From: "Ed Huntress" <mike234@bellatlantic.net>
Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking
Subject: Re: Need a happy stripper...
Date: Wed, 07 Feb 2001 03:48:48 GMT

>>What is the no-fooling industrial solution?<<

Household lye, about 4 or 5 tablespoons per gallon in warm water. Oh, heck.
I put in about a quarter of a can of Red Devil lye.

Let it sit overnight. In the morning, the paint will slip off the metal like
the skin off of a rotten banana. Any grease or oil on the parts will be
stripped off, too. Don't do this before breakfast.

>>There must be some kind of business that has a tank full of something
pretty caustic that will result in much time being saved.<<

Furniture strippers, automotive machine shops with hot-tanks.

Ed Huntress

Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking
Subject: Re: Need a happy stripper...
From: Ole-Hjalmar Kristensen <ohk@clustra.com>
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 09:47:33 GMT

"Ed Huntress" <mike234@bellatlantic.net> writes:

> >>You can make a "viscous" lye stripper by stirring cornstarch in before
> adding the lye (with continuous stirring. The heat of solution sort of cooks
> the cornstarch and makes a viscous mix.<<
>
> That's a good one to remember. I had a formula from an old "Fine
> Homebuilding" magazine that was 40% silica gel (Cab-o-sil), 40% diatomaceous
> earth (swimming pool filter medium), and 20% lye, mixed to a paste with
> water. It held up well, the silica gel helping it to stick to vertical
> surfaces by making it thixotropic, like paint. I painted it on my
> multi-coated porch railing and covered it with Saran Wrap for a few hours.
> The oil paint slipped right off but the latex was hardly affected.
>
> But not everyone has easy access to the materials. I'll try the cornstarch
> next time.
>
> Ed Huntress


The kind of glue you mix with water and use to paste wallpaper to the
wall works well too.  I once stripped an entire outside wall of my
house using this method.  The neighbours did give me some strange
looks, and the roses didn't like it at all...
I imagine I used about 10 kg of sodium hydoxide, 30 litres of water,
and a couple of boxes of glue.

--
Kabelsalat ist gesund.

Ole-Hj. Kristensen