Acetone/Plexiglas

[skidesmond]

In another post "Another Ski Press is Born" I mentioned experimenting with acetone/Plexiglas (i.e. not for personal use ) as a sealant. It seemed more appropriate for this forum.

The purpose of the test was to see if the Plexiglas would become brittle, crack, flake off or delaminate when subjected to the cold. The wood was about 2-3mm thick x 22mm wide. It was flexible, easy to bend and twist, prior to coating. I coated the wood and let it dry. It dried very fast and became tacky in a couple of minutes. Maybe if I thinned it out with more acetone it would extend the drying time. Then I placed the wood strip in the freezer for a few hours.

After I took it out of the freezer I noticed the Plexiglas turned an translucent white. The strip of wood was still fairly flexible even when cold. As it warmed up to room temp the wood was still flexible. The Plexiglas coating stayed intact. No cracking or delamination occurred at any time. The only slight draw back is the the Plexiglas remains a transparent white. If you want the wood grain to show through like linseed oil or polyurethane, then this probably won't work for you.

As for using it as a top coat I will try another experiment gluing cotton cloth to a wood, letting it dry and then coat the cloth, let it dry, freeze it and see how it hold ups. I'll post the results in a couple days.

[KevyWevy]

do you have any pictures?

so how did you prepare the acetone/plexiglass?

[skidesmond]

To make the acetone/Plexiglas mixture I took about a 4in x 4in piece of Plexiglas and broke into small pieces and put it in a coffee can. Then I poured enough acetone into the can to cover the Plexiglas, about 3/4 cup or so. Then covered the coffee can to avoid evaporation. I let it set over night. The next day I stirred the mixture. Most of the Plexiglas dissolved. The final consistency s/b that of polyurethane. Add acetone as needed and mix throughly, don't shake it or you'll introduce air bubbles. I've had this mixture covered in the can for a couple of weeks, so it does last. You may need to add acetone to thin over time.

Here's the results of tonights test. I took cloth and glued it to a board. Also cut a thin piece of wood 2-3 mm thick and 25 mm +/- wide. I used a disposable foam brush. Here's a pic before coating:



Next I coated the wood and the flag w/ acetone/Plexiglas. With the stick it is hard to tell it's coated but on the far right where the saw mark is you can see where it's not coated.



Then I put both in the freezer for about 2 hrs. Interestingly enough the flag did not turn a translucent white like the stick did in spots:




So looks like it might work as a protective top coat. A slight draw back is that it dries really fast so you have to work fast. I'd guess buy the time you start to coat a ski from tip to tail, the tip would be setting up and tacky. Definitely dry in 5 minutes.

Also the foam brush I used worked ok but, I left it in the can and the brush came off the stick. I thought the foam might disintegrate but it didn't.