ndbprr I am 75 years old. I grew up with no seat belts in cars or booster seats. Lead paint in houses everywhere and even lead pipes for the water. Nearly everyone smoked and there was smoke haze from my grandfathers pipe everywhere in the house. Kids got polio and Scarlett fever. If the kid down the street got mumps or measles you went to see him and get exposed to it. By modern standards none of us should be alive but we are. I am waiting for the government to ban the one thing that causes death 100% of the time. It is called life. Be cautious but don't buy the draconian thinking of the idiots running the government regulations. They stay in their jobs by finding new things to ban. If it works it has to be life threatening and I get promoted by yelling fire. As a chemical engineer I have put up with their stupidity for my entire career. My two cents.
I am 75 years old. I grew up with no seat belts in cars or booster seats. Lead paint in houses everywhere and even lead pipes for the water. Nearly everyone smoked and there was smoke haze from my grandfathers pipe everywhere in the house. Kids got polio and Scarlett fever. If the kid down the street got mumps or measles you went to see him and get exposed to it. By modern standards none of us should be alive but we are. I am waiting for the government to ban the one thing that causes death 100% of the time. It is called life. Be cautious but don't buy the draconian thinking of the idiots running the government regulations. They stay in their jobs by finding new things to ban. If it works it has to be life threatening and I get promoted by yelling fire. As a chemical engineer I have put up with their stupidity for my entire career. My two cents.
Two years ago I found the real stuff at ACE for $21 a gallon. The other big stores only had MEK Substitute. I never was able to find out anything about the substitute. I just figured it couldn't be as good as the real stuff since it was something that the government forced on us.
Rick
While MEK could be classified as dangerous, it is not absorbed through the skin. Prolonged or repeated exposure may, however, cause dryness and irritation of the skin.
Here's the MSDS for MEK.
One compound which I know to be absorbed through the skin is methyl hydrate.
I used to use it a lot for stripping paint from models, both metal and styrene, but it doesn't work as well on the newer types of paint. It also evapourates very quickly, so an open container is an invitation to inhalation.If you're working a lot with these types of chemicals, especially in somewhat larger quantities, you might want to wear a two-stage respirator. I always wear one when airbrushing, especially with lacquer-based paints, and with a well-fitted mask, you won't get even a whiff of odour.
Wayne
I simply say, do not use MEK it's an hasardous product and in the end you win nothing except may be some health troubles.
I can't understand why people try to play at the sorcerer's apprentice with hazardous chemicals products just to win a very few bucks.
A liquid model plastic bottle cost just a very few bucks and is enough for more than one year of hard model construction.
We are fortunate enough to find numerous excellent plastic glue on the market like Tamiya, Mig, Humbrol, Faller,Plastruct and all the other brands.
95% of the plastic models offered on the market are made of styrene, all these brands of glue work perfectly on styrene; myself have used Humbrol glue during 40 years and the model constructed at this period are still alive without any parts unglued; now I use exclusively Mig and Tamiya plastic glues
The 5 % of model plastic which are not made of styrene, often little run model, need in much the case a specialized glue for this special kind of plastic like acrylics laser kit or some plastic offered in the plastruct line.
So again MEK doesn't work for these plastics.
But sure MEK like other volatile thinner are hazardous, need extreme precaution and ventilation and are really not necessary for our needs for modeling.
As a retired professionnal in paint, polyester work, I have used many volatil thinner included MEK and like the wholesaler saling them say, take care when using them
So I hope to see MEK forbidden in the model community, because it's hazardous especialy because MEK is absolutely not necessary to glue plastic.
Marc_Magnus So I hope to see MEK forbidden in the model community
So I hope to see MEK forbidden in the model community
What authority does anyone have to tell me what glue I can or cannot use to build a model? I do not believe that I am creating any health risk for me or my family buy using it in the quantities that I do. Even if it did that is my choice.
This is just the nanny state mentality. I recently got the Micro Mark magnetic glueing jig. There was a warning label on it that the State of California had determined it could be hazardouds to my health. It took a while for me to stop laughing.
@ Rick
That's all the people say," I use a small quantities so there is no risk"
Sorry but this is not a good answer, with such products the quantities is not necessary.
There are numerous report in the modeling community saying MEK is hazardous and many modellers have say the vapor made them bad.
On the officilal site of the salers and in the professionnal community MEK is on the list of the really hazardous product
If you read the safety cautions about MEK it's not really recommended to use it even in small quantities without particular safety rules.
It's even more important because children are able to use such product and it's not safe.
And in any case it's ridicoulous to ask to use an hazardous product in place of existing product which are probably not safe too but have a better appliance probably for a modeling use
And about MEK did you know it has the capacity to go trough your skin just if you touch it, not a lot of people know that, so it's not a question of authority just a safe advertissement.
But you do what you will, it's your health, but because I have used MEK in professional use, I can tell you, really without any consideration, it's an hazardous product , which can really reach your nervous system quickly with desastrous consequences and which has not his place in modeling use and really no necessity to be used.
The balance between the hazardous possibility even in very small quantities and safety has only one side for me, safety.
Just my opinion
Google is your friend.
Before I bought the gallon of MEK I did research. It is NOT dangerous to casual modelers as long as moderate precautions are taken.
sandusky Outlawed here in Georgia some years ago. Had to fight for my last quart from Ace who had to get it returned from a sister location, I think. "MEK Substitute" you can buy all day long.
Outlawed here in Georgia some years ago. Had to fight for my last quart from Ace who had to get it returned from a sister location, I think. "MEK Substitute" you can buy all day long.
I figured that was why I couldn't find it anywhere around here.
I bought the substitute. Its ineffective and a waste of money.
- Douglas
In organic chemistry lab we worked with nitroaniline, a bright yellow substance that stained your skin French's mustard yellow. There was no way it washed off but magically on the 4th day, it disappeared and not on the bed linen.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley