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September 14, 2014 at 9:39 am #59402
@david pierce wrote:
Chris,
Denatured alcohol is ethanol with extremely poisonous chemicals added to it to keep people from drinking it. This was done in the prohibition era in the U.S. back in the 1930s. It has an unpleasant unique smell to it almost like rancid varnish. Straight ethanol can be made from a number of plant products but most of it is made from corn.
davidHmm… Jakes leg?
September 14, 2014 at 9:41 am #59403@namonllor1953 wrote:
Hi Tom,
I’ve been using denatured alcohol in my lamps for about 12 years now. When I’m straightening bamboo nodes, it’s a job of at least an hour run at a time. I’ve never had any problems with anything catching fire. My lamps are also made of metal.I switching to a metal lamp as we speak (or type that is).
Thanks!
TomSeptember 15, 2014 at 4:19 pm #59404Hmm…what about just using kerosene in the alcohol lamp? I have one of the small 8-sided lamps too, and I was glad to see this issue addressed, because I was wondering what kind of alcohol was the right kind to burn. But then I thought what about the old days when everybody burned kerosene lamps for lighting purposes? Would kerosene in an alcohol lamp put out black soot?
…DougSeptember 15, 2014 at 4:32 pm #59405I definitely would not use kerosene in a alcohol lamp. In order to get the heat you need your shop would be full of black smoke. I have been using denatured alcohol for 30 yrs or more and no longer than they are on I don’t see a problem. My mentor did clocks for 68 yrs and he used denatured alcohol in fact he had been known to use 180 proof grain alcohol. 😆
September 15, 2014 at 4:50 pm #59406@Bernie Weishapl wrote:
I definitely would not use kerosene in a alcohol lamp. In order to get the heat you need your shop would be full of black smoke. I have been using denatured alcohol for 30 yrs or more and no longer than they are on I don’t see a problem. My mentor did clocks for 68 yrs and he used denatured alcohol in fact he had been known to use 180 proof grain alcohol. 😆
Thanks, Bernie. OK, that makes sense to me – I kind of suspected that smoke & soot would be the issue. Denatured alcohol is the ticket, then! I’m sure glad I chimed in on this thread, I have wondered what kind of alcohol was preferred in our little alcohol lamps. I guess they’re called “alcohol lamps” for a reason! 🙄
I just re-read your answer and I saw that your mentor used 180 proof grain alcohol on occasion…there’s a product called “Everclear” which, if I recall correctly, is just that – 180 proof grain alcohol.
…DougSeptember 15, 2014 at 5:26 pm #59407Hey, Everclear reminds me of the alternative punk band who named themselves after the same product that people were drinking in their town 😆 EVERCLEAR
September 15, 2014 at 5:32 pm #59408My grandfather used to make corn alcohol in the cellar north of his house.He would double batch it to the tune of 180 to 190 proof. As a teenager we would borrow a pint if we could get away with it. I remember it was smooth going down but boy howdy it could jump up and kick your back side like 2 size 13 boots. 😆 My mentor would buy a gallon at a time from grandpa. He would burn some of it and it would burn hot. It would burn so hot and you couldn’t see the flame most times so I burnt my arms more than once. Oh and he would probably drink more than he would burn. Oooohhhhh that stuff was so good with pepsi or 7up. 😯 😆
September 15, 2014 at 5:44 pm #59409It was a popular and profitable business back in the prohibition times, and if I remember correctly, one of the reasons that today, we have a Proof percentage, stamped on the labels of the controlled substance, lots of people suddenly found themselves without eyesight 😆 I guess that 300 proof stuff would do that 😮
Hard times always create ingenious ways to kill the pain 😆
September 15, 2014 at 6:04 pm #59410Yes they did Chris. My grandmother would use it to sterilize a wound, scrapes, etc. I watched her back in the middle 50’s one time my grandfather had cut his hand. Doctor,…..aw no. Grandma dipped her needle and thread in the grain alcohol and washed grandpa’s hand with it. She then proceeded to sew the cut closed. Hell when he said jump after that I always asked how high. 😆 I figured if he was that tough I didn’t want to mess with him. He used to take a drink in the morning before he put on his bib coveralls and at night before he went to bed.
Of course grandma used it for medicinal purposes.
September 15, 2014 at 7:11 pm #59411I’m going to check with one of the drug stores and see if they carry high proof ethanol. The stuff approved for drinking is way too expensive ($25.00 a pint and up) to burn.
david -
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