Originally Posted by
CliftonGK1
"Do not use chemical paint strippers! They will attack the epoxy resin that holds your part together.
Acetone, alcohol and other solvents are okay, but they don't remove paint."
Taken from
Carbon Fiber Q & A on Sheldon Brown's site.
After more research:
Lennard,
That’s utter nonsense. Epoxies are rated in two standard tests: boiling in water and boiling in acetone. The rating calls out the amount of water or acetone absorbed. Epoxy does not dissolve in acetone. Acetone is a great solvent for uncured epoxy. But once it's cured, acetone doesn't hurt it.
The only problem with acetone as it relates to bikes is that it will dull paint and clear coats. Most bicycle parts are coated, sometimes with a satin or flat finish that looks like nude carbon. Acetone will change the glossiness (or lack thereof) and make you think it's doing something to the epoxy. Alcohol is the strongest solvent you can use that will not affect paint.
We offer frames in a nude finish and offer to strip all coatings off other carbon frames. Then we treat it with a UV filtering protectant (303 Protectant). Acetone cleans off this Scotch-guard-like treatment and it would need to be re-done.
That's more than you need to know about acetone!
Craig Calfee
Calfee Design
http://www.velonews.com/article/87519
My experiences with acetone involved dissolving various paints and coatings off of parts, so naturally I thought it would dissolve the epoxy resin as well. I stand corrected!