Acetone pipes

[Frank Pratt]

I am about to start using an acetone pipe to remove the gunk off of blades before re-wiring. I tried it briefly and gave it up a while back. I leaned back then (the hard way) that the pipe shouldn't be made of PVC, so I got a 48" steel pipe and an end cap from Home Depot. Two questions:

1. How long should a blade soak in the stuff before I try to scrape off the glue?

2. How often should the acetone be replaced (e.g. after how many epee blades?)

Just to de-necessitate a few replies, I value my well-being, so I'll follow the usual precautions that apply to working with extremely toxic, corrosive, and flammable materials (e.g. lots of ventilation, no skin contact, no smoking, no open flame, no cleaning with a Dremel tool, etc.) If I missed anything, however, please do chime in!

Thanks.
-FGP

[noodle]

i usually just leave the blades in there until the wires fall off. no scraping required, no glue left.
and i always empty out the acetone after i'm done using the tube for the day. its easier, safer, and our pipe has a leak in it since we can't find a way to seal the end cap onto the pipe without it leaking or without the acetone eating up the stuff we sealed it with.

[ReverseLunge]

30 minutes should be enough time for the acetone to eat away any glue. after you remove the wire you can put the blade back in the pipe for a few minutes just to make sure. I'm not sure if you ever need to change the acetone. I just add more.

[Frank Pratt]

<snip>
I always empty out the acetone after i'm done using the tube for the day. its easier, safer, and our pipe has a leak in it since we can't find a way to seal the end cap onto the pipe without it leaking or without the acetone eating up the stuff we sealed it with.

Good point. I got some plumber's tape to seal the end cap, but I'm sure it would quickly disintegrate if the acetone came in contact with it. I can't think of any type of sealant that would stand up this stuff.

[telkanuru]

You need to solder it. If you don't know how do do a plumbing solder, they sell caps you just have to heat with a blowtorch.

[rcmatthews]

Why don't you just get a threaded pipe with a screw on cap.

[ReverseLunge]

Would it work? I think it would leak.

[Frank Pratt]

Would it work? I think it would leak.

Yeah, I think this is the issue noodle had. I don't think the threads are designed to be watertight without plumbers cement/putty/tape. Using this stuff to seal the threads works great for pipes that need to hold water, but water won't melt the putty or tape away. Acetone will. The cap (sealed or unsealed) might hold the acetone in the pipe initially, but it will probably develop a leak at some point.

As telkanuru said, soldering is the best option. This is probably the only sure-fire way to seal an acetone pipe. I'll look for one of those "just add heat" caps.

Lastly, If I'm going to leave the acetone in the pipe, a removeable cap on the top would probably be a good idea to keep fumes from escaping when it's not in use (the pipe I got has threads on both ends.)

[Link14]

I use a slip-on cap when I'm not using the pipe and a tin foil cover when in use ( I can form it around the top and my retrieval strings).

[shlepzig]

I use a 36" pipe with a cap on one end.

I close the top for fume control with a straight union a 12" piece of pipe and a cap on that.

You can put the blades in up to the tang, top off the acetone, and then put the extended cap on top of that. It will cover even a full length tang, and give you someting to grab on to to pull the blade out.

Shlep

[Purple Fencer]

My pipes are 1 1/2" dia (because I do a lot of blades), copper...copper slip cap on the bottom (soldered to prevent leaking), the top is a slip cap/male adapter (copper), ALSO soldered on, then a galvanized screw sap ('cause I couldn;t find a copper one).

The tube is a little over 42" long to allow for French length tangs

I typically drop the blades in overnight...lets teh acetone completely dissolve the glue with no glue residue. I still take a Dremel and grind out the groove to get rid of any ACETONE residue, tho.

When I take a weapon apart, I put all the parts in a ziploc bag that's marked with a number. If it's a pistol length tang, I also screw on a coupling nut (outside hex nut) that has a cutoff tang out the other side...and the nut is marked with teh same # as teh bag the parts are in. That allows me to easily remove the blade, adn make sure the right parts go back on a particular weapon.

[ReverseLunge]

Do you ever need to changed the acetone?

[mrbiggs]

I got a pipe, and have two screw on caps. It doesn't leak.

If I was to get another one, I'd make it longer...I have to cover one end with foil while I'm using it.

[Dee EffEll]

Do you ever need to changed the acetone?

After enough blades, you'll start to see the white glue residue form on the "clean" blades when they dry. Time to change the aceone. The number of blades varies with the size of the pipe, naturally.

Changing the acetone is not a big problem - acetone is reasonably cheap. But give some thought to disposing of the old - remember, you still have acetate glue residue in there. Don't dump it on your driveway. The glue residue is likely a toxic/hazardous substance, so if you let it evaporate, the then empty container should probably be disposed of accordingly.

[edew]

You need to get a large pipe so it makes doing this worthwhile. And you need to get it at any appropriate length or else you can't fish for the blades. I keep the acetone in there forever. I just add new acetone when the level drops too low. Make sure you can fish out the blades by not having the pipe too long.

When I first did my pipe, it leaked at the bottom cap. I just caulked the bottom threads, capped it again and it doesn't leak at all.

[Link14]

I had never changed my acetone but this fall, after 5 years, I was noticing alot of the white residue that Dee EffEll referred to. Last weekend I emptied the pipe into a metal coffee can (so it could evaporate) and had a lot of nasty green sludge. Think I'll change mine yearly from now on.

[edew]

I wonder if it's safe to pour it out on some disolate field and burn the acetone. I don't like the idea of having acetone evaporate into the air, adding to the greenhouse effect. Burning it should reduce it to C02 and other simpler states. Ok, C02 is also a greenhouse effect stuff, but it's not carcinogenic like acetone is.

[Mr Epee]

I prefer acetone cigars.