Full Version: Where to buy acetone?
From: Geezer (ERNIE) [#4]
24 Aug 2005
To: Laura (ELLEMD628) [#1] 24 Aug 2005
Did your laser manufacturer tell you to use acetone? It really is powerful stuff.
I would think that if it's for cleaning parts of your laser you would be better off using denatured alcohol.
Ernie
From: Arkie [#5]
24 Aug 2005
To: ALL
I will also recommend that you be extremely careful with acetone. It's a very volatile solvent which will literally melt many plastics. It's very flammable. Keep it in a very cool place in a tightly closed container.
I'm certain there is plenty of information on the container you purchase.
That said, I found pint and quart cans of it in the paint department at my local Wally World aka WalMart.
~Joe
From: Laura (ELLEMD628) [#6]
24 Aug 2005
To: ALL
From: Ken D. (KDEVORY) [#7]
24 Aug 2005
To: Laura (ELLEMD628) [#6] 24 Aug 2005
From: PenTrophy (PENINSULATROPHY) [#8]
24 Aug 2005
To: Laura (ELLEMD628) [#1] 25 Aug 2005
The kit I received with my Laser was a eye glass cleaning kit. Lens papers and a bottle of cleaning solution.
Acetone. WOW...........
From: Button (LASERCHICK) [#9]
24 Aug 2005
To: ALL
From: Peck.Sidara (LAOPADAK) [#10]
25 Aug 2005
To: Laura (ELLEMD628) [#6] 25 Aug 2005
Dear All,
Laura, I apologize if you were told to use Acetone on the optics (mirrors and lenses).
We recommend what we send with our machines. Specialty lens/optics cleaner. If a customer runs out of this solvent then our 2nd option would be to use the following.
Everclear
Golden Grain Alcohol
These are alcohol's sold over the counter at your local liquor store. It is recommended becuase it's pure and does not contain inpurites which can scratch the lens/mirrors.
Perhaps it was recommended that you use Acetone simply becuase the standard optics cleaner would not get the smudge off.
Please understand that we would not hold you liable if you ruined one or several of your optics due to a recommendation from Technical Support.
In the past we have used acetone for cleaning our optics. It is a reagent grade acetone and not what you would remove nail polish with. A reagent grade acetone would be pure and will not scratch your optics. Standard nail polish remover acetone would likely scratch the optics.
A reagent grade acetone will not harm your optics but a nail polish remover acetone will probably scratch your optics.
Let me know if you have any further questions and we'll go from there.
Regards,
Peck
AKA Epitech
From: Laura (ELLEMD628) [#11]
25 Aug 2005
To: ALL
Okay...I have not tried the acetone yet. I bought it in the paint department so it's not fingernail polish remover. I guess I will return it and go to the liquor store?
A small bottle of everclear for the laser...a big bottle of vodka for myself. And people say alcohol won't fix my problems... ;-)
From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#12]
25 Aug 2005
To: Laura (ELLEMD628) [#11] 25 Aug 2005
Laura,
I knew a comment like that was coming, but you said it with such grace. :D
From: Laura (ELLEMD628) [#13]
25 Aug 2005
To: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#12] 25 Aug 2005
From: Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY) [#14]
25 Aug 2005
To: Button (LASERCHICK) [#9] 25 Aug 2005
From: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD) [#15]
25 Aug 2005
To: ALL
I think it's great tech ppl contribute here , but I have to disagree with some stuff re cleaners and cleaning
The mirrors are merely gold plated highly polished steel and AFIK most of he brands use the same type of mirror(and zinc Selenide coated lenses) and almost NOTHING barring aqua regia will destroy the gold plated mirrors , certainly no liquid like acetone , alcohol , water , lens cleaner or anything *without* an abraisive will do them in. The way you rub them and with what WILL however and there is only really one way to clean them , place a NEW pieces of lens tissue on them , leaving a trailing edge , drop a drop or 2 whatever you want as a cleaner on where its sitting on the lens (whatever works for you ) and and you will se the paper sort od shluck to the mirror as the tissue wet spot spreads. Drag the wet lens tissue over the surface of the mirror and make sure the dry trailing edge also drags over to mop up excess fluid , the tissue cleans it and then drys it , let it air dry thereafter - you may have to repeat this a few times if there are stubborn streaks. Use a BULB blower (NOT canned air) to get dust off them first - if the mirror has no smudges but a fleck or 2 of dust - DO NOT CLEAN IT. By FAR the worst thing to do is rub em with cotton swabs or rub em with ANYTHING. Go to the camera shop and buy PEC pads - these are lint free cloths and are used to clean negatives and DSLR sensors - use one ONCE (same as lens tissue) and discard. DO NOT REUSE !!! They have no lint- lint and dust is the enemy of mirrors and lenses - NOT the liquids.
But theres another twist to this , despite the dire warnings of scratched mirrors or lens coatings abrading , Its not a train smash , one can , at a pinch, reposition the mirror to avoid a bad spot and reflect off a clean one - a possible re-alignment is a lot cheaper than a mirror. Beams can be alighned as well to strike the lens at a spot thats not damaged so long as its not that badly off center. (you will get slightly slanty cuts - ever so slight.
Whats more , you can really blast thru a slightly scratched or abraded lens with hardly any ill effect at all , and not much of a power or quality drop. We have badly damaged lenses and pretty much microscratched mirrors we use (due to operator mishandling) and believe it or not , there is about a 5 watt drop from source output to worst table output (30w laser)- with new optics the drop was 3 w , effects on engraving was negligable. We have used damaged lenses (one was even edge chipped) on ourt various lasers for yonks and have put out stellar work - we use our machines on a continuous cycle all day long. Im not suggesting abuse - but a little damage is not going to destroy your machine or make you have to stop engraving.
If you REALLY want to know how to clean laser mirrors and optics and what to use , go here.
http://www.lbp.co.uk/Technical/PDF%20files/cleanoptic.PDF
From: Geezer (ERNIE) [#16]
25 Aug 2005
To: Peck.Sidara (LAOPADAK) [#10] 25 Aug 2005
FYI
In the State of Washington you can not purchase everclear or grain alcohol without a special permit from the state liquor commission.
Ernie
From: Peck.Sidara (LAOPADAK) [#17]
25 Aug 2005
To: Geezer (ERNIE) [#16] 25 Aug 2005
Thanks for the info Ernie,
In cases like this then it would be recommended to purchase the lens cleaning solution we provide with our equipment or the customer has the option to source a similar replacement locally.
Thanks,
Peck
AKA Epitech
From: Ken D. (KDEVORY) [#18]
25 Aug 2005
To: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD) [#15] 25 Aug 2005
Rodney,
I understand the issues with the cotton swabs. (I was using them at first because of training by the rep.) What is the issue with the canned air? That's also been recommended by the reps/manufacturer.
From: cardjim (JIMMY) [#19]
25 Aug 2005
To: Ken D. (KDEVORY) [#18] 25 Aug 2005
From: Shaddy [#20]
25 Aug 2005
To: Laura (ELLEMD628) [#11] 25 Aug 2005
There's lots of advice floating around here, and i'm not saying anything about that, it's probably all true. But when it comes to your particular instrument (and warrentee's), it would be foolish to not follow what the tech says. And if THAT leads you astray, then they'll be liable to help you out, just like what Peck said, if you screwed up a mirror using the other tech's advice then they'll replace it. But I doubt a fellow laserer would send you a mirror if their advice didn't work on your machine like it works on theirs.
Didn't mean to ruffle any feathers, getting advice is great, that's what this forum is for, I was just pointing some things out.
(and canned air can sometimes act like a little sandblaster, might be OK most of the time, but it only takes a little dust or impurities one time to mark your mirror/lens, it'd be safer to use the lower pressure squeeze bulb)
Shaddy
EDITED: 25 Aug 2005 by SHADDY
From: laserman (MIKEMAC) [#21]
25 Aug 2005
To: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD) [#15] 25 Aug 2005
I think that what you use to clean your optics with is what you use. I don't think that a broad statement to everyone that has a laser is appropriate.
The link that you posted has a very important statement in it that says.
ALL OF THESE SOLVENTS SHOULD BE READILY AVAILABLE, BUT THE USER SHOULD CHECK WITH THE OPTICS SUPPLIER FOR COMPATIBILITY, AND BEWARE OF HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUES.
I personally think that I would use what the optics suppliers recommend for cleaning the optics why risk expensive replacements by experimenting with different cleaning solutions.
From: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD) [#22]
25 Aug 2005
To: Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY) [#20] 25 Aug 2005
The canned air is normally not air (those dust off things) , its a liquid propellant . If the can is not held straight it blasts a liquid stream of propellant at the the opticor mirror and this leaves a deposit that is very difficult to clean off. If you have dry CO2 canned air its ok.
As to the advice , well to be blunt , I would rather follow the optic mnfgrs recommendations considering laser engraver manufacturer's purchase their optics from them
Your laser mnfgr will not give anything less than a minimal warrantee on lenses and mirrors (3 months?) and if you destroy one by following their tech's advice ....well then perhaps their techs advice ought to be questioned and not taken as gospel?
From: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD) [#23]
25 Aug 2005
To: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD) [#22] 25 Aug 2005