Tommygun Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 (edited) I'm currently restoring a German Lafette 42 machine gun tripod (not strictly vehicle related), however, I need some additional advice on paint and rust stripping. Obviously I want keep costs down and I need to consider alternatives to blasting since there are parts which are a bit sensitive such as the ele/trav block, leather wipers within the cradle etc. In regards to the paint removal I have read that vehicle and furniture restorers use Caustic Soda with great success. However, will this be effective on the remains of the German primer and paint (or what remains) and then the liberal top coat of post-war Austrian green? When it comes to rust and stain removal my initial thoughts were to use Jenolite liquid but it is a bit pricey when I may want to soak large components. I then came across the use of Molasses and water which, according to Youtube, seems to be very effective. Have any of you had experience of these alternate cleaning agents and how effective they are on 60/70 year old paint and rust? Cheers, Tom. Edited January 29, 2013 by Tommygun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommygun Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 Apologies about the layout. I tried to edit and it lost its spacings. Tom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike65 Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Used to use caustic soda to decoke 2 stroke motorbike exhausts, evil stuff. Do not use on aluminium or any aluminium alloys. They have a habit of disappearing. White vinegar is also quite good at cleaning stuff. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommygun Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 There are some chunky, cast aluminium parts present on the frame. Will there actually be a perceivable loss of the alloy while it is soaking? Pitting or other loss? What sort of time frame might I be looking at? Tom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Molasses is higly recommended by some on the Forum. Trouble is in UK getting it in large amounts. Though if you have small parts may well work very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike65 Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 There are some chunky, cast aluminium parts present on the frame. Will there actually be a perceivable loss of the alloy while it is soaking? Pitting or other loss? What sort of time frame might I be looking at? Tom. It will eventually disappear, it also produces hydrogen gas, that burns well. Here is a video with aluminium foil. Mike s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rover8FFR Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I have used it as a stripping bath and Caustic Soda will slowly remove everything down to bare metal. Do not use on Aluminium or foil printed labels and plates as they are foil and will dissapear. It eats anything with Aluminium in like a Pirhanna......... Make sure you wash off with lots of cold water and dry / treat soon as possible as then same as virgin steel. Best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferrettkitt Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Caustic soda will not strip 2 pack paint if thats of any use to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David B. Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 It won't strip water based paint either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian L Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Would you reccomend caustic soda to unblock the petrol tank & fuel line on my Austin, it has a couple of cms of a tar like substance in the bottom which I suspect is very old petrol. I am worried what it will do to copper pipes & the soldered joints ? will it disolve them ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scammell4199 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Blasting with corn flour is quite effective like soda blasting. Very gentle with none of the nasty side effects on aluminium. Or you could use plastic bead. Hope that helps, Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowtrac jim Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 corn flour supended in air is explosive.may remove more than intended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike65 Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Blasting with corn flour is quite effective like soda blasting. Very gentle with none of the nasty side effects on aluminium. Or you could use plastic bead. Hope that helps, Richard corn flour supended in air is explosive.may remove more than intended. I believe they actually use baking soda by all accounts you can strip the paint off your car with the chrome and glass still in place with no damage. Crushed walnut shells may also be an alternative. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scammell4199 Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 American navy and NASA use corn flour for stripping aircraft, I raided the kitchen and ran some through an ordinary hand held blast gun and it tried it on some heavily varnished and carbon covered pistons and it worked really well. Problem is in getting it to flow through the blaster, but a machine built for soda would sort that. True you can remove paint from a vehicle without affecting chrome or glass, I looked at starting up as a soda blaster and visited several equipment suppliers and tried different machines out on different substrates. Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.