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Hi, can somone hep me?
I have been watching the riogrande channel on youtube, referring to video: Soldering - 06/10/2009. The demonstrator uses a barrier flux: boric acid and denatured alcohol for the jump rings. In the uk it is not cheap to get ethanol, though i have come across methanol. Is methanol a suitable replacement for ethanol and what ratio are the two mixed?
Thank you
Maz
Denatured alcohol is sold in the UK as methylated spirits - it is ethanol denatured with methanol (and bitrex, and purple dye). Methanol is fairly unpleasant from a toxicity POV, although boric acid is slightly more soluble in it than in ethanol.
Equally, there's some commercial products that can do the same job: Argotect and Magic Boric are two that spring to mind. Both are probably safer than having a jar full of flammables on the bench, although the Argotect does need meths to make it up.
Then there's Prips, FM solution and so on...
Magic Boric (which I always end up calling Magic Boris) is a brilliant alternative. Not least because it's water based, so doesn't flame in use. A properly prepared piece can actually need no pickling whatsoever.