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From my 20 minute foray into belt making back in the mid 70's I still have an old can of Neat-Lac leather finish . It contains Toluol. Harmful or fatal if swallowed. I won't be drinking it. Harmful vapors, too. It's old but intact. I put some on a piece of briar and it really brought out the grain and looks really nice.

Anyone know if this stuff is okay to use as a finish without resulting in death or other types of bio-destruction? I'm new to this pipe work and have yet to get to the part of the show that has me buying Fiebings stains etc.

Also, how do the stains PIMO sells compare to the Fiebings products? Thanks!

I just bought some Fiebings but haven't used any yet, but I did use PIMO dyes on my first pipe and the stain turned out pretty ok. you can check it out here: http://www.pipemakersforum.com/

As far as the toxic dye goes, I don't have enough experience to say with certainty, but anything that could cause death is something I wouldn't put on a pipe.

Just my 2 cents. Hope this was helpful!

Well denatured alcohol is harmful or fatal if swallowed, but we put it on our pipes.

That stuff with toluol (whatever that is) probably wouldn't be harmful to the smoker if it was used on the outside of a pipe. My concern would be what it smells like when it gets hot, since it probably doesn't totally evaporate like alcohol does.

Rad

RadDavis wrote:Well denatured alcohol is harmful or fatal if swallowed, but we put it on our pipes.

That stuff with toluol (whatever that is) probably wouldn't be harmful to the smoker if it was used on the outside of a pipe. My concern would be what it smells like when it gets hot, since it probably doesn't totally evaporate like alcohol does.

Rad

See, that's why it's good to listen to those with experience.

That is an excellent point, Rad, and I honestly hadn't taken that into consideration. Where's the foot-in-mouth smiley when you need one?

This'll do.

Toluol is the old fashioned name for toluene, which is a flammable solvent (just like ethanol) and it is toxic if you ingest it (just like denatured ethanol), but it also evaporates and leaves no trace on the pipe (just like ethanol).

So, in my humble opinion, it is probably fine to use for the outside of pipes.

I don't imagine you would fair any better if you drank Febings.

Todd

one for me, one for the pipe

taharris wrote: but it also evaporates and leaves no trace on the pipe (just like ethanol).


Todd

No worries then. See I didn't know that Toluol was the old fashioned name for Toluene. But I don't know what Toluene is either.

Rad

What did you think tolua nuts give us Rad, pizza maybe??

Thanks for the feedback. I'm gonna apply it to one of my pipes. If it kills me, I'll post a warning for you folks.

RadDavis wrote:No worries then. See I didn't know that Toluol was the old fashioned name for Toluene. But I don't know what Toluene is either.

Rad

Methyl Benzene.



Hope this helps.

Todd

Be careful to have good ventilation.. It's taken out of use like many other chemicals for a good reason;)

Just read this one, the old Tandy Neat-Lac is a Toluene/Shellac blend and if I remember is nearly clear, they also did it as an aerosol. The new version is a water based milky fluid that is nowhere near as good as the old stuff.

If you buy Fiebings Institutional you can drink it to your hearts content.

David.

I knew a guy in High School that huffed an entire gallon of Toluene. I remember the joy and ecstasy on his face the day he bought that gallon of aircraft glue.... from the shop teacher no less.
That gallon of glue lasted him most of his junior year, but he lived for at least a few more years that I know of.... I assume he's dead by now, or at least quite stupid. Who knows, he might have gone into politics.

Mate of mine drank 100ml of amyl nitrate, died in a minute or so.

David.

My dad use to pour Toluene into his dragster....by the gallon! Used as an Octane booster.

Nasty stuff. Always had a 55 gallon drum of it in the garage as a kid, along with MEK, Acetone and a few others.