anhydrous methanol

[Kenneth Sloane]

--On Wed, Jan 5, 2000 7:48 PM -0500 "John D. Chapman" <chapmajd@wfu.edu>
wrote: 

> I have been using anhydrous methanol to treat sluggishness in action
> centers as suggested by Bill Spurlock in the PTG Technical Examination
> Source Book.  Used straight, it works very well on sluggishness due to
> lack of use (like those nice home pianos which are never played, but are
> occasionally tuned). It frees things up, but since there is on water in
> it, the bushings are not "shrunk", and it leaves no residue like a
> lubricant does.  Lubricants are great, but when you don't need one, why
> use it.
> But now my bottle of methanol is empty and none of the drug stores in town
> carry it anymore.  Suggestions ?
> 
> John Chapman RPT
> Wake Forest University
> Winston-Salem NC
> chapmajd@wfu.edu
> 
---------------------------
I use the denatured alcohol available in any hardware store. I believe it is
a combination of ethyl alcohol (stuff that gets you drunk) and methyl
alcohol (poisonous alcohol that will probably get you drunk but can blind
and or kill you). The latter is added to make the concoction poisonous so
that people have to buy heavily taxed alcohol products in order to get their
alcohol buzz.

FYI: Ethyl alocohol was originally used as a solvent for shellac and (I
believe) varnishes. There are probably purists out there that will still
only use ethyl alcohol for cutting shellac.

The denatured alcohol that I use for shrinking bushings (with small amounts
of water added) is also a good general solvent and cleaner. More
specifically, I use it for cutting shellac and as a fuel in my alcohol
torch.

Ken Sloane, Oberlin Conservatory