Rodani47 Posted September 21 Report Share Posted September 21 Hello everyone, I am beginner in this beautiful craft and I am getting ready to varnish my first instrument. I mixed a simple spirit varnish containing mastic, benzoe, and shellac with 96% Ethyl alcohol. I planned to brush it on to the instrument, and I wondered how toxic is this mixture (fumes)? I don’t own a respiratory protection mask at the moment. Is it smart to continue and varnish the instrument without any protection? Thank you for taking the time to reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan slobodkin Posted September 21 Report Share Posted September 21 Ethyl alcohol is quite safe to use without a respirator. Methyl on the other hand is really quite dangerous. If you are using 96% ethyl it would be good to know what the other 4% is. It may simply be water due to normal hydroscopic tendency of the alcohol or it could be “denatured” by the addition of methyl alcohol to render it unfit for drinking. Either one is probably quite safe but it would be good to know and I would not use the denatured stuff in a closed closet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiddleDoug Posted September 21 Report Share Posted September 21 The extra 4% is probably mostly water. I would do it in a well ventilated area. I have been in rooms where about 12 other people were using spirit varnish, and I swear that after a couple of hours I was starting to feel it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violadamore Posted September 21 Report Share Posted September 21 Roughly 96% ethanol and 4% water is as close as you can get to pure ethanol, by simple distillation, because ethanol and water mixtures form an "azeotrope" that boils at a temperature lower than the boiling point of either substance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azeotrope. There's no advantage, in making varnish, to spending the extra money for anhydrous ethanol (a laboratory reagent). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Burgess Posted September 21 Report Share Posted September 21 11 hours ago, Rodani47 said: I mixed a simple spirit varnish containing mastic, benzoe, and shellac with 96% Ethyl alcohol. I planned to brush it on to the instrument, and I wondered how toxic is this mixture (fumes)? I don’t own a respiratory protection mask at the moment. Is it smart to continue and varnish the instrument without any protection? Unlike methanol, short-term excessive exposure to ethanol probably isn't going to screw you up permanently. Don't college students do this all the time, and still graduate? Living in a college town, here's what I consider to be the most common signs of overexposure to Ethanol: Getting either vastly more "teddybear like", or vastly meaner and confrontational. Kinda depends on the underlying personality revealed when inhibitions are reduced. One would seem to be less harmful than the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted September 22 Report Share Posted September 22 11 hours ago, David Burgess said: Unlike methanol, short-term excessive exposure to ethanol probably isn't going to screw you up permanently. Don't college students do this all the time, and still graduate? Living in a college town, here's what I consider to be the most common signs of overexposure to Ethanol: Getting either vastly more "teddybear like", or vastly meaner and confrontational. Kinda depends on the underlying personality revealed when inhibitions are reduced. One would seem to be less harmful than the other. Ain't that the truth! I've been around both. The mean ones can get really nasty! I prefer ethanol diluted to about 50% and aged in oak. In moderation of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctanzio Posted September 22 Report Share Posted September 22 1 hour ago, MikeC said: I prefer ethanol diluted to about 50% and aged in oak. I found that new charred oak barrels and ethanol distilled from corn mash works best. Aged at least 12 years of course! 1 hour ago, MikeC said: In moderation of course. Here we must agree to disagree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted September 22 Report Share Posted September 22 1 hour ago, ctanzio said: Here we must agree to disagree. Been there, done that, those days are behind me now. Now I only sip it occasionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArethaGraham Posted September 23 Report Share Posted September 23 On 9/21/2023 at 4:23 PM, Rodani47 said: Hello everyone, I am beginner in this beautiful craft and I am getting ready to varnish my first instrument. I mixed a simple spirit varnish containing mastic, benzoe, and shellac with 96% Ethyl alcohol. I planned to brush it on to the instrument, and I wondered how toxic is this mixture (fumes)? I don’t own a respiratory protection mask at the moment. Is it smart to continue and varnish the instrument without any protection? Thank you for taking the time to reply. Hi, will you share the picture of it? After completing... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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