On Mon, 08 Jan 2007 04:29:49 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

John Stumbles wrote:

Depending on how accessible it is (usually not very :-() various
combinations of getting off the worst of the paint (if it's thick) with
the serrated jaws of a pair of water-pump pliers and/or combination
pliers,

anything hard metal like a chisel or wrench jaws will make a pipe that
can't use a compression fitting and may have soldering issues as well

I should have pointed out that it's me doing it, not a gorilla :-)
Of course you have to go gently: the trick is to squeeze the tool hard
enough for the jaws to crack and drag off the caked-on paint as you're
turning but not to cut into the copper.

... scraping with a not-too-sharp knife or chisel (copper is soft!)

What I said.