Metho Needed...............hic'

[outback]

I am having huge troubles tracking down a supply of 100% metho.
I've used all the names, 100%, industrial etc. but no one seems to know or care. I've been to hardware shops, specialist paint shops, even asked a furniture restorer, he just uses off the shelf stuff. :confused: I'm not gonna upset anyone and suggest this is an alternative, I've read the book and seen the show.
I wanna try french polishing, and I reckon I need everything I can going for me.
Any help as to suppliers, brand names etc. will be gratefully received.

[ubeaut]

Went into Mitre 10 up the road from home and there on the shelf with the rest of the stuff was Industrial metho.

It is called 100% but it isn't pure alcohol as it is illegal to sell it that way, it has to include a denaturant (stops ya from Hic... drinkin it).

Could be a problem with living in the outback, no-one wants to know or even cares.

[outback]

.............Could be a problem with living in the outback, no-one wants to know or even cares.

Be careful, I might build a big soap box and let fly on this very topic. I'll keep trying.

[DanP]

It will be a soap box with an inferior shellac finish, but a soap box all the same.

Dan

PS Same problem in Cobram.

[jo_sepi]

G'day outback, I have asked one of our senior chemists at work about the same problem, wether the shop bought stuff could be distilled and if the pure metho was still available.

His answer : Yes you can still obtain the pure metho. However it is now covered under the "Tobacco & Alchohol" act and by the time you got through all the paper work involved you would be too old to use the stuff, oh and no garrantee of obtaining the required permit anyway.

If your game enough (or silly enough) and can obtain or build a still and distill the commercial metho that way, however it's also illegal to own or operate a still without the proper certification which opens up a whole new can of worms, How safe is the still, is to be used for commercial purposes etc etc.
I made a few tentative enquiries in both directions and at the end of it all I decided, to hell with it and went with the "off the shelf" brand from Woolies.
I reckon it worked fine but a proffessional would probably disagree.
Good luck with it mate and if you happen to find an easy way, I'm sure a few other people would like to know as well.

[Sturdee]

I've been to hardware shops, specialist paint shops, even asked a furniture restorer, he just uses off the shelf stuff. :confused: I'm not gonna upset anyone and suggest this is an alternative, I've read the book and seen the show.

Outback, the local paint shops around here can get it in from Haymes, maybe you are to far away for that. Some brands of metho is better than others, Bunnies brand is the worst as it has more water than most.

In any case you can use the ordinary stuff, like your furniture restorer does, except that it takes longer to do. Whilst applying polish with your rubber you first have to dry of the water content by friction before your finish starts to appear. Just means more polishing for you.


Peter.

[markharrison]

I bought mine in a four liter bottle from the local Miter 10. They didn't have it in one liter sizes.

[gatiep]

Maybe this will be a spanner in the works. I use methanol as is supplied as a fuel for racing or even some hobby shops as the bulk of the fuel mix for model aircraft engines. Make sure they supply pure methanol and not the ready mixed fuel which will contain 18 to 25% oil and ) to 20% nitromethane.

Methanol and ethanol have almost identical properties as a solvent. Keep it well stoppered as it will absorb huge amounts of moisture from the air.

Disclaimer: You use it at your own risk!

[mic-d]

It is legal to have a small still in Queensland for personal use. Frankly though you will not achieve significant drying of metho by a distillation method unless you also employ a fractionating column. You could dry it by storing it over a dessicant such as anhydrous magnesium sulphate or calcium sulphate or calcium oxide and then distil it, you may go from 5% water to 1-2% water, but since alcohol is so hygroscopic (loves water) by the time you've made your shellac, soaked it into a rubber, its probably as wet as when you started.

Cheers
Michael

[Kev Y.]

It is called 100% but it isn't pure alcohol as it is illegal to sell it that way, it has to include a denaturant (stops ya from Hic... drinkin it).

Neil.. from experience (not mine) IF you add a decent amount of SALVITAL and orange juice, it IS drinkable

[AlexS]

Jeez, Brudda, that's flash. Many years ago, in a place far far away, I was told by an expert that the best recipe is to add a small amount of the boilings off sweet potato, plus some boot polish if you're a red drinker.

Do NOT try this at home!

[Shaty40]

I just went out to see what name was on the lable of the bottle in the shed, and it is Haynes.
Any paint shop that sells Haynes Paint should be able to get 100% metho from Haynes.


Tim.

I have nothing to do with haynes paints apart from using there products.

[rsser]

Always thought the pure stuff was ethyl a., and the toxin added to make it treely rooly bad for you was methyl a.

Any case, major supplier of 'pure' meths here in Melb is Sceneys, 17 Third Av., Sunshine. They may be able to tell you who flogs their product.

BTW Last I looked Mitre 10 in Sydney Rd. Brunswick had it, along with Tung Oil, Terebrine and other interesting bits and pieces. If you drop in on a weekend, ask for Adrian and tell him his ole man sent you and you're a member of the 'family'

[outback]

Thanks people, I do have a Haymes distributor not too far away, relatively speaking.

I did ask them earlier but got the vague far away look. I may try my unusual smooth, sophisticated sledge hammer approach, this time and see if I get further.



I do love DanP's reply, won't let me give ya a greenie for it.

[rsser]

That's cos his history is wrong ... history is the story written by the victors ..

I can't remember the origin of that caustic reading; will have to cede the ground to Dan on knowledge of sources