Homebrew PCBs

At 3:30 pm (PDT) Tue Oct 10, 2006, stuart.winsor wrote:
>In article <op.teqjadslmg0lsf@tu-x2pj5qeyp2u4>,
>    Stefan Trethan <stefan_trethan@...> wrote:
> > On Wed, 23 Aug 2006 12:31:53 +0200, Myc Holmes <mycroft2152y@...>
> > wrote:
> > > Try wintergreen flavoring from the grocery store.
> > > The main ingredient is oil of wintergreen.
> > > Myc
>
> > That's not something we have here...
>
>Oil of Wintergreen used to be sold for "medicinal" purposes. IIRC it was
>used for aches and pains - painful joints, rheumatism, that sort of thing.
>
>Try a herbalists, health food shop or chemists

As its name suggests, oil of wintergreen used to be a plant extract
but nowadays is often its pure synthetic equivalent, methyl salicylate.

As such, it is a close relative of aspirin, acetyl salicylate, which was
developed to mitigate the unpleasant digestive irritation caused by
traditional salicylate painkillers extracted from wintergreen or willow.
Once in the bloodstream, aspirin converts to the active salicylate.

In the flavoring we have a Mycroft interpretation of 'main ingredient'.
The 'active ingredient' which gives it its pleasant smell of gymnasia,
freshly cleaned guns or red biddy (depending on your upbringing ;)
is indeed methyl salicylate but the bulk is probably glycerine
or IPA as a solvent and diluent.

Since a typical dose of aspirin is 300mg, there cannot be much oil
of wintergreen in a food flavoring or it would need dosage warnings
on the label. I doubt there is enough to make much difference to a
hardened paper feed roller. However, if the diluent is IPA you might
be able to concentrate it by evaporation or repeated applications.

Should anyone obtain concentrated oil of wintergreen to do
the repair job, please take note that methyl salicylate is
skin-absorbable and there have been poisoning accidents.

Avoid skin contact with the liquid, especially if you are
sensitive to aspirin or already on a high dose of an NSAID.


Regards, LenW