Re: [CR]Shellac and bar tape--Caveats!

(Example: Component Manufacturers)

From: <CYCLETRUCK@aol.com>
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 09:24:27 EST
Subject: Re: [CR]Shellac and bar tape--Caveats!
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org


BTW: Has anyone mentioned the intense denatured buzz that comes from coating your bar tape in a confined space?

Dry, warm air speeds both evaporation and euphoria. If you find it increasingly difficult to hold your brush steady it may be time to open a window.

Maybe I don't need to point out that shellac shouldn't be applied or allowed to dry close to a gas water heater, a furnace, or a gas stove with pilot lights.

The flamability of this stuff can surprise you. Many years ago I was heating hide glue with an alcohol stove when I noticed the flame had burned out. I had a half gallon can with less than a cup of fuel left in it. As I began to refill the stove's tank, the can took off out of my hand like a rocket, then ric-o-shayed off four walls before finally coming to rest on a work bench. It had left a burning trail of alcohol through the first half of its flight. Apparently I had failed to notice a small nearly invisable blue flicker at the stove's burners underneath the glue pot. The alcohol can was nearly empty & had a rich mix of fumes & air in the remaining space. It was ready for ignition.

Sometimes I know just enough to be dangerous.

Calvert Guthrie
KCMO