How do you remove paint?

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irene_crystal

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I am getting ready to strip the paint off a bunch of parts and started with a heavy duty stripper, but have seen people using grinders with different wheels on them to remove paint etc...

Just curious what your favorite way to strip paint before a respray without damaging the metal...

Sorry if there is a duplicate threas how-to I missed.
 
I know you'll get a few good answers here on how to remove paint yourself, but I have to add my 2 cents in on what I'm doing this week :idea:

I have a '38 Schwinn (with 3 coats of ugly paint on it) that's been sitting around for a few months collecting dust while I figure out what to do with it. I finally saw an ad for a local powder coater & thought I'd see what he can do. Turns out he can blast and powder coat it (frame & fork) for $100. That's practically the cost of supplies & it's going to be a better job than I could probably do with spray paint. Plus it'll save me many hours of work!
 
I believe there is a removing paint thread somewhere, but I cant find it at the moment.

What I use is a 5 inch angle grinder with a twisted wire brush (cup style) it will rip through any paint with very little effort. If you apply too much pressure or leave it in one place too long it will slowly eat into the metal, but it is pretty easy to get the balance right.

If you do get one, make sure you wear good eye protection and thick clothing as occasionally it will throw a wire off as they wear, last thing you want is one of them in your eye!

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This one is fairly worn down, it has done a lot of work though, on both bikes and my rusty Rat Rod truck. Well worth the investment.

Luke.
 
I primarily use a grinder with a wire brush, but if the frame has a light of tight curves I use aircraft stripper. It's a gelatinous heavy duty paint strippper. Wash it off and voila.
 
Like the other guys said, a wire brush wheel works amazing. If you have a big enough grinder and wheel it will even slowly remove powder-coating (wear a respiratory mask and eye protection).
 
I always use paint stripper. It works good and you don't put any sand scratches in your metal. First I "open up"the paint by lightly sanding with 80 grit. Just enough to break through. Blow off all of the sanding dust. Secondly pour some Klean-Strip Aircraft Stripper into a container and brush it on a medium thick coat with a 1.5" paint brush. After its bubbled up the paint for a bit (10 mins.+\-) scrub with a medium wire brush. Like you would use for a bbq. Then blast it thoroughly with a water nozzle or better yet a pressure washer if you have one. Reapply as needed. Take care of chips with some 220 grit. Remove any surface rust with red scotch brite.

sent from planet earth
 
Zinsser paint and varnish stripper. Long sleeve rubber gloves.Brush on w/cheap natural bristle brush.Wait until paint is soft.Remove with Chore Boy Ultimate Scrubber, pure copper.Rinse out scrubber in a bucket of water when it fills up,and continue.
 
Thank you clamdigger for remembering to mention the very impprtant gloves! I have my far share of chemical burns from the methelyne chloride based aircraft stripper I use.

I've never used the copper scrubber but see how it would be very useful.

Nito
 
"Roto Stripper" wickedly dangerous, especially the cheap import copys. The wires that come flying out have enough mass to puncture an eye ball or get imbedded in flesh. can reach in to some corners. Be constantly aware of how the thing is pointed and never have it cross your vision.

Lap sanding discs on the angle grinder. Will easily remove steel or aluminum if you press much. Doesn't get in to corners well. Great for polishing off any cable stop removals. Can kick up a lot of dust so use outdoors facing the wind so you don't breath that $%^& in.

Kleen Strip is amazing. But the spray can versions like to clog up pdq. Available in brush on. latex gloves are a MUST unless you don't mind losing a few layers of skin in the process. Don't let it dry once applied. Have your rinsing process setup before you begin. I used those scotch pads under running water into a stainless steel sink. I found it won't remove decals or the paint under them so you have to get the decals off first.

If your frame is rusty, especially in the corners, sand blasting is the way to go.
 
This is following 2 coats of Kleen Strip Aircraft Stripper and a pressure washer. Hats off to Schwinn, this stuff is tough! It was Campus Green, with a silver base coat, and a red primer. As you can see, after two coats, I've got the green off, most the silver, but I've barely dented the primer. I guess I'll keep working it. But I'm wondering... do I have to take it all off, or will etch primer work over old primer? Or will I set myself up for future failure if I don't get it down to good clean metal?


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I just tried the wire brush and it worked great. Give it a try should take the rest of the silver and primer right off.
 
I sand blast most of my bicycle parts that I plan to paint. It leaves a nice surface for the primer to adhere to. I know that's not an option for everyone and I do occasionally use a paint stripper or a wire wheel it depends on how many parts I have to do.
 
Living in an apartment complex creates some additional hurdles, so I found a guy who'll blast the frame and one or two smaller items for $30. I figure by the time I buy stripper and spend time playing in the toxic gel, and then still may have to sand it just makes more sense to have my blaster guy go at it... but $100 for a blast and powder coat, I'd be all over that!

I just got my Eastman 2K Aero sprays, it's the rattle can with the catalyst cartridge in the can it's a bit pricier than Krylon or other rattle cans but should be a significantly harder finish, yet to be used. They also have a high build primer which I haven't used yet either and may not on my current project, frame in pretty nice shape. The draw back is it's only got a 48 hour life after the catalyst cartridge gets popped. I'll let you's know how the stuff is in a week or so.

Mike G
 

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