[CAUT] VS Profelt

[Fred Sturm]

On Nov 19, 2008, at 12:13 AM, Richard Brekne wrote:

> probably rather expensive compared to a water alcohol soak if one  
> first wants to expand the hammer

	I got some VS Profelt a few days ago and did some preliminary  
examination. My take is that it is probably as high as 80-90% water, a  
wee bit of alcohol (to reduce surface tension of the water and make it  
penetrate fabric easier), some fabric softener, and the silicone  
polymer. The residue from evaporating it is on the oily side in  
texture, quite slippery (that's mostly the silicone).
	How did I come up with this guesstimate? Looks, smell and texture to  
start with. It's a lot "thicker" than alcohol, and evaporates like  
water, in the sense of speed of evaporation and how cold it makes the  
skin feel (a dab on the back of the hand, compared to water and to  
alcohol and to 50/50 water alcohol). The smell is a "laundry" smell,  
meaning it is probably one of the milder perfumes put into fabric  
softeners. Definitely no alcohol smell to my nose. It doesn't flame  
(like brandy, which is maybe 80 proof, or 40% alcohol).
	All of which means that I would personally keep it away from hammers  
(a bit brushed on the strike surface might be okay) and action  
centers, on the grounds of being far too much water. It is probably  
convenient and effective for key bushings and wipp cushions and the  
like.
	I got some unscented fabric softener (hard to find), and will do a  
bit of experimentation on things like hard dampers and hammers. As I  
wrote in an earlier post, Nick Gravagne swore by alcohol and fabric  
softener for those rock hard hammers. I never got around to trying.  
For dampers, I would try more water in the formulation. Certainly the  
silicone is useless for both applications.
	At $12 a quart, VSP is too pricey for my wallet unless it turns out  
to be very extra special indeed, if I can buy a lifetime supply of  
softener for $5, and use either powdered teflon or Protek for  
lubrication. I'll be trying it out to see whether it out-performs  
"homebrew." Or steaming and heated cauls for key bushings.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu