Acetone bath

[TheArmourer]

Call me primitive, but I've always been perfectly satisfied with a Stanley knife to get old wires out of blades. But enough peeps seem to swear by acetone baths I figure I might as well give it a shot.

I'm thinking along the lines of 1.1m x 5cm copper tube with a stopper soldered into one end and some type of screw fit cap on the other, then fill it up with about 1litre of acetone.

Does this sound about right?
Any other tips for building one?

[keith]

Originally Posted by TheArmourer

Call me primitive, but I've always been perfectly satisfied with a Stanley knife to get old wires out of blades. But enough peeps seem to swear by acetone baths I figure I might as well give it a shot.

I'm thinking along the lines of 1.1m x 5cm copper tube with a stopper soldered into one end and some type of screw fit cap on the other, then fill it up with about 1litre of acetone.

Does this sound about right?
Any other tips for building one?

well,

don't smoke and use a well ventilated area if you are sloshing that much acetone around - this is where you need to imagine a burnt up little smiley.

[keith]

oh and watch how you attach the bottome seal - acetone will wick through most screw threads. You might be better to use a soldered end cap at one end.

[CvilleFencer]

I rigged up one of these a while back using 1 1/2 inch wide and 46" long pre threaded galvanized steel pipe and some screw on end caps. I rigged it up and got rid of it after a couple weeks because: 1) the smell was horrible. 2) The glue did not seem to like to stick to the blades after the bath no matter how well I dried them off. 3) I still had to scrape the things once I was done, just not as much or as hard. I also sometimes enjoy a good cigar or Nat Sherman Mint Cigarette while spending hours hunched over the workbench working on club weapons. Not the best combination.

I also got some very strange looks at the local hardware store walking out with lots of thin copper wire (I strip it and use the insulation for spaghetti insulation) A couple of cans of Acetone, the preferred pipe and pipe caps of mad bombers all over the work, some solder, a box of nails and some fertilizer. 20/20 hindsight says I should have made two trips, one for fencing and one for home improvement supplies!

[neevel]

Take a look here for how I did it.

-Dave

[enigmagic]

Home Depot carries a brand of copper tubing and fittings that are very cool, and possibly useful for this sort of thing. The fittings/tubing are pre-soldered in the format of a ring of silver solder on the inside of the recieving ends of the pipe, This would facilitate a good seal and relatively little work if one has a torch/source of quick heat/lack of soldering experience. I know it would be pretty difficult to get a good seal with regular solder on copper pipe for many people, and this would alleviate any skill needed(not that you shouldn't learn how to solder anyway, its crazy useful).

Crappy ASCII Cross-Section:

____n__
| ------------------
| Copper Pipe
| ------------------
|____ ___ <-- End Cap with Ring of Solder
. .....U


edit: neevel's technique is easier, but provides for a less rigid seal; I'd probably reccommend that if you don't have a torch handy. Also, I'd be sure the acetone wouldn't react with the thread compound, as I've seen joint compound react poorly to acetone in some instances. Thread tape won't hold up, either.

[telkanuru]

Acetone literally melts plastics, including teflon tape. use plumbing solder. And make sure the thing is long enough for a top cap. Otherwise, you'll come out of the experience with fewer brain cells than you started with. If you have a problem with gluing, I suggest cleaning the blade with an acetone soaked cloth and then rubbing alcohol, as the problem is most likely glue sediments that depositied themselves on the blade. No smoking indeed.

[neevel]

edit: neevel's technique is easier, but provides for a less rigid seal; I'd probably reccommend that if you don't have a torch handy. Also, I'd be sure the acetone wouldn't react with the thread compound, as I've seen teflon thread tape react poorly to acetone in some instances.

I've had that particular set-up for going on 4 years now, and haven't had any issue with leakage. Thread compound is not the same thing as teflon tape-- it's a putty that dries into a solid caulk that fill the thread.

-Dave

[enigmagic]

Originally Posted by neevel

I've had that particular set-up for going on 4 years now, and haven't had any issue with leakage. Thread compound is not the same thing as teflon tape-- it's a putty that dries into a solid caulk that fill the thread.

-Dave

Right, probably a pretty good set-up. I'm aware of the properties of thread compounds, and I have seen them dissolved by acetone. On one particular container I had worked on the 'solid caulk' had been reduced to a sparse slime sort of stuff that did not seal the drainage valve against leaks at all. I meant to say that I'd seen _both_ thread tape and joint compound destroyed, sorry for the confusion.

One should still try to find a resistant compound. I recommend Harvey's Thread Compound, it solved my problem.

[Torg]

i'm probably one of the few out here who do this, but i just pour a little nail polish cleaner (containing acetone) down the length of my blade and let it soak for a few minutes. then i scrape it off with a screwdriver or a razor blade. if any glue remains i use more acetone on a cotton ball.

(P.S. thanks to my mom for the supplies!)

[ReverseLunge]

Originally Posted by TheArmourer

Call me primitive, but I've always been perfectly satisfied with a Stanley knife to get old wires out of blades.

It must be a b@tch to scrape out all the glue residue with a knife. Even with a acetone bath there is still plenty of gooey stuff that remains in the groove after you pull the wire out.

[TheArmourer]

Pertty much what I thought - so thanks for that. (Neevel - I like the idea of the extra long cap to cover the tangs - I was thinking of a piece of wire around the tang, but that's much better idea.)

I've seen the pre-soldered joints before and I that was what I was planning.
OK, I'm off to B&Q. (Thats a UK DIY chain BTW.)

[Mergs]

Here's some details on both options. The numbers following the material is the SKU number and is the one found on materials at any hardware or home improvement store. Enjoy!


Iron Soaking Tube.

Tools
2 Plumber’s wrenches

Material
36” black iron pipe, ¾” dia threaded on both ends* 6-36660-20520-4
2 – ¾”threaded caps** 6-59261-20115-4
Plumber’s Goop

* or larger if you intend on doing more than one blade at a time
** make sure that these are all the same size!

Step 1: Apply Plumber’s Goop to the threads on one end of the pipe.
Step 2: Thread one of the caps on to the end of the pipe with the goop and using the two wrenches, tighten the cap securely on to the pipe.
Step 3: Thread the other cap to the pipe and use it when storing acetone.

Copper Soaking Tube

Tools SKU
Plumber’s solder and flux
Propane torch
Emery cloth
Vise

Material
36” copper pipe, ¾” *
1 – ¾” cap** 0-39923-30630-2
1 – ¾” female adapter** 0-39923-30242-7
1 – ¾” black iron end plug**6-59261-20119-2

* or larger if you intend on doing more than one blade at a time
** make sure that these are all the same size!

Step 1: Dry fit the cap and the connector piece on to the tube to make sure they fit.
Step 2: Remove the pieces from the tube and fix the tube in the vise horizontally. Take the emery cloth and sand the end of the pipe on one end and the inside of the cap so they are somewhat shiny.
Step 3: Apply flux to the cleaned end of the pipe and fit the cap firmly over the end of the tube.
Step 4: Unroll about 4” of solder. Carefully light the torch and evenly heat the two pieces until you see the flux start to bubble from underneath the two connected parts. At this point touch the end of the solder to the joint. The solder should melt and flow up under the cap. This is called “wicking”. Keeping heat on the two parts, go all the way around the tube with the solder. Be careful not to use too much (so that it leaves lumps of solder around the joint).
Step 5: Repeat for the other end.

Use the end plug in the same way as the second threaded cap for the iron tube.

If all this seems too complicated, it is a standard plumbing technique that if you take the parts to a standard plumber, can do it for a small fee. Don’t know a standard plumber? Check the phone book; just don’t call them to come to your house to do it, though. $100 for a housecall is a tad steep price to pay for such a simple tool. Or you can also check out Home Depot, HGTV, DIYNET.com, or any self-help home repair book for more detailed instructions and pictures. Or find a buddy to do it.

[vraptor]

If you're like me, you generally wait until most or all of your weapons fail before doing any maintenence. Since I normally have several blades to re-wire, I've gone to using one inch copper tubing with one soldered end cap. I took a second end cap and drilled two 1/4 inch holes in it and I use that to suspend two blades at a time in the acetone bath by threading the nut back on the tang after passing it through the cap. This also serves to minimize evaporation during the process. It also keeps the tip out of the gunk that tends to collect in the bottom of the tube.

If you're the club armorer, there is a definite advantage to being able to soak multiple blades at one time. Any remaining residue is taken care of toot sweet by using a dremel wire brush down the channel.

[gojujay]

I use an acetone bath exclusively for my club's blades. Never had to use anything else after the bath as all the glue dissolves. I usually leave the blades in for about 2+ hours tho'. The wire(s) just fall right out of them.

[geezer]

Sorry to intrude...this is for "vraptor". Go to 'Armory' posts, "Spanish offset" and helpout "S.Hunter" with Italian grip info. Who knows better than you?

[Purple Fencer]

Here's something else to consider for those doing club armory...differing blade lengths.

For myself, I have two 1 1/2" copper tubes of acetone in the shop (as I armor not only salle gear, but some of the local teams). I've gotton all lengths of blades...from #2 cur for a pistol grip to a #5 with a French length tang.

The French length tangs are no problem...the copper tubes are about 1 inch longer than the length of the blades (with additional space from the inside of the cap). However, if I drop a #5 pistol in teh tank I won;t be able to get hold of it...

To fix this, I saved about a dozen tang fragments from when I cut a blade to pistol length. I screw an outside hex nut onto one end of the fragment, the other on the tang of the weapon and bingo...I can gab the tang and pull it out of hte tank. For a #2 pistol I use 2 fragments.

I've got 1 dozen ziplock bags that are numbered, and inside each of them is a tang fragment and an outside hex nut that's had slashes cur into them that correspond to the bag number...that way I can keep all the parts together with the blades they go with. Usefull at times like now, when I've got 12 i nteh tank and another 12 waiting!