Stripping paint from aluminum?

Diana

Diana

Final Approach
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Diana
What are your suggestions (materials, method, product) for stripping the paint from the various aluminum parts on the Citabria? We brought several pieces home to work on.

Thanks. :)
 
Diana said:
What are your suggestions (materials, method, product) for stripping the paint from the various aluminum parts on the Citabria? We brought several pieces home to work on.

Thanks. :)
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Diana:

The methylene chloride strippers will work far better and will have no effect on the aluminum. They WILL have an effect on plastics, fiberglass resins, rubber and your health if not used correctly. Methylene Chloride can be nasty (its a low level neurotoxin), its use requires a well ventilated area and safety equipment for your own protection. It does get absorbed through your skin and some people are very sensitive. The residue from the stripping process is technically a hazardous waste.

The caustic and citric based strippers do work, they will take longer, may require additional treatments and more elbow grease. They however are not without drawbacks. The caustic based can give you skin burns and the citric ones are not particularily effective on some type of paints. Both still require care and good ventilation. Some of these may affect plastic, resins, etc., but it is on a case-by-case basis depending on the formulation, read the manufacturers directions!

Through cleaning afterward is a must, no matter what you use!

If you have the space to use the methylene chloride, well ventilated, wear gloves, eye protection and are carefull, it will work with the least effort and give you a very good job. If you don't have this type of setup, go with the other types, but be prepared to flex some muscles!

Personally, depending on how much you have to do (the more area, the more likely I'd use methylene chloride) I'd set up the area, wear the stuff and use the methylene chloride, fast, effective and I'm probably already brain damaged from other causes! :D

Gary
 
i used to use a small sandblaster to take the paint off of cast aluminum pedal tractors. It would suck the sand out of a trash can, i think they cost maybe 50 bucks at the most. made a mess with sand everywhere, but worked pretty well.
 
tonycondon said:
i used to use a small sandblaster to take the paint off of cast aluminum pedal tractors. It would suck the sand out of a trash can, i think they cost maybe 50 bucks at the most. made a mess with sand everywhere, but worked pretty well.
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Generally not a good idea on airplane parts. Although I think there is some sort of media that works well. Just not sure. I think in Diana's case a chemical stripper is best.
 
ya i suppose greg. I imagine having microscopic pieces of sand stuck in life critical moving parts would be no good
 
hmm. I didn't know that sandblasters actually used sand. Learn something new everyday.
 
SkyHog said:
hmm. I didn't know that sandblasters actually used sand. Learn something new everyday.
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Hence the name. Now they are called "Media Blasters". But I think they can use anything that will run through the unit. Not sure on that though.
 
ya pretty much. i always used silica sand but you could put anything through them you wanted. The nozzles i used were ceramic, and the life of the nozzle was proportionaly to the media used. I know that guys who do gravestones have some really hard "sand" that they use. I think its some sort of carbon crystal, marketed as "black diamond"
 
Gary said:
Diana:
The methylene chloride strippers will work far better and will have no effect on the aluminum. They WILL have an effect on plastics, fiberglass resins, rubber and your health if not used correctly.
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Thanks Gary. Where do you go to buy this stuff?
 
Diana said:
Thanks Gary. Where do you go to buy this stuff?
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Local hardware store, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. The containers will tell you the ingredients. Messy job no matter what you use, just be careful, particularily with the methylene chloride stuff, doesn't take a full moon suit and the EPA looking over your shoulder, just some common sense!

Good Luck!

Gary
 
Thanks for your help guys! This should get us started.
 
Just to add to the list of media blasting...we had a baking soda blaster. That's right, like the stuff in your fridge to keep it smelling good. It works really well and is not damaging. I don't know how common they are in the industry as a whole, but at A&P school in Oregon, we learned to use a baking soda blaster.
 
Diana said:
What are your suggestions (materials, method, product) for stripping the paint from the various aluminum parts on the Citabria? We brought several pieces home to work on.

Thanks. :)
Click to expand...

Why Strip them?

I usually sand them using a orbital sander like a Makita palm sander, and 400-600 grit wet.

using the substrate paint as as filler you can acheave a very nice paintable surface.

But if it is all chipped up, try the Jasco epoxy stripper, it goes farther, and cleans up with soap and water . but don't breath the fumes.
 
I know I am resurrecting an old thread, but I needed to strip paint off of the bottom of my oil pan today. I bought a can of Rustoleum Aircraft Paint Remover from WalMart for about $8. I surrounded the area around the oil pan with an old T-Shirt to catch the overspray and sprayed the area with enough for it to be wet. I waited about 8 minutes and then wiped the paint off with a rag! Easy!
For cleanup I pulled the T-Shirt out, sprayed everything with Purple Power, followed by lots of plain tap water. I really went nuts with the water to make sure that ANYTHING that it might have touched got rinsed clean.
I like it!

Jim
 
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