How To Thin Barge

[TomE]

22 hours ago, Manges said:

Can regular ’paint thinner’ be used to thin the cement?

Barge cement thins nicely with Tanner's Bond cement thinner available at Tandy's.  Barge all purpose thinner behaves similarly.   I think both thinners contain toluene, heptane, and some ethyl acetate.  Toluene is available in hardware stores.  The other ingredients are harder to find.

[Wepster]

I read on a reddit that the thinner is methyl ethyl ketone (MEK). I do not know if that is correct.

[Wepster]

1 hour ago, TomE said:

Barge cement thins nicely with Tanner's Bond cement thinner available at Tandy's.  Barge all purpose thinner behaves similarly.   I think both thinners contain toluene, heptane, and some ethyl acetate.  Toluene is available in hardware stores.  The other ingredients are harder to find.

the SDS for both the cement and the thinner confirms the above.

[Handstitched]

On 6/30/2023 at 2:26 AM, Manges said:

Can regular ’paint thinner’ be used to thin the cement?

No.  I know brands are different , but  I use toluene in my contact adhesive to thin it out . Don't need much,   approx a table spoon if the (500ml)  tin is still a bit full, or half full.  Or a few tea spoons to soften up the bits at the bottom  . I usually leave it over night for best results. 

HS

[dikman]

There's a rule of thumb I discovered a long time ago - the nastier the stuff is (to you) the better it works!!!!!

Toluene and Xylene are both very good thinners - but you don't want to make a habit of breathing them in.

[Handstitched]

1 hour ago, dikman said:

Toluene and Xylene are both very good thinners - but you don't want to make a habit of breathing them in.

Very true, worked with toluene in the fibreglass industry for many years, and it was also once used in the process of printing newspapers , was   part for that too once. It  can burn on contact with the skin. 

And for those with sensitive skin, wear gloves & eye protection . 

HS