Andy1845c said:Well, I tried the paint stripper I have, and it didn't do anything after several hours of soaking. It says it contains methylene choride: 79-09-2 I don't know what the numbers mean though?
Can you get just methylene choride? Or is paint stripper the closest I will come with out being a chemist?
The number after the name methylene chloride is probably the CAS number. It links to a variety of resources and is an unambiguous way to identify chemical compounds. Almost all consumer chemicals in the USA have them or are listed as proprietary.
As for availability, fortunately many chemicals are still available in the US to ordinary citizens. You can try the online auction site, Google, or common industrial supply places, like Fisher. Here is a llink to one of a few online sourses:
**broken link removed**
First, you will be shocked by the prices, because you will have to pay list price ($50 for 500 mL of technical grade). Second, supply houses like Fisher will put you through a screening process. You may have have to show evidence of appropriate training and experience. I am not sure the online place does anything to screen. If you go the route of getting methylene chloride, do not get the anhydrous form or waste money on the high purity forms.
The link given by mvs sarma sounds worth a try. Dimethylformamide and other "super solvents" (e.g., dimethylsulfoxide and hexamethylphosphortriamide - HMTP) might work. 1-Methyl-2-pyrrolidinone, which is in many of the so-called "green" paint strippers may also work. Again, though, consider cost of the chemical versus the value of the parts you will recover.
John