A-West MSDS Sheets

[Lawton Maner]

I am headed into the Massey Cancer Center at MCV Hospital at the end October for a Bone Marrow Transplant.  If I am able to negotiate with my oncologist the necessary safety procedures when working with the chemicals most of us hold dear to our hearts, I will be allowed to work on building models during the six months I'm under house arrest following the treatment as my immune system comes back on line.

I've located MSDS Sheets for most of the things I commonly use, but have run into a brick wall when it comes to A-West's Weather-it.  H*** I can't even locate their physical address on line.

Can anyone help?

Thanks in advance.

[TRAINS1941]

Lawton,

The only thing I could find was A-West Box 1144 Woodstock, Ga 30188.

Jerry

[Lawton Maner]

Jerry:

Thanks.

[billmart]

The following wording is from the label on A-West's Blacken-It.

"Contains denatured alcohol, selenous acid, & dilute copper chloride/copper carbonate."

You might try looking for an MSDS for each of these chemicals.

Bill Martinsen

[eTraxx]

Selenous acid (or selenious acid) is the chemical compound with the formula H2SeO3. Structurally, it is more accurately described by (HO)2SeO.

Uses

The major use is in changing the color of steel, especially the steel in guns, the so-called "blueing" process which uses selenous acid, copper(II) nitrate, and nitric acid to change the color of the steel from silver-grey to blue-grey. Some older razor blades were also made of blued steel.

Another use for selenious acid is the chemical darkening and patination of copper, brass and bronze, producing a rich dark brown color that can be further enhanced with mechanical abrasion.

Health effects

Like many selenium compounds, selenous acid is highly toxic, and ingestion of any significant quantity of selenous acid is usually fatal. Symptoms of selenium poisoning can occur several hours after exposure, and may include stupor, nausea, severe hypotension and death.
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Copper Carbonate, artificial malachite. Cu2(OH)2CO3, toxic, green powder which is soluble in acids and decomposes at 200 C; used in pigments and pyrotechnics and as a fungicide and feed additive; antidote for phosphorous poisoning.
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Cupric Chloride (copper chloride) CuCl2, yellowish to brown, deliquescent powder which is soluble in water, alcohol, and ammonium chloride; used as a mordant in dyeing and printing textile fabrics and in the refining of copper, gold, and silver.

[Lawton Maner]

Bill, etal:

I am well acquainted with A-West's Blacken-it and prefer to use Birchwood Casey's Brass Black because of its results on both brass and nickel silver.

I'm looking for the ingredients in Weather-it which seem to be a suspension of some sort of pigment(?) in a clear fluid.  Once it dries, you can wet it again and it will move around a bit.

I generally use non grain raising wood dyes diluted with their solvents to prepare wood before modeling, but I am looking to not have to truck the entire shop into confinement and work with something which might be a little bit less toxic.

Again thanks for the help so far.

[David Emery]

Lawton, best of luck with the transplant!

Reading this (and other similar postings) makes me think someone (NMRA?) should come up with a simple binning of typical model RR products, something like:
   completely harmless
   toxic if swallowed, but no worries about skin absorption or inhaling
   toxic if inhaled
   toxic if absorbed through skin

Thoughts, everyone?

dave

[finescalerr]

Forget the NMRA.

Today's NMRA is fragmented, largely incompetent, and glacially slow. When it finally agrees on a "solution", the result is a disaster. The same is true of countless other organizations, corporations, and governments. Circumvent them whenever possible.

I used to belong to a train society whose motto was, "If you think something needs to be done, then you automatically become the guy in charge of doing it." There is no doubt in my mind that if you were to tackle the issue, you would do a far better job than the NMRA, in a vastly shorter time.

The big question, however, is whether anyone really needs to do it at all ....

Russ

[W.P. Rayner]

Lawton:

Hopefully the MSDS information provided will be of use, but perhaps most importantly, best of luck with the procedures in October and your subsequent isolation period. A colleague's two-year-old son is going through this process now and by all accounts is doing well. Keep us posted...

Paul

[Ray Dunakin]

I can't provide the info you're looking for but just wanted to say good luck with the transplant.

[Lawton Maner]

Thanks for the help and support guys.  No matter what happens, the last item on my bucket list is to be shot in the back by an irate husband, seventy years younger then me who has just cause.  The cancer is just a bump in the road, and not the end.

[finescalerr]

I will search high and low for beautiful girls in thong bikinis, eager to cater to your every whim, so you may realize your fantasy. I draw the line at providing irate husbands with firearms. (How banal, n'est-ce pas?)

Suggestion: Come though the surgery and recovery with flying colors and in perfect health. When the mood strikes, enjoy the bikini girls. But you must provide your own munitions and somehow figure a way for them to strike your back. If that seems a problem, just let the bikini girls wear you out. I can think of worse things ....

Russ

[marc_reusser]

Lawton,

My wholehearted best wishes on a successfull proceedure, and a quick and healthy recovery with as few side effects and/or issues as possible.

The "bump in the road" is a great attitude to take. The cancer does not define, or own you, but rather merely adds to your life experiences.

Marc