removing paint from a scraped surface

dian · Apr 20, 2016

so some idiot (probably the guy i bought the grinder from) put a thick coating of paint on the vertical way. (i could kill him, i had to use a chisel to get a wrench on some nuts.)

i plan on using paint stripper and maybe a brass wire brush. i thought i would ask before making a mistake. any thoughts?

Demon69 · Apr 20, 2016

lol. Try a stanley blade window scraper type job, prolly get the lions share off.
Rub the rest off with cellulose thinner/gun cleaner or some other smelly stuff that bites into that paint.
Fingers crossed the prep was crap and its not a decent 2k paint.

dian · Apr 20, 2016

i was thinkng the blade would ruin the scraping. it probably is a 2k polyurathane, very thick. the nuts were well coated.

BobRenz · Apr 20, 2016

Aircraft paint stripper might do the job. Mask off any area that you want to leave painted (use new masking tape), then apply some stripper to the paint. If the paint fights you, cover the stripper with saran wrap and let it do its thing for a while. Most of the paint should come off pretty easily, then a rag and some lacquer thinner should handle the rest

EPAIII · Apr 20, 2016

I would definitely use stripper and solvents to get as much as possible. And use plastic scrapers to remove the softened paint, not metal ones.

If that leaves an objectionable amount, then I would try one of the finer grades of Scotch Brite. I would save things like wire brushes, metal scrapers, and more aggressive grades of abrasive for a last resort. A brass brush would be a lot safer than a steel one. There are brushes with heavy duty plastic bristles.

JST · Apr 20, 2016

No idea what strippers you have access to. Your laws are different.

I have found that for many paints, a stripper containing N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (Citri-strip in the US has it) makes may types of paint curl up and nearly jump off the surface. Might not work as well with a 2 part catalyzed paint, but over here the stripper is cheap.

For tough catalyzed paints, .I am not sure.

jtaylor · Apr 20, 2016

Try to find someone locally with a dry ice blaster and give them a call

michiganbuck · Apr 20, 2016

Razor blade scraper wont hurt anything ..*Demon said Stanley Blade Nailed it! Auto Carb cleaner will melt through the paint or whatever. acetone or the like will wipe most anything and not hurt metal..Yes with a follow wipe of oil.

Yes good to not breath bad stuff or get it on your hands.

We once hired an outfit to paint the entire shop.. They came into the grinding room on the week end and pulled all the magnetic chucks and painted the mounting pads .. Go figure? Had to clean off the paint and regrind all the chucks. Most likely the engineer told then not to paint the grinder magnetic chucks so they pulled them.. Yes they sprayed painted the machines driving in much grit..*Thing never to do..-> Let anyone near your grinders. Good rule is to brush paint a grinder.

*Dian .. It might be good to pull all the movements and give her a cleaning. Fresh paint scares me.. Better a machine that looks like crap because the paint is original.

Demon69 · Apr 20, 2016

dian said:
i was thinkng the blade would ruin the scraping. it probably is a 2k polyurathane, very thick. the nuts were well coated.

The blade shouldnt touch the scraping to any real degree, should suit the thicker paint to. With luck whatever they put on there isnt stuck down too well and itll come of in sheets. You can tell if the paint is solvent sensitive by rubbing a bit with thinner and seeing if any colour comes off on the rag.
Id stay away if from the strippers and abrasives if you can. Start light and work up.

Forrest Addy · Apr 20, 2016

Yeah, a solvent based (methyl chloride) stripper is the way to go. Chances are, all you need to remove the goo is a putty knife (polish the edge) and a rag damp with lacquer thinner. to clean off the haze.m Maybe a brass brush to catch the inside ciorners

Bill D · Apr 20, 2016

how about a heat lamp or torch and scrape the softened paint off with a plastic scraper.
Bill D.

calvin b · Apr 20, 2016

dian, Sir
I've run into this problem quite a bit.. I've found that a combination of paint stripper, bronze wool ( acquired at Lowes)and a brass blade ( think ice scraper) works like a charm.. Also in lieu of paint stripper I've found that really thin oil works pretty good. PB Blaster and kroil seem to eat at paint pretty good ( as long as it is scratched up pretty good by the scraper and the wool ).
Hope this helps
Stay safe
Calvin

Bill D · Apr 20, 2016

Soaking in auto brake fluid used to be a tip to remove paint. No idea if the newer fluids still have the nasty stuff that lifted older paints.
Bill D.

Onepass · Apr 20, 2016

I have had good luck cleaning paint off with strippers( the kind I the can not the kind on the pole

).I've had occasion to use a razor blade but I would hold it vertical to the surface and pull it rather than pulling it. It's not as aggressive but as long as you are careful with the corner of the blade, it seems to be pretty difficult to dig in to the surface. (You might try rounding the corners a little bit) I've only used a dry ice blaster a couple of times. It seemed to work pretty good for removing oily crud but I never got it to remove paint. (Ymmv). If you need something to scrub off the paint when using the stripper, you might try using a scotch-brite backed sponge from the kitchen. I don't think there is any abrasive ln the pad.

TDegenhart · Apr 20, 2016

Forrest Addy said:
Yeah, a solvent based (methyl chloride) stripper is the way to go. Chances are, all you need to remove the goo is a putty knife (polish the edge) and a rag damp with lacquer thinner. to clean off the haze.m Maybe a brass brush to catch the inside corners

Methylene chloride is on the do not use list in a lot of places, classed as a carcinogen.

Tom

mach2 · Apr 20, 2016

I use an citrus based stripper. It is an orange color and very user friendly. It is thick and will stick to vertical surfaces, very easy to control. Use an acid brush the apply 1/16"-1/8" coat and let it sit overnight. I use a razor blade in a holder and scrape at a low angle. However, most paint will come off with a plastic scraper. The paint and primer should come off in one stroke. Sometimes the primer is rather stubborn and a second coat will be required. Residue can be cleaned off and any stripper neutralized with mineral spirits.

I've removed paint in a lot of ways and this one is by far the best and with minimal mess.

Forrest Addy · Apr 21, 2016

TDegenhart said:
Methylene chloride is on the do not use list in a lot of places, classed as a carcinogen.

Tom

Tell me it aint so!! I been using it for 50 years an I'm all right all, right, all right (slap!) OK.

Crap! Everything good is illegal, fattening, or causes cancer.

dian · Apr 24, 2016

the paint was insensitive to acetone based solvent. i had a can off stripper "from good old times" containing dichlormethane and methanol. two coats and a rounded off steel scraper almost did the job.

the tape didnt hold up though and surprisingly the taped off area came off almost as easyly. after the stripper some residue came off using the solvent and a rag. now it looks like this:

(im evaporusting the area where the tailstock was.) i didnt bother to clean the lower part of the vertical way perfectly, ill do i some day and maybe even pain it again, but maybe not.

removing paint from a scraped surface

Titanium

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Stainless

Diamond

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Aluminum

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Titanium

Diamond

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Hot Rolled

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Hot Rolled

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