[Nhcoll-l] Very slow small leak of formalin from acrylic container

[Simon Moore]

Challenging problem Jonathan. Acrifix 107  (not 104, my mistake) was made by Degussa Chemicals. They are now owned by Evonik in Virginia? Otherwise it’s down to finding a suitable solvent for perspex / acrylic.  Acetone and xylene will mark acrylic plastics but whether they’re suitable to make an adhesive by dissolving acrylic in them is unknown to me.

With all good wishes, Simon

Simon Moore MIScT, RSci, FLS, ACR
Conservator of Natural Sciences and Cutlery Historian.

www.natural-history-conservation.com



> On 6 Dec 2023, at 22:41, Dr Jonathan Kemp <j at jk-conservation.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear Simon and Paul
> Many thanks for your advice. 
> re. Acrifix 104 - I cannot find this but wonder if you meant ACRIFIX® 2R 1074 although this is not for water contact. 
> ACRIFIX® 2R 0190 appears to be versatile and used for gap filling. 
> The chloroform/tricholoromethane route does seem too difficult for our labs given it should be treated as a carcinogen with workplace exposure limited to 10ppm/8 hours.
> many thanks Jonathan 
> On 7/12/23 01:48, Simon Moore wrote:
>> Quick follow-up on Paul’s message,
>> 
>> The organochlorines to which chloroform belongs are very useful solvents in this context, but you must bear in mind that it’s also known as tri-choloro methane when ordering otherwise it can cause alarm!
>> 
>> With all good wishes, Simon
>> 
>> Simon Moore MIScT, RSci, FLS, ACR
>> Conservator of Natural Sciences and Cutlery Historian.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On 6 Dec 2023, at 13:37, Callomon,Paul <prc44 at drexel.edu> wrote:
>>> 
>>> One of the most effective penetrant solvent adhesives for acrylic sheet (Lexan, Plexiglass, Lucite etc.) is chloroform. At design school we used to use it to bond sheets edge-to-edge; applied with a hypodermic needle it flows into the tiniest cracks and bonds hard in seconds. Unlike Acryloid, epoxy and others, it's not a cement but a true cold weld that briefly dissolves both surfaces.
>>> Obtaining it might be a bit harder these days, though, given its sedative/anesthetic/used-in-kidnappings qualities...
>>> 
>>> Paul Callomon
>>> Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates
>>> 
>>> Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
>>> 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia PA 19103-1195, USA
>>> prc44 at drexel.edu Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Dr Jonathan Kemp
>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 5, 2023 10:04 PM
>>> To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
>>> Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Very slow small leak of formalin from acrylic container
>>> 
>>> External.
>>> 
>>> Dear All
>>> 
>>> We have a loaned specimen in a smallish bespoke made rectangular acrylic container full of formalin. The box has a very slow and tiny leak from one end joint (before my time so I'm not sure how its been made).
>>> 
>>> In the past acrylic resin (Acryloid B72) has been used to fix it but this never quite works - is there a better way to fix the leak while retaining all the contents (ie. not decanting the formalin & specimen)?
>>> 
>>> btw. there is a small air gap (the formalin fills about 95% of the box) so it would be possible to turn the box so it dried out from the end joint before using anything....
>>> 
>>> best wishes and thanks in advance
>>> 
>>> Jonathan
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Nhcoll-l mailing list
>>> Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
>>> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to society. See http://www.spnhc.org/ for membership information.
>>> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Nhcoll-l mailing list
>>> Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
>>> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
>>> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
>>> mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
>>> natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
>>> society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.
>>> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
>>> 
>>