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Phenol/Carbolic Acid, where to buy

Does anyone know where I can buy some of this stuff, CONUS ?

I am trying to do some artificial aging of catalin brush handles that I am making.

thanks
 

Legion

Staff member
Does anyone know where I can buy some of this stuff, CONUS ?

I am trying to do some artificial aging of catalin brush handles that I am making.

thanks

Cheater. Put them on the window sill and ask us again in 40 years. :lol:

Try your local undertaker.
 
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At what concentration do you anticipate needing? Lab Safety Supply sells 5%, but only to businesses.

And for that, I have no idea. I was thinking to try and buy the strongest concentration I could find, but am having no luck.

Oddly enough, there are homeopathic solutions, though why anyone would want to ingest this stuff is beyond me.

I think they had it in 1 part per 100,000 as their strongest.
 
And for that, I have no idea. I was thinking to try and buy the strongest concentration I could find, but am having no luck.

Oddly enough, there are homeopathic solutions, though why anyone would want to ingest this stuff is beyond me.

I think they had it in 1 part per 100,000 as their strongest.

That sounds enormously effective. :lol: Maybe you could just think about corrosion and weathering.

I'd suggest hanging them in the back yard if you want them to age a bit.
 
Does anyone know where I can buy some of this stuff, CONUS ?

I am trying to do some artificial aging of catalin brush handles that I am making.

thanks

Are you aware of how toxic this material is in it's pure state or at high concentrations?
 

Legion

Staff member
What exactly are you trying to do? Do you already have the catalin and your trying to trigger a reaction to create phenyl alcohol? Or are you actually trying to make catalin? In which case you are going to need formaldehyde and something alkaline to act as a catalyst, maybe sodium hydroxide? The NaOH is easy to get, but formaldehyde isn't.

That's why I suggested the undertaker. Phenol used to be used for embalming, much like formaldehyde. You will generally need a licence to get hold of this stuff, at least you do in Australia.

+1 on the toxicity of phenol. Do you have the equipment for handling (and disposing of) these chemicals?
 
Phenol is very nasty stuff. It is toxic and can cause very serious chemical burns. Don't mess with it. This is NOT a chemistry experiment worth doing.
 
I will echo what others have said: just don't mess with this stuff, unless you happen to be a trained chemist with proper lab equipment at the ready. There's a reason chemistry labs have lots of safety equipment and procedures.
 

Legion

Staff member
I will echo what others have said: just don't mess with this stuff, unless you happen to be a trained chemist with proper lab equipment at the ready. There's a reason chemistry labs have lots of safety equipment and procedures.

Yes. I used to spend most of my day in uncomfortable safety equipment, but it has saved me more than once.
 
Strong brewed black tea will turn most pynolic (SP) materials sort of butterscotch,soak for a couple days.
A trick that is used to age newly redone watch dials works well.
in a sealed box with a few air holes,slowly burn some shredded up cigar butts,cig butts whatever,tabacco.
the above will maybe work but the handles have to be turned and polished,with any polishing compound removed before the color will permiate.
 
Well, I am getting the impression that I should stay away from this stuff.

What I was trying to do is to restore the patina of some butterscotch pieces that I would be gluing and shaping into a brush handle.
The shaping, sanding, etc will remove the old patina and I was looking to return it to close to its original state.

I have an older piece that I am working on as a test, with no luck so far.

I got this procedure from another that says to apply phenyl then expose to
UV light.

These are what I want to make a brush handle out of and they are so beautiful that I would hate to ruin them. They are for a 30mm brush so quite wide.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110662035779&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
 

Legion

Staff member
Is it worth exposing it to a intense UV source without the phenol? A day or two being regularly rotated in front of a sun lamp might do it.
 

Legion

Staff member
Black lights might accelerate the process too.

Probably not intense enough. Black light bulbs don't put out much more UV than a regular one, they just block all the other wavelengths.

Some types of tungsten lights put out lots of UV. When I was a photographer, and shooting items under incandescent lighting for long periods, we use to have to use sun block. But the tanning lamps should be the best.
 
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Probably not intense enough. Black light bulbs don't put out much more UV than a regular one, they just block all the other wavelengths.

Some types of tungsten lights put out lots of UV. When I was a photographer, and shooting items under incandescent lighting for long periods, we use to have to use sun block. But the tanning lamps should be the best.

That's a good idea re the tanning lamp. I'll bet I might be able to find one around somewhere for not too many sheckles.

Great source of info, you shaving nuts.
 
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