Can extraction gassoline disolve shelac?

[Przemek]

I'm amateur tinkerer and i wonder if it's safe to leave a pallet fork in gassoline? Can it melt shellac or not?

Thanks in advance for all answers:)

[oldhippy]

The safest thing to use is Ronsonol lighter fluid. Best to have a small screw top container as it evaporates very fast. You could leave watch parts that have shellac on them for days in the fluid and nothing will come to harm. That is what I always used. When the parts are clean put the part on a piece of wrapping tissue and use your bench air blower to remove any residue.

[watchweasol]

Hi  as recommended  lighter fuel or Isopropyl alchohol, But there is no reason to leave parts soaking unless they are very dirty and even then it better to clean the part several times than leave it soaking.  Gasolene will clean parts but the fumes and its inflamability  are an inherent danger.

[Nucejoe]

You would need plenty of lighter fluid to rinse the gasoline off.

 

[jdm]

3 hours ago, Przemek said:

I'm amateur tinkerer and i wonder if it's safe to leave a pallet fork in gassoline?

There is a better choice than gasoline, or lighter fluid, as neither of these are horological products, are not recommended by any manufacture. That is "petroleum ether", it may have different names in different countires, and is available online, at pharmacies, or chemicals shops. please check wikipedia or search this forum to learn more about it.

[clockboy]

In the UK I think is was named benzine. If so I would be careful. It was used a lot many years ago in the letterpress printing industry and it was banned because it was found to have carcinogenic properties. 

[jdrichard]

14 minutes ago, clockboy said:

In the UK I think is was named benzine. If so I would be careful. It was used a lot many years ago in the letterpress printing industry and it was banned because it was found to have carcinogenic properties. 

Naptha???

[Przemek]

4 hours ago, jdm said:

There is a better choice than gasoline, or lighter fluid, as neither of these are horological products, are not recommended by any manufacture. That is "petroleum ether", it may have different names in different countires, and is available online, at pharmacies, or chemicals shops. please check wikipedia or search this forum to learn more about it.

That's exactly what i was talking about, in Poland it is called Benzyna ekstrakcyjna and google translated it to "extraction gassoline", yet wikipedia says different name for "benzyna ekstrakcyjna" is "eter naftowy" which is "petroleum ether" you wrote about

 

Thank you all for your answers!

[vinn3]

4 hours ago, jdm said:

There is a better choice than gasoline, or lighter fluid, as neither of these are horological products, are not recommended by any manufacture. That is "petroleum ether", it may have different names in different countires, and is available online, at pharmacies, or chemicals shops. please check wikipedia or search this forum to learn more about it.

    yes,  wikpedia.  that is what a graduate chemist would do.

[jdm]

2 hours ago, clockboy said:

In the UK I think is was named benzine. If so I would be careful. It was used a lot many years ago in the letterpress printing industry and it was banned because it was found to have carcinogenic properties. 

We have had this discussion so many times but it still happens every time the word is mentioned. You are referring to benzene, that is  a common mistake for English speakers. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene

Not to be confused with Benzine.

Edited May 19, 2020 by jdm

[jdrichard]

Again, what about naphtha?


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[jdm]

19 hours ago, jdrichard said:

Again, what about naphtha?

That is just a less refined "petroleum ether" above. Leave a drop evaporate on a clean glass, if it leaves no residue then it will be fine.

[jdrichard]

That is just a less refined "petroleum ether" above. Leave a drop evaporate on a clean glass, if it leaves no residue then it will be fine.

Thanks jdm. I usually use lighter fluid, but I do have a full canister of naphtha


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[Deggsie]

The original question relates to use of gasoline (petrol) and whether or not it will dissolve/soften shellac. A good question.

Not mentioned is the use of stoddards, which is the lion share of some expensive proprietary watch and clock cleaning solutions. Stoddards is fine with shellac.


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[vinn3]

gasoline has no place for watch cleaning.  it can be used for paint thinner with enamel,   it can be used as a first clean on a clock mvt., (the clock will run when submerged in gasoline).  then wash it off with a garden hose. AND don't smoke around gasoline.    vin

[nickelsilver]

I know some very old books mention using gasoline for cleaning, but these were written when gasoline was a very different animal regarding additives (and folks were a little more carefree about safety). I think something like Coleman fuel is close to old timey gasoline; camp stoves that are made to run Coleman fuel will have problems with gasoline (except models made for both), mainly due to clogging issues. When I needed Coleman fuel here for my old U.S. made stove the old man at the chemist shop said to use regular benzine, which I have on hand in the workshop for---- cleaning parts. Works great.

[Deggsie]

gasoline has no place for watch cleaning.  it can be used for paint thinner with enamel,   it can be used as a first clean on a clock mvt., (the clock will run when submerged in gasoline).  then wash it off with a garden hose. AND don't smoke around gasoline.    vin

Are you sure gasoline is water soluble? I don’t think it can be washed off, it’s a product of oil and therefore immiscible with water. Please tell me if I’m wrong.

Regards
Deggsie


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[jdm]

41 minutes ago, Deggsie said:

Are you sure gasoline is water soluble? I don’t think it can be washed off, it’s a product of oil and therefore immiscible with water. Please tell me if I’m wrong.

Our long time member vinn3, in its normal layman approach to anything, didn't say that gasoline is water solubile. He said that one can wash it off from objects spraying water. While that is true, the applicability of his statement in the horology I leave to anyone to judge. 

[oldhippy]

Just got this from google. 

Gasoline is not soluble in water. Gasoline is a complex mixture of non-polar compounds such as long chained hydrocarbons etc. Water is a polar molecule. ... As a result, the gasoline molecules cannot enter water and form a solution.

[Deggsie]

Hi all. Sorry I didn’t mean to try and make anyone’s statement look wrong, I was merely curious, as to be honest I’d never personally tried it. I think what was meant is that the majority of the gasoline can be hosed off.


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[vinn3]

3 hours ago, Deggsie said:

Are you sure gasoline is water soluble? I don’t think it can be washed off, it’s a product of oil and therefore immiscible with water. Please tell me if I’m wrong.

Regards
Deggsie


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     gasoline evaporates  from brass.   right?     vin

[markr]

[vinn3]

a lot of things have changed since 1945.     espesally the formula for gasoline,   get a newer manule.   vin

[Deggsie]

a lot of things have changed since 1945.     espesally the formula for gasoline,   get a newer manule.   vin

I’m not a chemical engineer, but..... I would say what you say is True, however the fundamental hydrocarbon in gasoline (which provides the cleaning) has still not changed. You are correct that there will be changes such as additives and of course the octane rating will be higher nowadays (which I think means it ignites at a lower temperature).

If you can get hold of WF Pro, I bet it’s very close to the formula in the old book.


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[jdrichard]

Lighter fluid is the best, most available and cheap; and leaves no stains and does not weaken the shellac. Btw, I 2 copies of the same manual.


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