[nestork]

Besides mineral spirits, the most commonl solvent used by DIY'ers is probably either lacquer thinner (which is mostly toluene) or acetone. But, there are so many other solvents in a paint store that one has to wonder sometimes what they are.

For example, what the heck is MEK?

MEK stands for Methyl Ethyl Ketone, and it's acetone's closest living relative in the paint store.

There is a class of chemicals called "ketones", pronounced "key tones". All ketones have the general formula:

A
|
C=O
|
B

Where C=O is a carbon atom double bonded to an oxygen atom, and A and B can be anything.

If both A and B are methyl groups (-CH3), then the chemical is called "di methyl ketone", or "acetone" by most people's lips.

If A is a methyl group (-CH3) and B is an ethyl group (-CH2-CH3), then it's called methyl ethyl ketone, or MEK for short.

And if you happen to be stoned, if A is the ethyl group and B is the methyl group, it's still MEK.

So, acetone and MEK are very close chemical cousins. If you find that acetone works in the way you want, but evaporates too fast, then switch to MEK. MEK should dissolve everything that acetone does, but evaporates much slower giving you more time to work.

[Red Green]

nestork wrote in news:nestork.d850f08
@diybanter.com:


Besides mineral spirits, the most commonl solvent used by DIY'ers is
probably either lacquer thinner (which is mostly toluene) or acetone.
But, there are so many other solvents in a paint store that one has to
wonder sometimes what they are.

For example, what the heck is MEK?

MEK stands for Methyl Ethyl Ketone, and it's acetone's closest living
relative in the paint store.

There is a class of chemicals called "ketones", pronounced "key tones".
All ketones have the general formula:

A
|
C=O
|
B

Where C=O is a carbon atom double bonded to an oxygen atom, and A and B
can be anything.

If both A and B are methyl groups (-CH3), then the chemical is called
"di methyl ketone", or "acetone" by most people's lips.

If A is a methyl group (-CH3) and B is an ethyl group (-CH2-CH3), then
it's called methyl ethyl ketone, or MEK for short.

And if you happen to be stoned, if A is the ethyl group and B is the
methyl group, it's still MEK.

So, acetone and MEK are very close chemical cousins. If you find that
acetone works in the way you want, but evaporates too fast, then switch
to MEK. MEK should dissolve everything that acetone does, but
evaporates much slower giving you more time to work.





Sounds like some Meth Lab 101

[HomeGu y]

nestork, while using a completely useless subject line, wrote:

Besides mineral spirits, the most commonl solvent used by DIY'ers
is probably either lacquer thinner (which is mostly toluene) or
acetone. But, there are so many other solvents in a paint store
that one has to wonder sometimes what they are.

For example, what the heck is MEK?

I find that nitromethane works better at disolving super glue
(cyanoacrylate) than acetone, or MEK.

You can buy nitromethane from Sigma / Aldrich, or go to a hobby shop and
buy some model airplane fuel (sometimes called "glow fuel") which can
contain up to 30% nitromethane, but in some areas or countries could
actually contain no nitromethane.

[Oren[_2_]]

On Sun, 06 Apr 2014 19:15:27 -0400, HomeGu y "Hom"@eGu y.com wrote:

nestork, while using a completely useless subject line, wrote:

Home Guy,

Why don't you just hang yourself? Eh!
--
"Your brain is so scary sometimes... it really is."-Jedediah Bila...

[Pavel314[_2_]]

On Friday, April 4, 2014 8:57:49 PM UTC-4, nestork wrote:
Besides mineral spirits, the most commonl solvent used by DIY'ers is

probably either lacquer thinner (which is mostly toluene) or acetone.

But, there are so many other solvents in a paint store that one has to

wonder sometimes what they are.



For example, what the heck is MEK?



MEK stands for Methyl Ethyl Ketone, and it's acetone's closest living

relative in the paint store.



There is a class of chemicals called "ketones", pronounced "key tones".

All ketones have the general formula:



A

|

C=O

|

B



Where C=O is a carbon atom double bonded to an oxygen atom, and A and B

can be anything.



If both A and B are methyl groups (-CH3), then the chemical is called

"di methyl ketone", or "acetone" by most people's lips.



If A is a methyl group (-CH3) and B is an ethyl group (-CH2-CH3), then

it's called methyl ethyl ketone, or MEK for short.



And if you happen to be stoned, if A is the ethyl group and B is the

methyl group, it's still MEK.



So, acetone and MEK are very close chemical cousins. If you find that

acetone works in the way you want, but evaporates too fast, then switch

to MEK. MEK should dissolve everything that acetone does, but

evaporates much slower giving you more time to work.









--

nestork

You may have noticed that the C=O in the middle is carbon monoxide. It's very unstable and wants to form bonds, as in the ketones, which is why it's dangerous.

[nestork]

Originally Posted by HomeGu y

I find that nitromethane works better at disolving super glue
(cyanoacrylate) than acetone, or MEK.

You can buy nitromethane from Sigma / Aldrich, or go to a hobby shop and
buy some model airplane fuel (sometimes called "glow fuel") which can
contain up to 30% nitromethane, but in some areas or countries could
actually contain no nitromethane.

Here's a company in Charlotte Hall, Maryland selling 100% pure nitromethane for $49 ($US) per US gallon. Apparantly, it's also used as an additive in car racing fuels, or as the fuel itself in dragsters.

klotzwarehouse, Synthetic lubricants warehouse, Racing oil, Fuels & Lube