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SteelieD

Head cement thinner

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Can I use the acetone I have at home to thin my head cement? I can't get to the fly shop for a few days and my head cement is too thick!

Thanks.

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steelie.................

 

i have absolutely Zero experience with flyfishing cements...................

 

however, being a whitetail archer...........i custom build my own arrows. with this said i use acetone to strip fletching/feathers off the shaft.

 

i would look into another type of spirit, acetone really eats things up (like glue, plastic, etc.)

 

oh yeah, acetone isnt very body friendly either............so if you decide to give it a whirl handle with care.

 

camoham

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You must be VERY careful when using thinning agents that were not recommended by the manufacturer!!

 

I have already ruined entire bottles of cement by adding the wrong thinner!! Most often,they would just congeal into a gloppy mess,that looked like something out of a movie special effects department!! If you can get away with it,I would recommend pouring a bit into a small container,and adding a bit of what you are going to use to thin it....LET IT SIT for awhile,before deciding you are OK...I seem to remember that when I had my bad experiences,at least one of the times,I thought I was OK...dropped in the thinner,shook well,and everything seemed ok...came back to use the stuff,and it had been rendered useless,as described earlier...It took a bit of time for the "adverse"reaction to take place. I recently did have some success with using acetone,on a product by Wapsi,called "Gloss-Cote". I have also read on this forum,of some guys using Toluene to thin Dave's Flex-Cement. This is very good news for me,cause I use Flex-cement more than any other type of cement,and the nearest fly shop in my area is over an hour away!!

 

(a LONG way to go for a bottle of thinner!!) Toluene on the other hand,is available a most any well stocked paint supply shop,for a few bucks per quart!!

 

Sulphernut

 

 

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Thanks guys. I guess maybe I'll wait and get some thinner in a few days. I can always go back and cement the heads of the flys I've tied later. Thanks again!

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i used nail polish remover once. not only did it thicken it, but it also turned it white and made a horrible mess :blink: :ph34r:

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Hi,

Go to the local drug store or place where they sell cosmetics and pick up a bottle of Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails. It's clear, easily found and thins nicely with acetone. I've seen this on more fly tying benches of fly tiers I've met than any head cement. It should be the consistancy of maple syrup.

 

Mark

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Depends on what the cement is.

For basic head lacquer (typical fly shop house brand) use laquer thinner. Get it at the hardware store for about $7 a quart. Carefully dispense into a smaller jar or dispenser OUTSIDE as it contains toluene, xylene, and other nasty stuff, that also has a habid of finding flame (eg. that oil burner in the basement, candles, gas range pilot light) and exploding.

 

Other cements use other solvents. Fleximent and vinyl cement need special solvents made for them.

 

The wrong solvent will cause the cement to get goopy and it may never harden.

 

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I've been using a water based polyurethane varnish I found at Hobby Lobby. No funky fumes & if it gets a little thick, just add water. :yahoo:

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Go to the local drug store or place where they sell cosmetics and pick up a bottle of Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails.

 

That's exactly what I did! Thanks Mark.

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the head cement I've been using(rumpf) got a little thick(forgot to put the lid back on ) but they also sell a thinner for it and it works

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I agree with the Sally Hansen Hard As Nails advice. Been using it for over 10 years with no failed fly heads. Since it is a nail polish, it thins easily with inexpensive nail polish remover.

Before you use toluene/ acetone read the MSDS sheet on those chemicals. Was once in the commercial printing business before OSHA began and used those liquids to wash ink from stained skin. After OSHA handed out MSDS sheets, I changed jobs.

Hard As Nails also comes in a tinted version.

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