Bloxygen?

[Alan Lightstone]

It's just argon gas. $10 for that little bottle is also probably the most expensive argon gas in the world. Might be cheaper to go to your welding gas supplier and buy a "lecture bottle" of argon.

Looking online I get a quote of $258.00 for the lecture bottle of argon. And that's not including the regulator/hose/etc... It would take quite a number of Bloxygen bottles to equal that.

Rarely need to refill it, though, and you could always use it for wine and guacamole (who knew?)

[Allan Speers]

Scott,

It may be that the plastic lets too much air (with oxygen) through the sides of the bottles. I can't reference any data on this but this note from the Mercury Adhesives company indicates moisture can pass through and makes me wonder about oxygen (BTW, best CA glue I've found and guaranteed not to set up):

2. What is the shelf life of CA? If properly made and packaged CA can last – 2+ years (Mercury has no time frame to its warranty). The bottle that the CA is packaged in is a vital link to the shelf life of CA. Mercury Chemist have tested over 4500 different HDPE resins and there are only a handful that can properly store CA and isolate the liquid inside from the moisture in the air. The cap or closure is also very important to sealing out the water vapors that exist in the air we breathe. The Mercury bottle uses proprietary resins in the molding of the bottle and has a highly engineered triple seal closure to keep moisture out and the product fresh. This is another reason why Mercury is the only company that offers an unconditional warranty on their products.

JKJ

Very interesting. - And it makes me immediately think of shellac. Sure, most of use mix it in glass bottles, but almost everyone stores the flakes in plastic bags. Water vapor is what ruins shellac flakes.... do the math.

[John K Jordan]

Very interesting. - And it makes me immediately think of shellac. Sure, most of use mix it in glass bottles, but almost everyone stores the flakes in plastic bags. Water vapor is what ruins shellac flakes.... do the math.

Speaking of keeping water vapor out, a friend yesterday reminded me that a year or so I told him of a way to preserve CA glue, and good gravy, it actually DID it. It put his CA glue bottles in a jar with desiccant beads. Over a year now and they are still like new. Should work for shellac too.

I like the indicator type of beads that change from bright blue to pink to let you know when it's time to re-dry them.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OUXA2Q


JKJ

[Allan Speers]

Speaking of keeping water vapor out, a friend yesterday reminded me that a year or so I told him of a way to preserve CA glue, and good gravy, it actually DID it. It put his CA glue bottles in a jar with desiccant beads. Over a year now and they are still like new. Should work for shellac too.

I like the indicator type of beads that change from bright blue to pink to let you know when it's time to re-dry them.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OUXA2Q

JKJ

Brilliant idea !

[Jeff Bartley]

Has anyone here tried dropping marbles into a can of waterlox to take up the airspace at the top?

I just opened a (mostly) used up can this evening and found a gloppy mess of gelatinous finish. It's weird: I used it just days ago and it was fine.

Jeff (who's now worried about a half used can of epifanes)

[John TenEyck]

No, I just stick with Bloxygen. I'm sure marbles work fine, but then you've got a mess of sticky marbles when the finish is gone.

I suggest you put some Bloxygen in that can of Epifanes right quick, or marbles. I lost a half full can before I realized how cheap Bloxgen really is.

John

[Alan Lightstone]

Has anyone here tried dropping marbles into a can of waterlox to take up the airspace at the top?

I just opened a (mostly) used up can this evening and found a gloppy mess of gelatinous finish. It's weird: I used it just days ago and it was fine.

Jeff (who's now worried about a half used can of epifanes)

Yes, I did the marbles for a while, then just switched back to Bloxygen. It's just easier, and the can doesn't start to weigh a ton with the marbles in it, and you don't have to go through lots of mineral spirits to clean off the marbles when you're done. Just wound up being more work.

[Steve Hubbard]

Stop Loss Bags have worked better for me than Bloxygen or marbles. It takes a little practice to get all of the air bubbles out of the bag before screwing on the lid. Practice with water before wasting Waterlox.

[Alan Lightstone]

Stop Loss Bags have worked better for me than Bloxygen or marbles. It takes a little practice to get all of the air bubbles out of the bag before screwing on the lid. Practice with water before wasting Waterlox.

I've switched over to Stop Loss Bags for many of my finishes. They're a little bit of a pain (especially to clean the funnel), but they do seem to get the finish intact. IMHO.

[Ted Phillips]

I use stop-loss bags as well, but mostly for wax/oil mixtures that are a bit thicker and easier to handle in the pouch. For oil-based finishes like TruOil and Waterlox, I just use a squirt of Bloxygen in their original containers.