removing water base paint from tools

[Yorkshire Sam]

Sorry if this is not the right forum for this but ... Bought a Record No6 from a boot sale which was a bit dusty, dirty and unkempt (I thought) but when I got it home and tried cleaning it I discovered that some ar.... has painted it a light blue satin paint! Fortunately most if it has scrubbed off but have got a lot on the corners and edges which are a bit stubborn. Does any one have any tips for removing domestic paint from metal tools without damaging whats left of the original finish? You can imagine it looked awful before and much better now but the bits of paint are ruining a nice tool! Any help appreciated.

 

[AndyT]

I would try softening with turps and then gently scraping off with something like a piece of hard wood or an old credit card. This has worked for me (eg as shown herebut if your paint is modern it might not work. You could try a stronger solvent such as acetone, but I expect that would remove the original Record blue as well.

Alternatively you could try a brass wire brush - maybe a tiny cup shaped one, held in a Dremel or equivalent - they can be gentle enough to get through paint a layer at a time, I believe.

 

[JohnPW]

I've got a Record plane with what looks like thick gloss paint splashes on it. I used something hard like a screwdriver tip or the corner of an engineers square and pressed it into the paint which then cracked and most of it came off.

 

[hansonread]

Neat Detol. Like the stuff your mom used to wash your cuts with, bizarrely works as a acrylic/water based paint solvent. Buy enough to submerge whatever you want to strip in for around an hour and then go to work with a stiff brush.

Another strange fact is that it is highly poisonous to cats, so if you have a moggy, keep it away from them.

http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/dettol-l ... 4645831011