I received a couple of inquiries about the water based paint stripper
I've been using on the snake's body so I thought I'd say a few more
words about it.
To begin I bought it at an Orchard Supply Hardware store which is one of
a chain of stores here in the South San Francisco Bay area. My guess is
it could be purchased from any reasonably well stocked hardware store.
It's made by 3M and comes in black plastic containers. I think I
mentioned previously that it cost about same as methylene chloride based
strippers, but when I went back to Orchard this weekend to buy a larger
container I discovered that it's actually quite a bit cheaper. The
brand of paint and epoxy stripper I had been using was sitting on the
shelf next to the 3M stuff and was priced at about $25/gal; the 3M
stripper was about $19 for a 1.2 gal container.
The more I've used the 3M, the more enthused I've become. Using the old
stripper meant working in a well ventilated area because of the fumes
(basically outside) and working one small area at a time because it
dries so quickly once exposed. I had work out a technique that improved
things somewhat: I would coat an area a foot or two square, cover it
with wax paper, then after 10-15 minutes uncover a little at a time and
work furiously with steel wool, maybe dabbing on a bit more stripper to
keep the area soft. Usually the stripper would be dry long before I
could get to bare metal and I'd have to repeat the operation.
The instructions on the 3M container give suggested times for various
types of paints. For multiple layers 10-12 hours is recommended. The
snake definitely falls into this category. Underneath the outer paint
and primer coatings is a thick filler layer and on the bare metal itself
is what appears to be zinc chromate primer. I find I can coat fairly
large areas with stripper, cover it with plastic wrap and leave it over
night. I've even left it for a couple of days. When uncovered, the
area stays damp much longer and I can scrub with 3M synthetic steel wool
until I get to bare metal. When the stripper/gooey paint mixture starts
to dry out, wetting the pad rejuvenate to action of the stripper. In
fact, keeping the pad wet makes the job easier. As the paint comes off
and mixes with the stripper it has a mud-like consistency but a quick
wipe with a wet sponge exposes missed spots. On stubborn patches I just
lay the plastic cover back down. The stripper still clinging to plastic
is still wet enough to do its job.
I had thought that the 3M pads wouldn't scratch aluminum as badly as
steel wool but they have an abrasive embedded in their fibers so the
result is about the same. Still, I like the fact that they can be
rinsed out and re-used; something I couldn't do with the steel wool
pads. Also they don't disintegrate as rapidly as steel wool. According
to the writing on package these pads came in, they are compatible with
solvent based paint stripper so they can be used with them as well. I
think they work a bit better than steel wool myself.
Roland
P.S. I'm also sending this to the classic-mustangs list because there
has been some discussion on the subject of stripping paint recently.
|