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"Invisible" <voi### [at] dev null> wrote in message
news:4a0d8dc1$1@news.povray.org...
> St. wrote:
>
>> Erm, no, but while you're doing this experiment, tell me what the
>> backup tape is made of.
>
> Wikipedia suggests it might be Mylar (i.e., polyethylene terephthalate). I
> still don't know how to make it disolve though. So far we've tried:
>
> - Acetone
> - Hexane
> - Butyle acetate
>
> We don't have any other really cheap solvents in our lab...
>
> Oh well, I guess I could try using mineral acid to disolve the iron
> coating. :-S
Hmm, interesting that acetone isn't doing the job. I think what you
really need is Cellulose thinners.
~Steve~
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Invisible wrote:
> I implicitly meant "does it disolve faster than the polar icecaps?"
That's a moving target.
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Invisible <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
> I still don't know how to make it disolve though. So far we've tried:
>
> - Acetone
> - Hexane
> - Butyle acetate
>
> We don't have any other really cheap solvents in our lab...
>
> Oh well, I guess I could try using mineral acid to disolve the iron
> coating. :-S
Just a quick question: *Why* would you want to dissolve it in the first place?
If it is only about rendering it unusable, how about a nice oscillating magnetic
field? Microwave oven? Using a strong hole punch axially on the spool to convert
it to confetti? Cutting the spool in two halves using a strong paper cutter? ...
Or is this a new attempt at data compression - dissolving the bits, to later
distill them into a concentrated powder? :P
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Invisible wrote:
> Question: Does acetone disolve backup tape?
Dip a Styrofoam cup into some acetone. Hours of fun.. fumy... fumy...
fuuuuuuunnnnnn... with a squishy (and fumy) ball of what was plastic
before. the fumes... they're quite intoxicating... aren't they?
--
~Mike
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Invisible wrote:
> Wikipedia suggests it might be Mylar (i.e., polyethylene terephthalate).
> I still don't know how to make it disolve though. So far we've tried:
>
> - Acetone
> - Hexane
> - Butyle acetate
Slow day at the lab? XD
--
~Mike
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clipka wrote:
> distill them into a concentrated powder? :P
<SNOOOOORT!> I'm so smart now!
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
There's no CD like OCD, there's no CD I knoooow!
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Mike Raiford wrote:
> Invisible wrote:
>> Question: Does acetone disolve backup tape?
>
> Dip a Styrofoam cup into some acetone. Hours of fun.. fumy... fumy...
> fuuuuuuunnnnnn... with a squishy (and fumy) ball of what was plastic
> before. the fumes... they're quite intoxicating... aren't they?
Butyl acetate does that all by itself... smells like peardrops...
only... stronger. x_x
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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Mike Raiford wrote:
> Invisible wrote:
>
>> Wikipedia suggests it might be Mylar (i.e., polyethylene
>> terephthalate). I still don't know how to make it disolve though. So
>> far we've tried:
>>
>> - Acetone
>> - Hexane
>> - Butyle acetate
>
> Slow day at the lab? XD
...you noticed? :-}
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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clipka wrote:
> Just a quick question: *Why* would you want to dissolve it in the first place?
>
> If it is only about rendering it unusable, how about a nice oscillating magnetic
> field? Microwave oven? Using a strong hole punch axially on the spool to convert
> it to confetti? Cutting the spool in two halves using a strong paper cutter? ...
How do you prove that the magnetic field was strong enough to erase it
properly, all the way through? OTOH, if you cut it to ribbons or
dissolve it, there's little doubt that it's destroyed.
Microwave oven would be a tad hazardous, I suggest.
I have tried using a saw to cut it in half, but it's slow, hard work,
and if you don't manually tease the fragments apart, they tend to latch
on to each other at their friad ends, so you can still reconstruct the
correct sequencing. But it takes *ages* to seperate them all by hand...
I also tried the shredder. But it's like trying to shred clingfilm.
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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>> Perhaps I need to actually unwind the tape from the spool. That'll take a
>> seriously long time though; IIRC, there's about 8 km of tape in there! o_O
>
> Ah, I see. I've never seen one of these tapes so thought it was either
> like a camera film or something more solid like a plastic disc. I would
> imagine that if you unravel it, it would dissolve far quicker.
An individual strand of tape is very weak. However, get a few of them,
and it rapidly becomes *absurdly* strong. Scissors simply won't cut it -
and I have fairly meaty scissors.
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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