Dope thinner = isopropyl alcohol?

Sorry, I don't know the chemical composition of the thinner, but I recommend you cut the dope about 50% with the thinner...after you have appliedthe tissue to the framework and water spray shrunk the tissue, you can put light coats of the thinned dope on the paper...until it is filled...usually three or four coats will seal the tissue and not add much weight at all... Frank

What kind of dope is it? Nitrate, butyrate, or Pactra Aerogloss? If I remember correctly, shellac is thinned with alcohol, but dope has more hazardous chemicals in it.

One way to figure out what's in the thinner is to read the warnings. The label usually will say something like "Warning! Very hazardous to your health. Contains MEK, xylene and toluene." or something like that. They may not want to tell you their secret formula, but they have to warn you about it.

Dope thinner is not isopropyl alcohol. Dope is a lacquer very similar to automotive lacquer, and dope thinner is basically automotive lacquer thinner. IIRC it has acetone, naptha and other nasty things in it, but I don't know the mix (and I know that acetone alone won't thin dope -- been there, done that).

If you do a lot of work with dope you may want to get your thinner from an automotive paint store -- not only will a quart cost about 2x as much as an 8-ounce jar of dope thinner, but if you _really_ want to get fancy you can control the dry time by using different thinner mixes.

Most dope sold today is Butyrate... and Aerogloss dope is Butyrate...this is resistant to glow fuel. In the "old days" of gasoline ignition engines, the dope was Nitrate. it is still available from some sources, but for almost all purposes, the readily available Butyrate dope is fine. I use it when I build an old timer and cover it with silk...or a small model covered with tissue.

I don't know exactly what Aerogloss is, but apparently it is not butyrate. I have a compatibility chart showing different finishing materials. According to this chart, you can't put nitrate on top of Aerogloss, but you can put Aerogloss on top of nitrate, which would suggest that Aerogloss is the same as butyrate.

However, the chart also says that butyrate is compatible over Aerogloss, but Aerogloss is not compatible on top of butyrate, which would suggest that Aerogloss is not butyrate.

I was under the impression that Aerogloss was a type of acrylic, but according to this chart you can't put it on top of acrylic lacquer or acrylic enamel, but you can put both of these over aerogloss.

I don't know what is in Aerogloss....

If you guys are interested in the compatibility chart, I'll post it.

Dope thinners is NOT alcohol..it MAY be acetone, but there is another solvent that is generally used. Methyl Methacryclate? Methyl Ethyl Ketone? Dunno.

Rubbing alcohol is 30% distilled water and 70% isopropyl alcohol. Not suitable for a dope thinner.

From many years of experience, Aerogloss (at least the old stuff by Pactra) is not compatible with ANYTHING! It was a great product, but don't put it over anything else, nor anything over it. This includes thinners as well.

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Aerogloss is a mix of butyrate and acrylic lacquer. Or so I have been told. May want to check if they have some MSDS sheets which would tell you.

Aerogloss is a mix of butyrate and acrylic lacquer. Or so I have been told. May want to check if they have some MSDS sheets which would tell you.

Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

Can't tell you about butrayte dope thinner, but NITRATE dope can be thinned with lacquer thinner. That is all I use with nitrate dope.

I am intrested Robbie. Thanks. mk

Toluene is laquer thinner. Xylene is something else and is used in some automotive finishes. Acetone isn't the same as either of them and is most often used as a polyester resin thinner (fiberglassing resin). MEK is really nasty stuff and is used in some aircraft finishing systems. Laquer thinner should work for most dopes.

Dan

Lacquer thinner contains Toulene, Acetone, MEK, eethanol, ethanol, naptha, n-butyl acetate, and many other solvents. Depends on the use, high humidity, primer, varnish, pric, etc.

Here are a few MSDS of lacquer thinners. The components are listed.

What you bought is thinner for Buryrate dope. It is definitely NOT alcohol! It is the only thinner that will work with your Butyrate dope.

lacquer thinner will not work with butyrate.

You're oversimplifying. Most products sold as thinners for a specific purpose contain a combination of many solvents. Look on the label of a can of Balsarite some time. It contains toluene and xylene, among other things. Most thinners are like that because the stuff wouldn't behave properly without all of the ingredients.

As an example, I tried making my own formula of dope a few years ago. I noticed that styrofoam (styrene) was not adversely affected by fuel, so I reasoned that if I could figure out how to dissolve it I could paint it on firewalls to fuel proof them. Toluene broke down the structure, but the styrene formed a gooey lump separate from the liquid. Acetone wouldn't break it down at all. But when I mixed the two, it formed a nice paintable dope. I used it on one plane, but it was too stringy and rather annoying to use. It would be a very cheap alternative if you couldn't get anything else, though.

Nope, it's not rubbing alcohol. Don't use rubbing alcohol, it is about 30% water.