Robert Allison wrote:
David Starr wrote:

Clint wrote:

I am not exactly an expert when it comes to woodwork, so I have a
question. I have been using MEK to help me remove wood glue.
Does
anyone use anything else that doesn't cause cancer. I'm looking
at
a short life expectancy here.


http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/m4628.htm

This is a pointer to the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for MEK.
The stuff is flammable, the vapor makes you woozy, it dissolves the
fat out of your skin causing irritation, drinking it is bad for
you,
but it is not a cancer risk. From the description it doesn't sound
any more dangerous than gasoline. I don't keep gasoline indoors
and
I don't use it for cleaning stuff 'cause of the fire hazard. MEK
doesn't vaporize quite as readily as gasoline, but it does vaporize
and the vapors are heavier than air, which means they build up in a
room rather than floating away into the air.
MEK dissolves plastics, floor tile, some paints, linoleum,
Krylon,
and more, so a spill of even a small container can make quite a
mess. They still sell it in ordinary hardware stores around here,
so
it isn't a sudden death kind of chemical.
The solvents no longer sold are the older chlorinated solvents
like
carbon tetrachloride and trichloroethane.

David Starr


You are correct in all but one point. MEK is highly
evaporative. If you stick your hand into a bucket of MEK,
when you pull it out, it will be completely dry in less than
15 seconds. I know, I have done it many times. If you leave
a pan or bucket of MEK uncovered, it will be gone in less than
12 hours. This indicates to me that it evaporates much more
quickly than gasoline.

FWIW, don't clean your glasses with MEK if you have plastic
lenses, unless you just want to get new glasses.

One of the techs in the lab at Humungous Aerospace used to use MEK on
his poison ivy. Swore it worked.

Powerful, very useful solvent.



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