On Dec 14, 2:37*pm, DougC wrote:
I have a project that I need to use toluene to bond some rubber. I don't
want to use any kind of rubber cement, as the bond is in
mid-process--after the rubber is dried but before it is vulcanized--and
anything added may disrupt the final vulcanization of the rubber. -Plus,
the only cements that would work would be 'industrial' ones that have a
lot of toluene or xylene anyway (so they'd still be flammable/noxious)
and still might not work as well.

I can buy the toluene in a gallon can, but what I want is a smaller
container for use, and a way to apply it easily a few drops at a time.

For the smaller bottle, US plastics sells glass bottles with teflon lid
liners. Toluene seems to dissolve damn near every kind of plastic there
is eventually, but Teflon is one plastic that is resistant to damn near
everything. So far I have not found any info that Toluene will harm
teflon.... ? The can it comes in has a plastic liner made of,,,,
something?

The toluene comes in a metal can, FWIW. I know places to buy smaller
metal cans but they all have plastic linings, and I dunno which to get
for this.

There are also one-piece stainless-steel cans around too I guess, which
might work too. I'd just have to find one that had a screw-on stainless
lid,,,, and a liner made of ,,, what? teflon?

For the applicator, I am thinking of just using a piece of glass lab
tubing as a manual dropper. This would allow avoiding contaminating the
jar. I'd like to find a plastic/rubber-bulb dropper that would hold
maybe 2cc's at a time, but so far all I have found has not been suitable
for this use. Any ideas?

Also note: being just a Regular Guy, I can't buy anything from anywhere
that requires a corporate account.

Polyethylene is pretty inert, look for a wash bottle or dropper
bottle, one trade name is Nalgene. If you're going to have toluene
around regularly, you need a safety can and a flammables locker. I
just store all those kinds of solvents outside in a hut well away from
the house. You DO know the stuff will do a number on your liver, if
you're regularly exposed, right? See what www.sciencecompany.com has,
they're local and retail. Have dropper bottles, glass and plastic as
well as other lab gear. I've gotten labware from them to mix up small
quantities of two-part paint for airbrushing gun stuff. That stuff's
a lot more aggressive than just toluene.

Stan