What to use to clean paint off aluminium?
 

A friend wants to remove some paint off aluminium panels. The trouble is
these panels are probably stove enamelled. Normal DIY methylene chloride
paint remover only just touches the stuff, some industrial paint
stripper gets it off but its real nasty stuff. Any suggestions about any
other options that are not as bad.

How big are they? How thick? What surface finish does he want?

Mini-grinder + cup brush
Send to plater or stripper
Sanding disk in power tool - drill or grinder
Burn it off with torch


"David Billington" wrote in message
...
A friend wants to remove some paint off aluminium panels. The trouble is
these panels are probably stove enamelled. Normal DIY methylene chloride
paint remover only just touches the stuff, some industrial paint stripper
gets it off but its real nasty stuff. Any suggestions about any other
options that are not as bad.

Varying sizes but on average about 18" x 24" for example. Thickness
18swg. He wants a polished finish ultimately and the underlying
aluminium surface is already quite smooth. From your suggestions methods
1 and 3 are likely to be hard work due to quantity and won't help the
surface finish. Method 4 might be worth a try but I would be worried
about localised distortion if not done with care. Suggestion 2, he
already has the stripper but what could a plater do.

Mini-grinder + cup brush
Send to plater or stripper
Sanding disk in power tool - drill or grinder
Burn it off with torch



Tom Gardner wrote:

How big are they? How thick? What surface finish does he want?

Mini-grinder + cup brush
Send to plater or stripper
Sanding disk in power tool - drill or grinder
Burn it off with torch


"David Billington" wrote in message
k...

A friend wants to remove some paint off aluminium panels. The trouble is
these panels are probably stove enamelled. Normal DIY methylene chloride
paint remover only just touches the stuff, some industrial paint stripper
gets it off but its real nasty stuff. Any suggestions about any other
options that are not as bad.

"David Billington" wrote in message
...
A friend wants to remove some paint off aluminium panels. The trouble is
these panels are probably stove enamelled. Normal DIY methylene chloride
paint remover only just touches the stuff, some industrial paint
stripper gets it off but its real nasty stuff. Any suggestions about any
other options that are not as bad.

Ethyl lactate might take it off if you soak it in that for an hour or two.
It's fairly non-volatile at room temperature and a "green" solvent.

A plater can also strip them. How about turning them over and using the
other side?
Silly question: How much are new ones?
--

"David Billington" wrote in message
...
Varying sizes but on average about 18" x 24" for example. Thickness 18swg.
He wants a polished finish ultimately and the underlying aluminium surface
is already quite smooth. From your suggestions methods 1 and 3 are likely
to be hard work due to quantity and won't help the surface finish. Method
4 might be worth a try but I would be worried about localised distortion
if not done with care. Suggestion 2, he already has the stripper but what
could a plater do.

Mini-grinder + cup brush
Send to plater or stripper
Sanding disk in power tool - drill or grinder
Burn it off with torch



Tom Gardner wrote:

How big are they? How thick? What surface finish does he want?

Mini-grinder + cup brush
Send to plater or stripper
Sanding disk in power tool - drill or grinder
Burn it off with torch


"David Billington" wrote in message
. uk...

A friend wants to remove some paint off aluminium panels. The trouble is
these panels are probably stove enamelled. Normal DIY methylene chloride
paint remover only just touches the stuff, some industrial paint stripper
gets it off but its real nasty stuff. Any suggestions about any other
options that are not as bad.

They are no longer made so getting new ones without paint is not an
option. They can not be turned over as the parts would not work that way.

Tom Gardner wrote:

A plater can also strip them. How about turning them over and using the
other side?
Silly question: How much are new ones?

I like to immerse painted aluminum pieces in a saturated solution of
Cascade dishwashing soap heated to about 200F for about 15 minutes,
after which the paint usually comes off easily or falls off. Be very
careful doing hot soaks on aluminum though since solvents like lye or
even TSP will eat it away very rapidly indeed at temperature (lye much
more so than TSP).

An auto paint store should be able to provide you with aircraft paint
remover, which is simply more concentrated paint remover. That works
too, but it's a godawful pain to use.

Personally, if the paint is tight, I recommend cleaning it, roughing it
slightly with steel wool, wiping it down with paint thinner, blowing it
dry with compressed air, then repainting over the top. Use the former
paint as primer. Fill it if it has chips or whatever, use auto body
filler. I don't strip to bare metal any more without a fairly compelling
reason.

Grant

David Billington wrote:

They are no longer made so getting new ones without paint is not an
option. They can not be turned over as the parts would not work that way.

This is worth a try and easy to get hold of, at least I think we can get
cascade or something like it in the UK. My mate has industrial paint
stripper already which does the job, but its nasty stuff and wants to
find an alternative if possible. The whole point of the exercise is to
remove all the paint so the panel can be polished for effect.

Grant Erwin wrote:

I like to immerse painted aluminum pieces in a saturated solution of
Cascade dishwashing soap heated to about 200F for about 15 minutes,
after which the paint usually comes off easily or falls off. Be very
careful doing hot soaks on aluminum though since solvents like lye or
even TSP will eat it away very rapidly indeed at temperature (lye much
more so than TSP).

An auto paint store should be able to provide you with aircraft paint
remover, which is simply more concentrated paint remover. That works
too, but it's a godawful pain to use.

Personally, if the paint is tight, I recommend cleaning it, roughing it
slightly with steel wool, wiping it down with paint thinner, blowing it
dry with compressed air, then repainting over the top. Use the former
paint as primer. Fill it if it has chips or whatever, use auto body
filler. I don't strip to bare metal any more without a fairly compelling
reason.

Grant

David Billington wrote:

They are no longer made so getting new ones without paint is not an
option. They can not be turned over as the parts would not work that
way.