# Stabilizing wood with acrylic



## RussFairfield (Feb 9, 2006)

I have read at least a thousand messages that talk about the details of jars and vacuum pumps, and a few of them even say something about the Plexiglass being dissolved in Acetone, but nowhere do I see any mention of how much.

What ratio of acrylic to acetone do you use, or is it unimportant??


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## Dario (Feb 9, 2006)

From all my reading no one did address the ratio.  Most refer only to the consistency which is really vague.  In their defense, I think it is hard to give a ratio since acetone is volatile.

Will be interesting to read the comments of those who used it.


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## Old Griz (Feb 9, 2006)

Russ, from what I was able to gather from the information posted.. most of the users dissolved the plexi until they got a solution that they believed was thin enough to soak into the blanks.  Now obviously this is a subjective thing... You obviously do not want a solution that is like maple syrup and also do not want to add so much acetone that the percentage of plexi is too low to do any good... 
So far no one has come up with a pounds of plexiglass to ounces of acetone ratio...


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## smoky10 (Feb 9, 2006)

Russ, when I've used it I just drop the plexi in a jar with acetone, it will only absorb so much and the rest of the plexi will lay on the bottom. After about 3 days I pour it in the jar I'm going to use and leave the stuff on the bottom of the jar there. It will be there for the next time. Just add acetone.


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## alamocdc (Feb 9, 2006)

Tom is correct, it is somewhat subjective. I first dropped pieces in until the acetone became saturated, but this proved too thick to get the penetration I was looking for... even though it was only about the viscosity of corn syrup. Now I just use enough to get the consistency of heavy cream. I've also found that if you keep the mixture moving, or mix it up several times a day that it will dissolve more quickly. It still takes a few days though.


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