I happened into a new anvil from Vaughan Brooks. It's painted a pretty blue, caked all over it. It kept the rust off, but now it's time for the paint to go. I put about 15 gallons of water in a deep plastic bin, and stirred in 2 pounds of lye, and lowered the anvil in. Tomorrow we'll see what it looks like! Sure hope the sucker doesn't dissolve ..
Grant Erwin
Grant, iron won't dissolve but aluminum and some pot metals will, and quickly. i almost lost a 30 Lincoln hood in my tank, lucky in had plenty of paint on it(owner told me it was steel WRONG! ) i set the thermostat at 120 degree, makes the lye work faster (electric element the kind that can run in sludge about 10$ from grainger)
i throw a little TSP. when the tank get greasy(breaks it down)
good luck!
tt clueless near St.Louis
Right angle body grinder with a big wire brush, should take about five minutes.
Charly
The lye is working, albeit slowly. I am sick and tired of wire brushing. First you wire brush your part. Then you pick the little wires out of your clothes and maybe skin. Then you start cleaning up the mess, because it throws garbage everywhere in a ten foot radius, which in my little shop includes about 3 machines. All while waiting for your hands to stop tingling and ears to stop ringing.
I'll wire brush stuff, but only when I have to, and only when the weather allows doing it outside.
It would certainly be faster, though. Waiting for an anvil's paint to dissolve is about as thrilling as, um, watching paint dry ..
Grant Erw> Grant Erw>
Grant, are you using knotted brushes? They last a lot longer (and don't throw wires nearly as often).
I definitely agree on doing it outside.
Steve Smith
Grant Erw> The lye is working, albeit slowly. I am sick and tired of wire brushing.
Oh yeah. OK, I was exaggerating a little. Hey, I *like* using chemicals to do work. Means I don't have to! :-)
GWE
Steve Smith wrote:
Hearing protection - use it, or lose what hearing you have left - the choice is up to you.
Has the lye changed ph ? no longer lye ?
Could be - that the outer layer of paint did the deed.
Maybe a refresh of lye would kick it up a bit!
Martin - Tends to like the lye on a single sided wax paper trick best. Set it up over night - just pull off the paper the next day - plastic scrape the goo off.
Martin
No, it's just cold up here. I could pull the anvil back out and dip the lye into a stainless pot and heat it up and pour it back in, but it's easier just to let it soak. I did put a heater by the pot today, it seemed to help.
I don't quite get the wax paper trick, Martin. Can you break that down a little for dumb guys like me?
Grant
Eastburn wrote:
Watching wood working shows - really home rehab types - taking off layers of paint it is heat gun and scrape, chemical lay on and take off - then there was a product that was a heavy lye jelly mixture that was painted on thickly and then it was covered with a wax back and paper front (paper to the lye).
WHat this did was keep it from drying out. The next day it was 10-15 layers of paint a thicker mushy layer. The paper pulls off much of it and the rest is scraped off.
Maybe you can hand rig up something or find a like product in the paint store.
A tank seems logical - I'd think a heater and a circulation would be useful. [ remember it was a house - hard to tank it! ] Martin
Yesterday I raised the anvil out of the tank (it's rigged to my engine hoist with chain) and put ten gallons of the lye mixture in a stainless pot over a burner and heated it to near-boiling and poured it back into the solution and put the anvil back in. I think that just about did it. The paint last I checked was flaking off easily and very soft. Today I'll hoist the anvil out and sit it on old plywood and pour a pot of boiling rainwater over it to wash off the lye and then let it airdry and then clean it up with a wire brush.
I'd love to know about that heavy lye jelly mixture.
Grant Erw> Watching wood working shows - really home rehab types - taking off > layers
Probably just gel type paint remover, huh? I've used it to remove paint from barrels and such and it works pretty good. Never thought about the wax paper trick, but it sounds like that would help. Gary Brady Austin, TX
Gang, the wax paper holds the active chemical(methyl chloride/alcohol (not exact on spelling) to the surface and keeps it from evaporating as quickly, the semi-paste is the same as the liquid only thing it has wax added(paste). check the can it should give active ingredients/ non-active.
tt clueless near stlouis
Grant - just got back from Az. Checking up on my parents or the other way :-)
The lye or chem is under a wax paper so the chem doesn't dry off.
This allows more liquid to say for ion exchange with the dry paint.
They make this type in a kit for home owners in removing a dozen layers..
Martin
Sounds like progress has taken place.
Go by a home owner place - or lumber yard - look into paint removers in the paint shop.
Mart> Yesterday I raised the anvil out of the tank (it's rigged to my engine
Oh heck that anvil has been completely stripped for weeks now! It was absolutely gorgeous for awhile but then we started forging on it and now it's just another anvil covered in scale. Still looks cool, though. I just couldn't stomach putting hot iron directly on a painted anvil horn. Don't know why Centaur Forge cakes the paint on so thick. Rust is a whole lot easier to get off than that dang paint.
The lye soak worked fine, but it was slow at lower temperatures. I really need a better way to get more heat into the bath.
Grant
Mart> Sounds like progress has taken place.
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