John Post on wed 22 apr 98
The following comments were sent to me in individual postings. I'm sending
them to the group because someone asked me to share any solutions that I
might get off the list...
....While WD-40 is almost all straight-chain hydrocarbons (from light
crude oil), it does contains some cyclics and polycyclics (aka aromatics,
eg, benzene, naphthalene, etc.). And these compounds are proven
carcinogens. A very infrequent exposure probably won't hurt you since
your immune system likely will handle the nasties. But repeated daily
weekly exposure could be quite hazardous.
I'd stick to PAM or similar lecithin-based material, especially
non-spray type.
....Try using a piece of denim around the plunger right after extruding. This
made the barrel MUCH easier to clean!! Worked for me!
....All that flammable means is spray the stuff where you have some
ventilation so the vapors don't accumulate and DON'T ever spray near a
flame, heat source or near something which has the ability to spark the
vapors. Once the vapors dissipate there is no more fire hazard.
....I use WD 40 in my extruder with excellent results. Not only does it
make the extruder easier to clean but it keeps the rust at bay. I
also use cooking oil spray which, to me, is much better than WD 40
because it smells so much better.
....I have no extruder ;-( but have used WD-40 as a release for a molded
platter (only made 2 so far), but had no trouble in the bisque firing
with conflagration, at least not so's I noticed. Hope this helps.
....I hope someone else gives you the chemical info, sounds interesting.
All of
the chemicals you list will affect oxide & slip treatments of leather &
greenware & most likely will eliminate any single fire glazing. I'm
streamlining & simpflying sic my processes, I'd choose no additional chemicals
to buy, breath, misplace, run out of, yadda yadda .yadda.
Try dusting the inside with clay dust (The same as the clay you are
extruding).
On cleaning, I buy very rough scotch pads at the hardware store. For months
the stiff pads clean well and are easily rinsed in the nearest slip bucket. By
the time they are worn down I use them to sand clay. When they are really
trashed I throw them in a plastic mesh bag, (the type the grocery uses to
package onions), I use the whole packet as a scrub tool.
....We use spray canola oil in our extruder at school. It works
wonderfully. I
would use a natural cooking spray over any kind of wd-40 or other spray oils.
I know that wd-40 will pit your hand tools over time if you clean them with
it.
It has an acid or something in it to eat the rust. It might be a good idea to
clean up the extruder with a cleaner that will get rid of the wd-40. I can't
swear that it would hurt your extruder but why chance it.
WOW! Look at all those private postings. A sincere thanks to all those
who share what they know so freely.
John Post
....who just snuck the can of Pam out of the kitchen and into the studio...
e-mail rp1mrvl@moa.net
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