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
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:
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?
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 Bill> They are no longer made so getting new ones without paint is not an
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