Hi Joe:
    Yeah, I remember 1,1,1 
    Trichloroethane.  Great stuff, and would cut through just about 
    anything.  Also would dry the skin right off your hands and arms in no 
    time flat not to mention your forehead from wiping the sweat from your 
    brow.  After OSHA stepped in, we had to switch to Naphtha.  Not 
    nearly as good, but you could keep your zippo full at all times for 
    free.
    Anyway yeah, if you can get some trichloroethane go for 
    it!  I don't see any problems for just one job.  I was elbow deep 
    in the stuff 8-hours a day for around 4-years.  I got some scars, but 
    no cancer yet (knock on wood).
     
    BigDave
    
        
        My all time favorite solvent has to be 
        trichloroethane. I just went looking for some recently, without success. 
        Banned as an ozone eater. I can suggest a few readily 
        available noxious chemicals that you might try. Kerosene is fairly 
        cheap, fairly benign, and fairly slippery. Turpetine is a 
        non-liver-eating replacement for turpentine. If your glue is an old 
        pine tar material, turpetine may cut it. Denatured alcohol may work 
        better than isopropyl, but it still evaporates too quickly for my taste. 
        Mineral spirits (paint thinner) might be worth a try. Paint stripper can 
        work miracles, but OSHA and the ozone hole have taken some of the fun 
        out of that, too. Do you have a big fan, and somebody to spot 
        you?
         
        Joe
         
        (Sorry, I've been off line for some 
        months due to technical difficulties. Well, okay, computer incompetence 
        and laziness.)
         
         
        ----- Original Message ----- 
        
            
            
            Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2001 
            6:17 PM
            Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Phone 
            # for Mine sweeper hulls
            
A chap 
            "down under" wanted the phone # for the place that sells 
            the mine 
sweepers.  It is Lague Sales,  Robert Lague 
              209-825-2582.   I think he 
wants $250 
            each.  If you work out a deal with him to ship one to you, I'd 
            be 
glad to go and pick out one for you.  (Just to make sure 
            you get the best of 
the pile).  Some of them have some 
            pretty deep marring where they were 
dragged on the sand. 
             I'd look for one with no damage. 
I cut one in half the 
            other day and took out the foam blocks.  They weigh 600 
            
lbs, total, without the foam.  Did the math calcs to 
            estimate how much it 
would displace.  Figured to be 4400 
            lbs on paper.   After I cut it at 
"station 
            10", I stood each half on a large scale and filled them with 
            water.   
The front 10ft. weighed in at 3200 lbs and the 
            tail (8'10") weighed 1100 full 
of water.  Total weight 
            =  4300 lbs.  The first 14" of the nose is sealed 
            
from the rest and did not fill with water.  I don't know if 
            it is full of 
foam or just empty.  There is a 4 inch steel 
            tube across the inside at 
station 6.  There is a glue 
            substance (very sticky yet after 50 years) on 
parts of the 
            inside, apparently to hold the foam in place during assembly.   
            
Tested acetone, alcohol, gasoline, detergent, and tolulene. 
             Only tolulene 
will cut the glue and then only with 
            scrubbing.  Heat softens it so I used a 
heated pressure 
            washer to get alot of it out but that was a VERY slow and hot 
            
process.    I'm not willing to climb inside with 
            a gallon of tolulene and 
start scrubbing away.   
Any 
            suggestions? 
Gene