jug now.


methyl
ethyl
isopropyl

are the terms for different alcohols do you labels say any of those ?

70% is best for disinfection
Some of the made in china -dollar store rubbing alcohols are down to 50%


I can get 100% methanol ina gallon jug from the paint department at Home Depot in Canada
 
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IIRC, denatured alcohol is mostly ethanol with enough methanol in it to make it poisonous to drink. I may be wrong, but I seem to recall reading that it was a prohibition era invention of sorts.
 
12345678910 said:
You can't stop trying new things, you never know what will work for you.


De natured alcohol and rubbing alcohol may be the same thing. (both mean don't drink it)

Maybe it's the extra purity, or you are being more liberal with it since you have a big jug now.


methyl
ethyl
isopropyl

are the terms for different alcohols do you labels say any of those ?

70% is best for disinfection
Some of the made in china -dollar store rubbing alcohols are down to 50%


I can get 100% methanol ina gallon jug from the paint department at Home Depot in Canada
Click to expand...

The rubbing alcohol I've been using is 91% concentration isopropyl, and I'm plenty liberal with it......I've got four quart bottles of it in the chemical cabinet!! :D

The denatured alcohol I've got is just described as an ultra pure alcohol made to be diluted and used as a glass cleaner or used full strength as a clean burning marine stove fuel.

Either way, it's working wonders during glue up time:thumbup:
 
If you get the 99% percent isopropyl it works well too. I started using it when cleaning cpu heatsinks, they're a satin finish and any contaminates or residue screws up the heat transfer. 90% is passable, 70% is crap :(
 
There I am sitting at my work bench, a bottle of rubing alcohol on top of the bench and a can of denatured alcohol beneath the bench and I've been reaching for the wrong one!:(

When you go to the store to buy denatred alcohol, don't forget that gallon cans are much cheaper in the long run than quart cans and it's not as if the stuff is going to spoil or needs to be refrigerated.
 
Methyl alcohol is quite toxic, and a small amount can cause blindness and death.. you should read up on it, but as a rule of thumb don't get it on your skin, or inhale it (and of course, don't drink it). Methyl is often added to Ethanol (potable alcohol) to denature it (sometimes up to 50%), but sometimes they use stuff like denatonium benzoate which is a bitterant. In any case, you don't want it on you or in you really, so just be safe with it.

I read up on it a lot recently as I was researching finding denatured alcohol (or pure Ethyl) for use in an alcohol stove, because isopropyl (even 99%) creates large amounts of black soot, and Methyl/Ethyl is very pure, so hardly any soot at all.

Thank you for the tip though! I just got a jug of acetone for knifework, and I have yet to use it, so it's good to see a solution to a problem I'm going to have, in advance :)

Some health/safety info for Methanol:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methyl_alcohol#Health_and_safety
 
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Good to know. I get right in there with sandpaper on a sharp block or a knife edge cratex wheel in a pair of pliers- but sometimes it's good not to have to merely on account of a little residual glue. I'll give it a shot!
 
Here's a link to the MSDS for the stuff I use that has the ingredients. It's the S-L-X Denatured Alcohol that you can get at the big box stores.

I didn't realize it had so much methanol. Also in case anyone was wondering the sweet smell is the ethyl acetate.
 
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