Hello, The previous owner of this M1 gave the tank and hood a coat of OD Green. What is considered to be the best way to remove the paint from the brass fount and green enamel hood? I've used chemical paintstripper before on wooden window frames at home and this worked like a charm. It came in a jar and i could just brush it on. After only 15 minutes the paint bubbled and came loose from the wood. Is this stuff also safe for lamps? Thanks! Emiel
Yes in my opinion. Once the paint has gone, clean the tank of any residue with thinners or acetone and make sure it's clean. Be careful with the hood if there's paint on it. Test a small section underneath maybe to make sure it doesn't attack the enamel surface. I've done that and it stays dull forever, which looks a bit pants!
Watching with interest as I want know if stripping enamel off the hood is possible without aggressive sanding or grinding. I would like to know what you used if you had a good result.
Can I just make sure you're not trying to remove the enamel from the hood? That would be a very bad idea! Enamel is one of the only surface coverings that can withstand the extreme heat generated by lanterns when they're running. Now and then people sand blast it all off and replace it with a high temperature paint meant for engines but it never works!
Rest assured Colin. All i want is to remove the paint from the hood and faunt. The enamel layer needs to stay.
Before buying chemicals I tried something different to get the paint off: Great Success! No chemicals, no hard scrubbing, no scratches, anyone can do it. Just stick the piece in a pot of boiling water for 15 minutes. After cooling the paint could be wiped off with a kitchen sponge. YMMV based on the type of paint I guess, but for me it worked perfect. I'll try the same thing on the faunt later this week.
Personally, I'd be leaving that fount as it is - it looks like the original paint to me. I used Nitromors for years with much success. Some time later, when the tin was empty and I tried to get some more, I found it seemed to have been replaced with water-soluble stuff which I thought wouldn't be as good as the full-fat, industrial strength original. Wrong! I applied it liberally, wrapped the tank in cling film to prevent the goo drying out and left it for the full amount of time suggested on the instruction sheet - I was always too eager with the Nitromors anyway! On removing the cling film, the paint had wrinkled and softened and was easy to remove. The water-soluble stuff has a much more pleasant smell and doesn't burn your skin either. It came from Screwfix and was reasonably priced, too... I'm 99.5% certain this is it:- https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-paint-varnish-stripper-500ml/17091
I agree with David, the water based paint strippers work very well indeed. It might not be called Nitromoors, but you can still buy a product that I believe is essentially the same thing. Here it is on eBay and its not too expensive either. I've used it and it works in seconds!
I hope you're going to attempt enamel removal and replace it with the usual 'VHT' sort of paint. They're unlikely to work on hoods. But if the enamel is really bad, too unsightly due flaking off with rust underneath, it could still be removed, but not with the usual paint strippers. For non-abrasive methods, they could be stripped off without damaging the steel by immersing and heating the hood in molten alkalis such as sodium hydroxide. Note: it needs to be water-free and in the molten state to work. (I hope you won't need to go this extent. Its much nastier than the hot concentrated stuff).
@ColinG @David Shouksmith Thanks for the strippers guys - god, that reminds me of my stag night. Anyway, I'll try to boil the faunt first as this worked brilliantly on the hood.
@MYN Interesting stuff. No not going to strip anything, Simply interested in knowing if it was possible without sandblasting or grinding down. VHT paints as you rightly said DO NOT WORK if you intend to use the lamp fired. But interested to know if removal possible on OTHER vitreous enameled objects, where heat is not an issue but resurfacing is. (Bathtubs spring to mind) Thanks for your reply regarding Molten Alkalias, Sodium Peroxide etc. Not something I would attempt in my garage! I have use the Screwfix cheapo paint stripper, and it is really good on most paints, but it does not hold a candle to nitromors or a blowtorch on the type of paint I had to remove. It just made a god awful mess and the paint laughed at me continuously throughout the performance. I has to use an agressive method of a dremel and aluminium oxide sanding drums.
I think it was Bruce Kuda who posted a video on here about using molten caustic soda to strip enamel hoods before nickel plating them- he's a braver man than I am...
Well, if you are really going to melt sodium hydroxide, at least use steel or stainless steel ware. Any kind of glassware, many ceramics or porcelain would eventually dissolve in molten sodium hydroxide. Beware: any splashes of the molten stuff on your skin, flesh or any par of your body would be catastropic and in most cases, the damage is irrecoverable.
Work in progess: 15 minutes in some piping hot hydroxylic-acid and the paint falls off on its own. Be careful with this stuff. It wil burn your hands. 10 minutes more and some rubbing with a sponge. Job done.
David, what has been suggested is Sodium Hydroxide, aka Drano and is a strong caustic base, not an acid. Hence also known as Caustic Soda. The term you use is the not often seen title for... water.
@M.Meijer, there is also a discussion going on about removing enamel from the hood using sodium hydroxide but I think David was responding to the technique used to remove the paint of this M1 fueltank.
You both got me fooled then. By the way, did you go and collect this lamp as the seller stipulated? It was enough for me to leave it, as I was interested in the hood only.
Well, Mike, it was your countryman who mentioned hydroxylic acid first - see post #19. As a teacher of the Sciences for over 20 years, I did know what it was! In actual fact, it's just as dangerous as hydrogen oxide which can also be deadly if not treated with respect - a good servant but a bad master...
