John wrote:
I have to paint the window frames on our 45 year old house. The paint
is very thick, but in *very* bad order, with great flakes coming off
in some parts, solid as rock in other parts. In the past, I've
rubbed down and scraped, rubbed down again, then primed, undercoated
etc. ... thus really making the problem worse I guess.

I'm wondering about completely stripping one or two of the frames this
year, but the only way I can think of is to use a blow torch: are
these still used? I used to hate using a torch (very difficult to
get a uniform result, and the dangers of fire, scorching, cracked
glass etc.), but I hate Nitromors even more (*also* very difficult to
get a uniform result, and absolutely horrible stuff).

Can you still get a blow torch? Has any great technological advance
been made in this field since I last used one (20 odd years ago)?

BTW I don't think any power sander could do the job: I may be wrong?

Cheers
John

I'd be concerned about lead in the fumes as the paint got hot.

have you considered a lye based paste or a mousse like the 'new' one
from nitromoors ? http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=45227

hth