The hazards of living in Nebraska

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egnald

egnald

Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2017
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4,239
Location
Columbus, Nebraska, USA
Hi all,

Well, in addition to waking up to near zero (F) temperatures this morning, it is a balmy 12 degrees here right now. I was checking on my inventory of a few shop support items this morning and since there have been several posts recently about the availability of cleaners and solvents and other stuff, I snapped a picture of my solvent and finish shelf to share. It seems like we can get pretty much anything that is still manufactured. There isnt any Toluene (Toluol), not because I can't get it, I just haven't found a need to keep it around yet. Way back it would have also contained Carbon Tetrachloride and 111 Trichloroethane too, but now those are really not available anymore.

Dave
 

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Never had the need for those chemicals. I get along fine with DNA, 91% isopropyl alcohol and acetone.
Are the contents on your other shelf measured in "proof?"
 
You triggered a memory - - - when I was a kid growing up in Florida, my dad worked for the local electric utility and frequently took me along with him into electrical substations. I recall seeing the glass globes containing carbon tetrachloride mounted on the walls that were intended to be thrown into fires, or in extreme cases, that would explode on their own if the fire became too intense to extinguish the flames.

My dad also had a fire extinguisher in our garage that contained carbon tetrachloride. And I recall that it was not uncommon for a rag to be soaked in carbon tet to degrease parts.

Carbon tetrachloride was nasty stuff, and I can't say that I miss having it around.
 
monophoto said:
You triggered a memory - - - when I was a kid growing up in Florida, my dad worked for the local electric utility and frequently took me along with him into electrical substations. I recall seeing the glass globes containing carbon tetrachloride mounted on the walls that were intended to be thrown into fires, or in extreme cases, that would explode on their own if the fire became too intense to extinguish the flames.

My dad also had a fire extinguisher in our garage that contained carbon tetrachloride. And I recall that it was not uncommon for a rag to be soaked in carbon tet to degrease parts.

Carbon tetrachloride was nasty stuff, and I can't say that I miss having it around.
Click to expand...
Great stuff for cleaning brakes while doing a brake job.
 
grpass said:
Great stuff for cleaning brakes while doing a brake job.
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My first exposure to it (pun intended) was in the late 60's. It was a wonderful solvent for cleaning magnetic recording heads and other electronics, of course almost all magnetic heads have gone the way of Carbon Tet. I also remember some of the Carbon Tet filled glass globe fire extinguishers in the basement floor at my high school back then. - Dave
 
All of this stuff reminds me of how much we (the world) didn't know when I was growing up. Mercury switches, mercury thermometers that broke, playing with mercury in our hands, and growing up on a farm at close to the beginning of chemical farming, for weeds, defoliants, insecticides, pesticides etc, most of which were banned 20 to 30 years later. Cases of dynamite for getting stumps out of the ground. and of course the glass Carbon Tet fire extinguisher balls; I'm surprised I am still around! 🤪 o_O
 
I keep four chemicals in my shop...
DNA
Mineral Spirits
Lacquer Thinner
Acetone

The DNA and MS are used almost every day for general cleaning, the LT is mostly used for stickers and stubborn cleaning and the Acetone is for cleaning metal prior to TIG welding.
 
Don't forget Freon TMS. The best stuff for removing flux from circuit boards. Trichlor was great for removing stains from clothing also.
 
rherrell said:
I keep four chemicals in my shop...
DNA
Mineral Spirits
Lacquer Thinner
Acetone

The DNA and MS are used almost every day for general cleaning, the LT is mostly used for stickers and stubborn cleaning and the Acetone is for cleaning metal prior to TIG welding.
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I keep same chemicals in my shop,except for the lacquer thinner.... I don't use lacquer so no need....
I'll add WD-40.... use that as lubricant and hand cleaner.
The DNA I have in a 5 gal bucket and used it to soak wood occasionally (haven't opened the bucket in 3-4 years, probably has all evaporated by now. )
 
Humongous said:
Don't forget Freon TMS. The best stuff for removing flux from circuit boards. Trichlor was great for removing stains from clothing also.
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I agree completely. There was a commercial spot remover product branded Energine. It was Trichlor and it worked great! My mother owned a small town cafe in South Dakota and we always had road crews come in dropping bits of blacktop into the carpet. A few drops of Trichlor and doing the twist with a clean rag always did the trick. Then when Trichlor went away, Energine became Naptha which just isn't the same. And in 2006 when Naptha came under scrutiny, Energine simply discontinued manufacturing. - Dave
 
egnald said:
I agree completely. There was a commercial spot remover product branded Energine. It was Trichlor and it worked great! My mother owned a small town cafe in South Dakota and we always had road crews come in dropping bits of blacktop into the carpet. A few drops of Trichlor and doing the twist with a clean rag always did the trick. Then when Trichlor went away, Energine became Naptha which just isn't the same. And in 2006 when Naptha came under scrutiny, Energine simply discontinued manufacturing. - Dave
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Dave,
You are aging your self.... I remember seeing Energine in stores and advertisements for it back in the 50's....
we never used it in my family... growing up as the child of share croppers and some of the houses we lived in never had carpets.
 
Guys, don't worry. Something will come along that will keep the population in check. With all the wars, plagues, diseases, etc., it's amazing how the human race has survived all these centuries.
Oily rags? Learned years ago to spread them out or drape them over a metal hand truck to prevent fires. I even throw my paper towels with CA either on the concrete floor or sink them in a can of water.
 
Woodchipper said:
Guys, don't worry. Something will come along that will keep the population in check. With all the wars, plagues, diseases, etc., it's amazing how the human race has survived all these centuries.
Oily rags? Learned years ago to spread them out or drape them over a metal hand truck to prevent fires. I even throw my paper towels with CA either on the concrete floor or sink them in a can of water.
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Just remove the warning labels attached to everything. :)
 
In the 1920 - 1940 range car manuals told you how to change and gap the spark plugs, and set the distributor points. Todays car manuals tell you not to drink the fluid in the battery.

Remember if you make something idiot proof, they make a better idiot!
 
Just remove the warning labels attached to everything. :)
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Remember if you make something idiot proof, they make a better idiot!
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A recent discussion brought something to mind that I strongly believe is going to have serious repercussions later on: SawStop

The SawStop and similar safety saws/tools (self driving cars too) do an excellent job. Those that buy them now, know what they do and how safe they are. For those owners who have babies or soon to be born will grow up knowing nothing but that - assuming they work with their dad some in the shop. Then one day as a teen, not knowing anything else, comes across an old saw and tells his friends who have never seen a saw - "watch this": and puts his hand into the turning blade expecting it to stop.

SAFTETY begins with the mind, not the machine. Ignorance, because one is removed from danger early on - is VERY dangerous.
 
leehljp said:
A recent discussion brought something to mind that I strongly believe is going to have serious repercussions later on: SawStop

The SawStop and similar safety saws/tools (self driving cars too) do an excellent job. Those that buy them now, know what they do and how safe they are. For those owners who have babies or soon to be born will grow up knowing nothing but that - assuming they work with their dad some in the shop. Then one day as a teen, not knowing anything else, comes across an old saw and tells his friends who have never seen a saw - "watch this": and puts his hand into the turning blade expecting it to stop.

SAFTETY begins with the mind, not the machine. Ignorance, because one is removed from danger early on - is VERY dangerous.
Click to expand...
First off I'm old school... I don't own a Sawstop, would not trust one (same with self driving cars... a way to kill more pedestrians and drivers (in my opinion).).. I have a very healthy respect for any tool that can effectively and quickly remove parts of the body, be it a table saw, band saw, sander or kitchen knife. I like all my fingers equally and plan to take them to the netherworld with me.
 
leehljp said:
SAFTETY begins with the mind, not the machine. Ignorance, because one is removed from danger early on - is VERY dangerous.
Click to expand...
Absolutely true. The most dangerous thing you can do in the shop is anything that you attempt to do without thinking. The best way to manage risk is to think about how the thing you are doing can go wrong, and proactively take steps to prevent that from happening.

But - and this is very important - there is no such thing as absolute safety. Even with great care and planning, something can go wrong resulting in danger. However, thoughtful planning will minimize the risk from that danger. We all have had catches, and we all have had loose stuff fly off a piece spinning on the lathe. The reason we survived these experiences is that we had planned for them and were prepared to deal with them.
 
Self-drivng cars? Anyone ever had a computer crash? How about hackers? I can see starting for Nashville and ending up in Boston! I know, one can take control of the vehicle but I'm not impressed with them.
 
Ok, this might be way out there, but I envision self driving cars going the way of services like cell phones with a monthly charge paid off to Apple, or Amazon, or Microsoft, or somebody out there as a lisence fee for using their navigation maps and automatic driving system. Who knows, they may even go the way of the rent-a-scooters that are proliferating our larger cities as some form of public transportation where you just stick in your credit card as the key.

New Mercedes AA Electric Luxury Sedan (Since the topic has come up in this thread I just couldn't resist.)

Dave
 
Self driving cars may be the independence extender for a lot of us old coots. We will be able to drive to the store, doctor appointments, see friends etc long after our licences would have been pulled and we won't drive the people behind us nuts because we are well under the speed limit.
 
Curly said:
Self driving cars may be the independence extender for a lot of us old coots. We will be able to drive to the store, doctor appointments, see friends etc long after our licences would have been pulled and we won't drive the people behind us nuts because we are well under the speed limit.
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In Japan in all the years I was there, they had two sets of stickers that were required on certain cars:
1. If you were a first year driver, you had to have a magnetic sticker (in an arrow form) that was two tone green - signifying a "green (new) driver.
2. If you are 75 or older, you have to display the same shape arrow on your car, except it is brown and tan - signifying our old age!

I brought some of those sticker home with me and used them (brown ones) for a couple of years until LOML made me remove it. I wasn't 75 at the time.
 
randyrls said:
In the 1920 - 1940 range car manuals told you how to change and gap the spark plugs, and set the distributor points. Todays car manuals tell you not to drink the fluid in the battery.

Remember if you make something idiot proof, they make a better idiot!
Click to expand...
And the manual in my Honda CRV is over 600 pages....
 
leehljp said:
All of this stuff reminds me of how much we (the world) didn't know when I was growing up. Mercury switches, mercury thermometers that broke, playing with mercury in our hands, and growing up on a farm at close to the beginning of chemical farming, for weeds, defoliants, insecticides, pesticides etc, most of which were banned 20 to 30 years later. Cases of dynamite for getting stumps out of the ground. and of course the glass Carbon Tet fire extinguisher balls; I'm surprised I am still around! 🤪 o_O
Click to expand...
When I was in grade school in Casper, WY, I remember our teacher pouring liquid mercury into our hands and watching it make little spheres and roll around, then putting it on a penny and watching it turn silver.
 
Joebobber said:
Id take 12 degrees. It's supposed to get down to -25 here tonight in North Dakota. Our high today was -9. At least it's making ice.
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My dad was an oilfield mechanic and when I was twelve we lived on location in the middle of the Ft Berthold Indian Reservation. Lived in Killdeer for a while before moving out to the location. Got there in November and left the following February. I don't remember ever seeing bare ground while I was there! I rode the school bus 52 miles to school every day in Mandaree ...first one picked up, last one dropped off. I always grabbed the seat over the heater!
 
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