Unfinishing -i.e. removing paint

[Chris Barnett]

Have daughter's 1904 Kimball upright piano painted with a '50's in-vogue antiquing paint (not my doing!). The hinged top is beautiful solid mahogany so DD decided I would remove the paint and finish properly. I have never removed paint during a refinishing project, having always been lucky that all pieces had a transparent finish, of varnish, shellac or similar.
Have searched and found several comments relating to paint removal but did not see heat (heat gun) as a frequently or successfully used means. One means mentioned soybean oil and others more aggressive chemicals which are best used outdoors or well ventilated areas.

Tried a paint remover last year on a small patch of paint on an item I wanted free of paint, and it did not work! Memory serves that it was the Stripeze brand of paint remover, whereas the same brand in a varnish remover was excellent in many cases in past years to remove clear finishes over solid walnut pieces that I restored.

Need method and name for a paint remover that really works with which you have had repeated success. Am not considering any mechanical means to do this...sanding, planning etc. Plan is to refinish, not restore, so I have no problem using strong stuff, then refinish with tung oil-poly Zar. I am time constrained and must get done before bad weather if I select a hazardous material which would require garage use. Many thanks; I'm looking forward to seeing some beautiful wood come alive again.
Chris

[Jim Rimmer]

I have used a heat gun to remove paint but not sure I would want to tackle something as large as piano with it. If you do, be careful. Mine has two settings and on the high setting you need to be careful or you can burn the wood.

[Phil Phelps]

[QUOTE=Chris BarnettMany thanks; I'm looking forward to seeing some beautiful wood come alive again.
How old are you? If your in your 20's, you have a chance.
Seriously, you have a major job. And, it might be too big for the DIY in you. Do you have access to a professional furniture stripper in your area? That would be ideal. If not, and your hell bent on the DYI, I would suggest doing it in small increments. You already know how noxious and messy the chemicals are. And the "green", earth saving products are lame. Heat gun is very slow, but can be useful around moldings and hard to get at places. If I new a faster way, I'd certainly tell 'ya.
Good luck.

[Todd Carpenter]

Hi Chris,

I've gone through gallons of stripper and used all sorts of mechanical means to strip paint. My new favorite is CitriStrip. The secret to stripping with this stuff is to lay it on thick - you're not finishing here so thin coats are worthless here. Let it sit for say half an hour or so and see if the paint comes off easily with a putty knife - if it does - just scrape away, if not, recoat the area, and then cover it with thick plastic not the painters drop cloth stuff but the heavier 3 to 6 mil stuff. This will keep it from drying out and allow it to work. A house my wife and I owned in Detroit was built in 1937 - I stripped the interior doors using this method - I had to lay on the CitriStrip really thick and then cover it with the plastic for 24 hours, but it came right off after this. There was easily 15 coats of paint on the doors.

The other secret is planer shavings. If you don't have a planer, a local lumber yard will usually set you up for free - bring your own garbage bag. Once your done with the putty knife, throw lots of the planer shavings on your piece and start scrubbing with the shavings. It does a great job soaking up any leftover stripper and is abrasive enough to help remove any remaining paint.

The other nice thing about CitriStrip is, it's safe to use indoors and there's no obnoxious/flamable fumes.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

HTH
Todd

[Denise Ohio]

Not CitriStrip.

A thick coat and wrapped in plastic overnight, scrape with a painter's tool.

I had four complete sets of 100-year-old french doors, with enough little detail to make me buy a dentist's pick to get into the corners to refinish. I didn't take it all the way down, but just wanted to get maybe 25 of the 28 layers of paint that had been glopped on 'em. The SoyGel doesn't stink and didn't irritate my skin or lungs.

(I was able to properly dispose of the goo through our local household hazardous waste disposal place, but you may want to call and check. Lead paint goo is bad news anyway you look at it.)

A painter I know suggested I look at the IR (or UV, I can never remember) paint removal guns. By using the infrared or ultraviolet end of color spectrum, it's much harder to burn the wood than using a paint gun But the tool costs over $400. Still, for a piano, $400 may be reasonable.

(I am fairly sure it was an IR-based tool as UV is dangerous to mess with and can burn your eyes if you're unlucky enough to look right at the heat source. Unfortunately, I can't remember a manufacturer's name, but I bet if you bing it, you'll find it.)

Finally, SoyGel is expensive. Heck, everything is expensive. I feel like I'm burning money just sitting here. Seriously, you can order the SoyGel from the manufacturer, just be sure you're sitting down and have the defibrillator ready when you look at the price.

[Neal Clayton]

i had one of those infrared paint removers. if you want to remove large sections of paint from siding, baseboards, beams, etc, it's arguably worth having.

short of that, you can accomplish the same thing with a 30 dollar heat gun from the borg.

[Tony Bilello]

I use Wood Finishers Depot products. Just the other day I used their R-21 Industrial Strength Paste stripper. It is designed for hand stripping and it removed the 'antiquing kit' finish easily from a walnut cased cedar chest. I hand strip anything that is not a clear finish. I dont want to put anything through my flow-over system except for clear finishes. The R-21 is only available in 5 gal jugs from woodfinishersdepot.com. They deliver to my shop so I am not sure about other carriers. Give them a call.
This is very strong stuff but can be used safely. If you decide to get some, send me a private message with you tel. number or call me at 281-687-4661 and I will tell you all you need to know about this stuff.






woodfinishersdepot.com. [R21-5]

[Chris Barnett]

Think I will check the price of the citrus based remover...afraid to even consider the soy; shucks the wood in the piano is probably worth more than the piano...(yes, I thought about it but the little guy on my shoulder opposite the guy with the pitchfork said don't do it ). Anyway the daughter wants it, so salvaging the wood is not an option anyway.

I was working on removing butyl rubber sealant from an RV this afternoon, and tried alcohol and acetone, the second of which I swear by, but neither phased the sealant mess.

Then I turned to plain old gasoline...and..yes, it worked fine. Was out on the driveway, so with care was very safe. An thinking now of doing the same thing with the piano. I can weld up a simple mobile frame and have two dollys that will take that weight, so I can move it to the carport or on out onto the driveway. Apply the gasoline to get a very wetted surface, let it soak in, then scrape. Think I will try the back side first.

I could take the top off and run through my PM209HH, but I don't think I can get the sides off. Since the bottom front is movable, it is probably removable too. That would be perhaps more than half the total surface. Worth the effort if the gasoline does not work. I expect the soy to be expensive like the citrus based remover.

The industrial R-21 sounds like what I had used in the past....really strong stuff. The orange paste burned my nose like the blade cleaner that Grizzly sells...fantastic stuff ...but it is caustic...and takes extreme care to use, particularly the eyes...they don't grow back! A professional stripper is not in the cards...if he can do it, I can do it if I can get the same chemicals. The R-21 sounds like where I need to head...even before the gasoline. Problem is, I don't need 5 gallons.

Thanks a bunch guys for all the ideas. I am under time pressure now...get this done, plus get all the Christmas stuff made. And I thought retirement was supposed to be easier....

[Scott Holmes]

Before you get too far down this road...

Pianos are very very touchy to repair/refinish. I suggest you contact someone that specializes in refinishing pianos. It may save the piano.