How To Dissolving Loctite!

[vanadium]

Recently I had to take down a ZT that had been put together by someone from the "more Loctite is better" school of knife assembly. After the disassembly was complete, I faced the problem of removing gobs of the adhesive. It had been applied so heavily, much of it remained uncured! Usually I can just do a little scraping, but this case of Severe Loctitis required a chemical cleaning.

After trying a few solvents that didn't work, I figured it out:

The best solvent for Loctite is… Loctite!

That's right. A bit of Loctite on a cotton swab, combined with vigorous rubbing, did the job.

Hope this helps someone!

(For those with a fuller chemical cabinet, methylene chloride seems like it would also do the job. Usually obtainable from anyone who deals in plexiglas. UPDATE: Be warned it is dangerous as hell. Read the MSDS.)

 

[Misthailin]

Thank you! When these problems come up, it’s good to be able to find a solution!

 

[knarfeng]

Do not use methylene chloride. It's a severe liver toxin.

Most grades of Loctite are based on cyanoacrylate chemistry. Acetone is the solvent of choice for cyanoacrylates. The high temp stuff is usually epoxy. Acetone will work on that, also, until it is cured.

 

[vanadium]

Most grades of Loctite are based on cyanoacrylate chemistry. Acetone is the solvent of choice for cyanoacrylates. The high temp stuff is usually epoxy. Acetone will work on that, also, until it is cured.

Lots of this gunk was cured. I soaked it in acetone for about 15 minutes, and there was no discernible effect. Loctite on a swab dissolved the cured stuff.

 

[knarfeng]

Which grade of loctite?

 

[Rey HRH]

Loctite does sell Loctite adhesive remover/solvent.

 

[vanadium]

Which grade of loctite?

Blue (judging from the uncured portion)

 

[knarfeng]

Blue (judging from the uncured portion)

That should come off with acetone. It does for us at work.

 

[danthaman1980]

Lol, yeah. Methylene chloride is one of the more potent solvents available. Doesn't smell great either, sort of burns the nasal cavities if you take too big a whiff. Also dissolves many types of gloves, which isn't pleasant since the stuff is pretty irritating to the skin. I don't recommend using it unless you know what you're doing.

 

[knarfeng]

Maybe ours is not all the way cured. We run into it during assembly operations.