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.

I have been using MEK to help me remove wood glue. Does
anyone use anything else that doesn't cause cancer.

There's always water when the glue is wet (although nobody's proved
that water DOESN'T cause cancer...), or a chisel once the glue has
just started to dry. If you have a lot of squeeze-out, you should
probably use less glue in the first place.

Or are you talking about removing glue that's already cured from
inside joints? For dissembly/restoration, I've heard that either
moist heat or vinegar can help.

There's also a product called waxilit that can be spread on bare wood
near your glue joint, so squeeze-out won't stick to the wood. The wax
can then be removed with alcohol, and it won't interfere with
finishing (or so they advertise - I haven't tried it).

Good luck,
Andy

On Sun, 16 Sep 2007 15:46:18 -0700, 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 use a scraper or slightly dull chisel or plane iron while the glue
is still "snot" consistency.

---------------------------------------------
** http://www.bburke.com/woodworking.html **
---------------------------------------------

"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.

You don't define the task; however, a 1500W heat gun and a little patience
is a combination wood glue usually can't resist.

Lew

Used to dip my hands in MEK to strip paint off aircraft. Wonder how
much that's shortened my time.....



On Sun, 16 Sep 2007 15:46:18 -0700, 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.

Sun, Sep 16, 2007, 3:46pm (EDT-3) (Clint) doth
wander in and post:
snip. I have been using MEK to help me remove wood glue. snip

Why? Sounds more like a troll then a valisd post to me - too many
details left out.



JOAT
What is life without challenge and a constant stream of new
humiliations?
- Peter Egan

On Sep 16, 7:14 pm, Andy wrote:
I have been using MEK to help me remove wood glue. Does
anyone use anything else that doesn't cause cancer.

There's always water when the glue is wet (although nobody's proved
that water DOESN'T cause cancer...), or a chisel once the glue has
just started to dry. If you have a lot of squeeze-out, you should
probably use less glue in the first place.

Or are you talking about removing glue that's already cured from
inside joints? For dissembly/restoration, I've heard that either
moist heat or vinegar can help.

There's also a product called waxilit that can be spread on bare wood
near your glue joint, so squeeze-out won't stick to the wood. The wax
can then be removed with alcohol, and it won't interfere with
finishing (or so they advertise - I haven't tried it).

Masking tape also works, and you probably already have it.

I'd use anything else besides MEK!!!! I try to get it off right away with a
moist paper towel. I've had to sand also. MEK is one of the first chemicals
the Air force tried to get rid of starting back in the early 80s very nasty
stuff cancer, birth defects etc.

--
Watch for the bounce.
If ya didn't see it, ya didn't feel it.
If ya see it, it didn't go off.
Old Air Force Munitions Saying
"Clint" wrote in message
ups.com...
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.

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.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

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.



--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

J. Clarke wrote:

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

So will a weak household ammonia solution, and probably rubbing alcohol
and hydrogen peroxide, with way less potential side effects.

All you're doing is removing the PI oils that irritate the skin. There
is a commercial product, Technu, that does the same.