Super Glue - Acetone

[victord66]

I've just finished re-wiring a foil blade. The old wire/glue was a ***** to remove. I was scraping for an hour (granted I don't have a vice at home).
I've read that acetone will desolve most glues, but the method suggested is to put the blade in a pipe filled with the solvent. Is there a way of doing this without the pipe? Perhaps spreading the acetone over the blade/groove and waiting 10-15 minutes? Does it have to soak in the acetone? And if so, how long? Any advise? Thanks.

[Amadeus]

suck it up and get the pipe. you will be really, really, really glad you did. i spent a few months trying to unwire blades without it, which takes so much more time.

also, no matter how much you scrape, you might leave some dirt or something in there. then, the wire will come undone, and you have to start the whole process over again, -$3.50 for the wire.

the just pouring it over thing is probably a bad idea. acetone is extremely flammable, it's corrosive, and it evaporates quickly.

[oiuyt]

Acetone evaporates very quickly, as mentioned. What does work is wetting a paper towel (or tissue) and using that to apply the acetone. Do this intermixed with your scraping and it'll make your job easier.

I'm a big fan of the pipe method however.

Another option is using a dremel tool (or the Craftman version, or generic, but a rotary tool, in any case) to grind out the wire/glue/ickies that are in the groove. Note that the little bits that get thrown off into the air aren't good to breathe. Take care to use proper safety precautions.

Note that nail polish remover is (usually) just a dilute form of acetone. Convenient way to get a solvent without finding a hardware store that's open.

-B

[gatorjosh]

Ive never used acetone, just the dremel to clean the groove. How does the acetone react to the metal?

[keropie]

Acetone is an organic, polar solvent with high vapor pressure. Steel is an inorganic, non polar alloy of iron and carbon (primarily). Steel used in fencing blades is heat treated, as well. If your acetone has ANY significant affect on your blades, you should be glad, because those blades were no longer safe to use.

Essentially, acetone isn't going to do anything to the steel of your blades. It does, however, weaken/dissolve cross-linkings in most commerical glues (and a bunch of other essentially organic polar substances).

[Mergs]

Another method is to use a heat gun, the kind used in stripping paint (Home Depot, about $20). Melts the glue, and a lot of it comes out with the wire. Use a dremel (#409 disc) to clean out the groove. Do it in a well ventilated area as the cutting disc can turn the glue into a toxic gas.

Choose your poison.

[DieterS]

I also prefer the copper tube method. To cap one end, use a heavy duty soldering iron and carefully solder a copper cap to one end--you can probably get a plumber to do this for you if necessary.

Be careful not to inhale acetone fumes or get it on your skin unnecessarily (wash your hands after use). Constant exposure to acetone is bad for you.

To prevent rapid evaporation, I cover the open end with tape wrapped over the opening and around the threads of the blade(s) being cleaned.

Dieter

[brtech]

I had a pipe for a couple of years. It works well, but has two significant problems:

1. It takes a while to get the glue to soften enough to clean out. If you only handle your own weapons, and you never need one rewired like, NOW, then this is not a problem. For me, it's a PROBLEM.

2. Acetone is very nasty stuff. Your skin absorbs it really well. The vapors are bad also. It's a hazardous material in all sense of the word,

I've switched to the heat gun. It's much faster, and if you use it in a ventilated room, you don't have any significant vapor problems. I'm on a campaign to get people to give up the acetone and use a heat gun.

Nothing is completely safe. You can burn yourself, or others, or things with the heat gun, and the vapor from the glue is nasty, I think, on balance, that the heat gun is much safer, as well as faster.

Now, a very experienced dremel operator is faster than a heat gun, but that takes a lot of practice.

Go to a Home Depot and get a Wagner paint stripper heat gun. Clamp the blade on something where spraying the hot air won't be a problem. I use a spring clamp. Start at either end where you can grab the wire (using a needle nose pliers, probably). Heat the blade until the wire comes out easily. Moving slowly down the blade, letting the heat do the work, ease the wire out of the channel. If you are getting the blade to the right temp, most of the glue comes out on the wire. The wire will come out before that point if you pull hard on it, but you leave too much glue in the groove.

You may have to reverse the blade in the clamp to get it all out. Be careful, the blade is hot.

When you are done, a couple of swipes with a razor blade or other tool will get the remaining bits of glue out. Total time, maybe 5 minutes.

[remise]

Dremel. You can lay your blade across the top of an open trash can - hold the blade with one hand and the dremel with the other. Once you get the hang of it, nothing beats it for totally cleaning out your blade groove. If you purchase a diamond wheel, you won't need to change it for a very long time.

[Purple Fencer]

Another method is to use a heat gun, the kind used in stripping paint (Home Depot, about $20). Melts the glue, and a lot of it comes out with the wire. Use a dremel (#409 disc) to clean out the groove. Do it in a well ventilated area as the cutting disc can turn the glue into a toxic gas.

Choose your poison.

What's the temp differance between the paint stripping heat gun and one for use on heat shrink??

[WhipLash]

lazy ppl like me stick to the pipe method, cos u can leave a bunch to soak overnight and then it's really easy to clean the groove. i use lab gloves when working with acetone though. least labor intensive method...

[Jvanhousen]

If you're having a problem w/ acetone fumes and skin contact, you're doing it wrong. I use a 1" dia. galv. pipe, threaded caps on both ends. Unscrew the cap and lower blade(s) into the acetone w/ a bit of old wire wrapped around the tang threads to facilitate removal from bath. No fumes (worth mentioning), or liquid on the loose. Next day, remove cap and slowly remove blades one at a time, the blade is dry (and totally clean) before it's fully withdrawn. No liquid on skin, next to no fumes. Put cap back on. I change the acetone maybe once a year? Short of paying someone else to do it, how much easier can it get?

[Mergs]

What's the temp differance between the paint stripping heat gun and one for use on heat shrink??

about 120 deg F

[fencerbill]

Acetone evaporates very quickly, as mentioned. What does work is wetting a paper towel (or tissue) and using that to apply the acetone. Do this intermixed with your scraping and it'll make your job easier.

I'm a big fan of the pipe method however.

Another option is using a dremel tool (or the Craftman version, or generic, but a rotary tool, in any case) to grind out the wire/glue/ickies that are in the groove. Note that the little bits that get thrown off into the air aren't good to breathe. Take care to use proper safety precautions.

Note that nail polish remover is (usually) just a dilute form of acetone. Convenient way to get a solvent without finding a hardware store that's open.

-B

I used to buy the sample size nail polish remover in CVS drugstores. If I had to rewire at a tournament I could lay the blade horizontal and apply the nail polish remover with a Q-tip repeatedly. It does take a while. Then just abandon the partial bottle. I like a hack saw blade for scraping out the softened glue. Just grind the set off the teeth.

[Black Jeebus]

I personally like the dremel method, if you have a decent dremel it takes like no time at all to get it cleaned out. The last (and actually first time) I rewired a blade, I used a nice high powered dremel (a black and decker model I believe) and it took me like 30-45 mins to get the groove all cleaned out.

[Purple Fencer]

I personally like the dremel method, if you have a decent dremel it takes like no time at all to get it cleaned out. The last (and actually first time) I rewired a blade, I used a nice high powered dremel (a black and decker model I believe) and it took me like 30-45 mins to get the groove all cleaned out.

That long? What kind of a wheel were you using?

With a diamond wheel, I can grind out a full wire in 5 or so (depending on how tight the wire was in and how much more crud I need to get out)

[brtech]

I think most of us just use a cutoff disc(the kind that comes in a pack of 25 or so and uses a screw to hold in on an arbor). 5-10 minutes is about right with good technique. I don't think it matters much what was in the groove, the disc just cuts right through it.

The technique I've seen that I like the best is to put a piece of leather on your thigh. Hold the dremel stationary and move the blade back and forth. Your goal is to have the wheel move straight in the groove. The disc can indeed cut the steel. That is why you need some experience, although you break a lot of discs before you learn to keep it straight and press down with just the right amount of force.

I still like the hot air gun better. It's also about 5 minutes and less technique is needed.

[Purple Fencer]

I think most of us just use a cutoff disc(the kind that comes in a pack of 25 or so and uses a screw to hold in on an arbor). 5-10 minutes is about right with good technique. I don't think it matters much what was in the groove, the disc just cuts right through it.

The technique I've seen that I like the best is to put a piece of leather on your thigh. Hold the dremel stationary and move the blade back and forth. Your goal is to have the wheel move straight in the groove. The disc can indeed cut the steel. That is why you need some experience, although you break a lot of discs before you learn to keep it straight and press down with just the right amount of force.

Problem is, you risk damaging the blade more with the cutting disc you reference....that's why I use the diamond wheel...it cuts a LOT slower and leaves more room for error.

[WhipLash]

do these dremels remove metal from the groove? over repeated rewirings, won't that damage the blade?

[Mergs]

do these dremels remove metal from the groove? over repeated rewirings, won't that damage the blade?

If you rewire a blade so much that the cleaning out of the groove damages it, save the blade for study, because either you are doing a bad job of rewiring or it'll never break and we have found the Holy Grail!!!!