Flame Polished Acrylic Reacting to Alcohol

[tommysixtynine]

V.interesting...But remember, Thou shalt not put thy left hand in front of cutting edge.!!!

[tommysixtynine]

V.interesting...But remember, Thou shalt not put thy left hand in front of cutting edge.!!!

[NH3R717]

Good looking out.

[RodinUK]

It's the butane or propane flame gun that causes the crazing due to the stresses it induces.

Best to use a water/alcohol mix flame gun.

[bearhedded]

...but it's a GREAT antiquing effect!

[dannyabq1]

What happen to that dudes hand????!!! 

[jaywilly471]

does it get brittle, or does it stay togather? I am looking at making a see through guitar pickguard, and think that would actually look really cool.

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

@jaywilly471 both Thicker stuff will stay together better

[asterladybug]

@jaywilly471 cracks decrease the impact resistance a lot.

But you can reduce this by glueing it with a flex glue without solvents on the non-cracked zone.

[DCF18297]

@jaywilly471 hi i work on a company that fabricate acrylic boxes, sign holders, etc,etc,etc, im learning every technique about gluing, flaming etc, is very interesting.

[devilboy303]

wow i work at an acrylics company and some of the clear tube we have has done this over a period of time can only now assume that the fumes from the liquid and powder mix we make have caused this, this video has been surprisingly useful thanks fella

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

@devilboy303 You are welcome. I tried to post some more info but YT has some sort of filter that I do not understand that throws ERROR when I try to post comments sometimes. YT is great, but they should leave well engouh alone.

[Caesarlll]

Wow Good for a Frame ;)

[SupremeInvigilator]

Alcohol destroys cold acrylic too.

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

Not in the same way. Try it and see, I don't know why anyone would want to refute the clear evidence in the vid...seems contrary to logic.

[De4dSpace]

Gasoline did this to my Gameboy Micro Faceplate. I did a bad masking / paint job.

[SupremeInvigilator]

The flame is immaterial to the effect of the alcohol.

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

You've never done this so you wouldn't know. If you have done this then you would know. Why you posted I am not certain.

Why would I bother to do the experiment and post the vid if the information was not accurate? That would run counter to the other vids I have made and posted, yes?

[XNashty]

holy shit, that dead cool !! imagine having that glass on the side of ur computer case, with a couple of red og blue ligths, so it all shines up !!

[bluewhiting]

I wish I had seen this 5 months ago. I made some beautiful prop crystals from acrylic. The crystals was shaped with a belt sander and then just buff pollished, then I wiped the crystals with alcohol based glass cleaner, deep cracks appeared slowley over the space of a coulpe of months. So thank you for the informative video, will know better for next time.

[TheLegend1245]

That's pretty cool for my science class.

[redhotdaddy]

dont spill alcohol on that hand

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

Thanks for the comments guys

[poosaypirate]

GREAT VID VERY INformative apparently the flame opens up these tiny cracks allowing the alcahol in - if one WANTED such an effect- could have fun with that

but im SO glad you did this because il lbe working in it to make costume jewlery etc and i would want to warn customers

[asterladybug]

@poosaypirate no it is a bit different:

The flame makes the surface to melt andwhen flame is removed, it rapidly cools down causing tensions in the plastic. Tension level decreases with distance to the edge.

Once a chemical is used which is incompatible (but does not dissolve it), it will cause cracks (it is called stress-cracking).

These cracks suck in the liquid and the process continues.

(it can be stopped by washing it off).

[sowack]

i mounted a photo to some .25" plex with optimount, and it got messed up so I peeled the print off so that i could reprint it and remount it.

after i peeled the 1st print off, i wiped it down with acetone and almost instantly the surface got a smokey look to it. totally ruined the piece.

[poosaypirate]

eeeeeeee! never acetone! thats actually a component which eats it, ive head acetone is actually a way to weld plexi but theres supposed to be better methods. look up tap plastics i think on here or just look up welding plastic

[datzfast]

here is the repair, cotton rag saturate with baby oil, add a few droops of acetone , buff plastic to defog. presto

[sowack]

@datzfast thx a ton!

[ecchibanzaii]

What did you do to your hand CyberDruid?

[JustMakingComments]

Great for making bloodshot eye effects during Halloween.

[poosaypirate]

sure dye the alcahol red!!! wow!

[artsycalgal]

Does this cause the acrylic to eventually break or is it just a surface texture? Does the the acrylic stay relatively clear? Is the texture you get from soaking it more pronounced than what you get if you just wipe some on? Is acrylic the same as plexiglass?

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

It destroys the integrity of the material...it become brittle and will keep crackling.

The acrylic is clear but difficult to see through because of the number of internal fractures.

The panel can only take in the alcohol from it's outside surface so whether you drop it in a puddle like I did or wipe it on it or soak it in it it's going to fracture. It will fracture the most on the surface that is exposed to alcohol.

Not sure if it would hold up for a window effect.

[artsycalgal]

Thanks for the info! Sounds like it would be interesting to experiment with.

[asterladybug]

@artsycalgal

yep

Plexiglass, Perspex, Altuglas .. are brand names

Acrylic or Acrylate is the short name for the plastics name : PMMA or polymethyl metacrylate

[r32adt3db]

what did you do to your hand?

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

Any acrylic that has been heated either by a laser cutter or polishing on the buffing wheel, or even being routed will do that to a slight degree, The only way to keep it from doing that is to heat the whole piece evenly for a couple of hours at just below melting point (225F)

[poosaypirate]

do you mean AFTER heat polishing the ends, or dont heat polish the ends at all and use an oven instead completly ? please tell.

PS. what would happen if you tried to work with  your ruined peice again - either with flame or oven? ever test? try it

[alexzeegreat]

does that also happen to acrylic that isn't torch polished?

[crazywin69]

oww hand looks like it hurt

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

I am hacking reality

[XFreeRollerX]

Why the hell is the music in your videos always so amazing and well timed with whatever sound effects correlating to whats going on?

haxxor?

[ctcraam]

....bullet holes? :D wow CD i would love a case fully like that :D

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

I might.

[snper545]

that would make a pretty cool frost effect...

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

It's funny a lotta lotta people have said that about the effect. I am going to try out some "bulletholes" for a theme mod I am doing...a Frag Box lol.

[snper545]

yeah, thats a really good idea. btw, would you ever consider making a tutorial on how to make a res like some of the ones you make?

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

But will it blend???

[ThatFlipKidxD]

Bill Nae?

[CAFLoser777]

I see this happened after the incident in your forum post.

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

lol. I was drilling on a piece of scrap aluminum that I should have had clamped. Drill caught the piece of metal and spun it around into my palm. As luck would have it the piece of metal had a long blade-shapped offcut on one edge. This punctured me about an inch deep and on the way out dragged some fatty tissue out through the wound. I kept working the rest of the day and when I went to the ER the next day Doc said it was too late for stitches. SO I have a piece of fat hanging out..nice.

[datzfast]

too late for stiches quack quack quack

[datzfast]

@datzfast i was working in a microbiology lab and splashed acetone on some acrylic safty glasses. Knowing how to french polish furiture i did the logical step to defog them. quack quack

[rebel4055]

what happened to your hand?! and nice! 5/5

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

Thanks man. It's healing...just being lazy while working..it always catched up to you in the end.

[cardboardsnail]

Dude awesome :D

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

lol

If you like that sort of thing :)

[toonrunedudehobby]

is that lighter fluid to ur left?

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

Some Good Off I was using for a different project.

[2mustange]

what happened to ur hand?

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

See below