# Paint Removal Advice



## JIMMIEM (Apr 4, 2010)

I've got some poplar boards which have been painted with latex paint. I want to cut the boards for some jigs but would like to remove the paint before cutting to avoid the paint dulling my table saw, miter saw, and router blades and bits. I'll be doing the paint removal indoors. I can sand them with a random orbital sander hooked to a vacuum or get a mild paint stripper. What to do?


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## Knot2square (Jul 11, 2015)

Went through the same thing a few months ago. Only thing that worked for me was some heavy work with a belt sander.


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## JIMMIEM (Apr 4, 2010)

Knot2square said:


> Went through the same thing a few months ago. Only thing that worked for me was some heavy work with a belt sander.


I loaned out my belt sander so all I have is a RAS....I do have some fairly coarse paper.


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## Shop guy (Nov 22, 2012)

Jim, I'm guessing you also have acquired the experience not to loan out tools.


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## Ghidrah (Oct 21, 2008)

Let it sit outside unprotected for 10 yrs like I did and the paint will rot off! 
I just decided to pick a couple of my oldest 10" blades and sacrificed them, they had been resharpened so many times over the yrs they weren't even close to a 10" D anymore. So after this discovery I checked the newer and as yet unused blades and none attained 10" go figure.

p.s.
I previously tried sanding with belt and ROS even with DC running there's lots of dust flying, consider older items that may have been leaded.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Recipe for Fornby's or Hope's furniture stripper 
Equal parts of acetone, methanol (wood alcohol), methylene chloride and tolulene


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## PhilBa (Sep 25, 2014)

Stick486 said:


> Recipe for Fornby's or Hope's furniture stripper
> Equal parts of acetone, methanol (wood alcohol), methylene chloride and tolulene


and don't forget to not breathe around it!


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Heat gun and sharp paint scraper; my go-to first choice... you might want to do it out in the garage or outside. The 'melting' paint smells a bit.
Guys that have tried the carbide edged paint scrapers swear _by_ them (as opposed to _at_ them).
Me, I still just go with the regular blades and a file.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I would either do the same as Dan or just saw through it with a cheap blade. Latex is rubber so it might gum up the blade a bit but the latex shouldn't be abrasivre. The pigments in it might be a bit abrasive but the wood itself might be the most abrasive of all. When dust lands on the bark of some trees some of it winds up being grown into the wood. Western red cedar is bad for this. I've cut some with a chain saw in fading light and you can see the sparks flying off the chain. One common tree in Indonesia is so abrasive that it was the reason stellite was invented back in the 1950s. Stellite was a super hard material that was deposited onto a saw tooth by welding and then shaped into a tooth.


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

Stick486 said:


> Recipe for Fornby's or Hope's furniture stripper
> Equal parts of acetone, methanol (wood alcohol), methylene chloride and tolulene


...Here it is...Stick's Mix U-238... Along with some of his other products... 

D E A D L Y ! ! !


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## JIMMIEM (Apr 4, 2010)

I've got a can of brush cleaner and the ingredients look like what's in Stick's mix. I tried a little and the paint is starting to dissolve.....but I can't use it indoors.....in just a few minutes my IQ dropped several points.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

The toluene and methylene chloride are carcinogens if I remember correctly. By the time you can smell methanol you are at about 10 times the time weighted average for exposure limits. One place I worked had a kid stripping finish off parts that needed to be refinished. It smelled like methylene chloride and he said it was burning his hands right through his gloves. Nasty stuff. Stay upwind if you can and don't light a match.


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## TomE (Dec 17, 2010)

Crown Next or Citri strip works ok

I used to set the painted boards up an elevated 'stand' (couple of 2x4's would work) on my drop cloth covered bench and hit 'em with stripper and scraped the 'goo' into a paint roller tray located at one end below the stand.

Would still ventilate the area as needed, no sense in mucking up the body to save a few bucks on lumber.


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## JIMMIEM (Apr 4, 2010)

I'll do the work outdoors and set up a fan too. Thank You all for the advice.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Nickp said:


> ...Here it is...Stick's Mix U-238... Along with some of his other products...
> 
> D E A D L Y ! ! !


that is still as hilarious as it was on day one...


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

*Sanding*
Wear work gloves, safety goggles and a dust mask for safety.
Use sand paper to remove polyurethane.
Make us of sanding tools to make the process easier. An electric sander can be used on flat sections. Sanding blocks can also be used. Curved sections should be carefully sanded by hand.

*Heat *
Wear heat-proof work gloves, safety goggles and a vapor proof mask for protection.
Use a heat gun to heat a section of the polyurethane you want to remove. Wait until it bubbles, then use a scraper to remove the polyurethane. Be careful not to damage the surface of the material below the polyurethane. The finish should peel off easily once adequate heat has been applied.
Employ scraping tools designed to suit the task at hand. There are scrapers designed to remove finish from just about any type of surface you can imagine, including nooks and crannies, and rounded edges. You will be less likely to cause inadvertent damage if you use the correct tools.
Use sand paper to remove any remaining polyurethane and prepare the surface for refinishing.

*Chemical Stripper*
Wear sturdy rubber gloves, eye and face protection, a vapor proof mask, and a Tyvek suit to avoid exposure to harmful chemicals.
Apply a thin coating of Methylene Chloride or Methanol based chemical stripper to the surface you are working on using a brush or cloth.
Use scrapers to remove the polyurethane once it begins to bubble on the surface. It should peel away with ease once the stripper has taken effect.
Repeat this process as needed, using as little stripper as possible with each application to avoid excess spillage.

*
Recipe for Fornby's or Hope's furniture stripper *
Equal parts of acetone, methanol (wood alcohol), methylene chloride and toluene


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## mgmine (Jan 16, 2012)

Head to Harbor Freight and pick up an $8 dollar heat gun.To remove the residue use a palm sander


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## MT Born (Oct 29, 2014)

DaninVan said:


> Heat gun and sharp paint scraper; my go-to first choice... you might want to do it out in the garage or outside. The 'melting' paint smells a bit.
> Guys that have tried the carbide edged paint scrapers swear _by_ them (as opposed to _at_ them).
> Me, I still just go with the regular blades and a file.


The heat gun and scraper has always worked for me!


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Recently got a good scraper because sanding off paint created other problems. Eg: soft part of the wood sands fast, leaving very ugly ridges. Stripper is nasty stuff, use it outside and let it sit for awhile to let the chemicals do their work.


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## JFPNCM (Dec 13, 2009)

Check out the prices at local furniture stripping shops. Even if it costs a couple of bucks a board it might be worth considering.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Bottom pic; Tiny using an Armstrong paint remover!
Router Forums - View Single Post - Window restoration


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## mgmine (Jan 16, 2012)

There are countless ways to remove the paint but I seriously doubt that any time spent would be worth the effort. Over the years I have cut more painted wood than I could begin to remember. When dealing with boards that I need the top clean I put a set of old planner blades on and go at it, But if I'm simply ripping boards I just run them through the saw. As far as the router once they are ripped how much more of an edge is there to remove? As Cherryville chuck said put a cheap blade on that is the best way. But I wouldn't even waste my time or money doing that.


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